Europe

MOSCOW, Russia. (AP) —Russia’s top security agency has arrested an American reporter for the Wall Street Journal on espionage charges, the first time a U.S. correspondent was put behind bars on spying accusations since the Cold War.

The Federal Security Service said Thursday that Evan Gershkovich was detained in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg while allegedly trying to obtain classified information.

BERLIN (AP) — Britain’s King Charles III met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and is preparing to become the first monarch to speak before Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, on Thursday as part of a high-profile visit aimed at bolstering ties between the two European powers.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — France’s top diplomat said Thursday that she hoped the NATO applications of Sweden and Finland would be “ratified quickly” as the Turkish parliament was expected to vote soon on whether Finland should join the 30-member alliance.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna referred to an upcoming NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital in July when she said that “we hope this summit will be a success and that there will be 32 countries at the Vilnius summit.”

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/:  By holding a "summit for democracy" the US is trying to lecture other countries, but such admonitions are not taken seriously by many states, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Wednesday.

"America, which still claims no matter what to be the world's mentor when it comes to so-called democracy, [is making] already a second attempt to gather a number of countries it sees as its students in order to engage in moralizing," Peskov said about the "summit for democracy."

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 11,128 over the past day to 22,614,774, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Wednesday.

A day earlier, 8,447 daily cases were recorded.

As many as 968 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, down 39.7% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients increased in 21 regions, while in 57 regions the figure decreased. The situation remained unchanged in seven regions. A day earlier, 1,604 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/: Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Wednesday he hoped that the draft of a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement between Tehran and Moscow will be finalized next month.

"I am very grateful that the draft of a comprehensive agreement on strategic partnership between our countries has been reviewed and finalized in Russia," he said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

ENERGODAR, March 29. /TASS/: Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi arrived at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on Wedenesday, a TASS correspondent reported.

This is Grossi’s second visit to the plant located in the city of Energodar in the Zaporozhye Region.

The IAEA delegation consists of 11 people, including Grossi himself and three inspectors who have come on rotation. They are accompanied by seven people: representatives of the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS).

LISBON, March 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two women were killed and one person wounded in a knife attack believed to have been carried out by an Afghan refugee at the Ismaili Center in Lisbon on Tuesday, officials said.

Portuguese police shot the alleged attacker after he refused to lay down a large knife and began to approach them.

Officials said he was arrested and taken to hospital.

“It seems to have been an isolated act but the circumstances and motivations are being investigated,” Home Affairs Minister Jose Luis Carneiro told reporters.

March 29 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday that Washington's decision to stop sharing some data on its nuclear forces under the New START arms control treaty will not prompt Moscow to review its own decision to suspend its participation in the pact.

The United States announced on Tuesday it would stop exchanging some information on its nuclear forces after President Vladimir Putin ordered Moscow to suspend its own participation in February.

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - The Bank of England on Wednesday told regulators to move fast to toughen rules for funds used by Britain's pension industry which nearly collapsed last year after former Prime Minister Liz's Truss's "mini-budget."

The BoE said Britain's banking system was not at risk from the kind of turmoil that has beset some banks in the United States and Switzerland's Credit Suisse.

But the BoE's Financial Policy Committee called on pension regulators to act "as soon as possible" to mitigate the risks posed by liability-driven investment (LDI) funds.