Europe

Tehran, Aug 28, IRNA – The US lawyers on Tuesday started responding to Iran lawsuit at the Hague Court on crippling sanctions re-imposed on the country by Donald Trump administration.

The American delegation will have 3 hours for responding to US withdrawal from Iran 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposition of sanctions on the country.

PARIS, August 27. /TASS/. French President Emmanuel Macron has called for involving Russia in the process of providing security in Europe, he stated on Monday during an annual meeting of ambassadors that focused on France’s foreign policy.

"Europe can no longer rely on the US to provide its security. It is up to us today to take our responsibilities and guarantee our own security, and thus have European sovereignty. We have to draw all necessary conclusions from the end of the Cold War," Macron added.

MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. The United States has been building the amount of cruise missile carriers in the Middle East for strikes against government forces in Syria after pre-planned provocation involving the use of chemical weapons in Idlib Province, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told the media on Monday.

"The United States keeps building up the cruise missile carriers group in the Middle East as part of preparations for another provocation in Idlib Province to be presented as an alleged use of chemical weapons," Konashenkov said.

MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov has met with Head of the Joint Staff Department of the Chinese Central Military Commission Li Zuocheng in Moscow. During the negotiations, the army officials discussed expanding bilateral military cooperation.

"Today I offer to discuss the prospects of expanding and deepening our bilateral relations, including holding joint military exercises and exchanging opinions on the situation in the critical regions of the world," the chief of General Staff said.

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. Russia is doing the best it can to prevent a provocation involving the use of chemical weapons in Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Tuesday.

GENEVA (AP) — Experts from scores of countries are meeting to discuss ways to define and deal with “killer robots” — futuristic weapons systems that could conduct war without human intervention.

The weeklong gathering that opened Monday is the second at U.N. offices in Geneva this year to focus on such lethal autonomous weapons systems and to explore possibilities for regulating them, among other issues.

BERLIN (AP) — German police and security officials faced criticism Tuesday following violence during a far-right protest in the eastern city of Chemnitz that left at least six people injured.

The protest late Monday, sparked by the killing of a 35-year-old German man in an altercation with migrants over the weekend, erupted into clashes between neo-Nazis and left-wing counter-protesters.

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN; 26 Aug 2018; AA: Germany’s economy minister voiced support on Sunday for Turkey amid market worries after U.S. President Donald Trump slammed sanctions and raised tariffs on Turkey.

Responding to questions by citizens during an open house event of his ministry, Peter Altmaier underlined Turkey’s importance for Germany and for the European Union.

“We can have no interest in the destabilization of a country like Turkey with 80 million population, which also hosts around 4 million refugees,” he said.

BERLIN, August 27. /TASS/. The US’ sanctions policy against other countries which are EU partners makes Europe react to Washington’s actions, said German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas in his speech at the annual conference of the heads of the German diplomatic missions abroad on Monday.

"Washington’s sanctions policy makes us search for a European answer, and the urgent launch of nonspecific sanctions against Russia, China and other EU’s trade partners by the US has a considerable effect over Europe and Germany," Maas stated. "We have to react to it," he noted.

DONETSK, August 26. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military violated the ceasefire regime 2 times in 24 hours, shelling the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, according to Donetsk People's Republic’s Representative to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) Ruslan Yakubov.

According to him, "The total number of violations by the Ukrainian military reached 2 instances. The total number of ammunition used by the military is 3 pieces."