Europe

MINSK, March 13. /TASS/: Belarus and Iran have similar positions and approaches to many issues on the international agenda, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday after talks with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi.

"It is encouraging that we have similar positions and approaches to many issues on the international agenda. Most importantly, Belarus and Iran are committed to the idea of creating a fair multipolar world," BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying.

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: Moscow welcomes any and all steps taken by Iran and Saudi Arabia to facilitate an easing of tensions in the region and revive a dialogue between the neighboring Gulf countries, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"We welcome any steps that can and will help reduce tensions and reinvigorate dialogue in the region, in a very unstable region," Peskov told a news briefing. "Especially when it comes to such key regional players as Saudi Arabia and Iran."

ROME, March 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — About 30 migrants were missing and presumed drowned after the overcrowded boat they were on capsized during a rescue attempt by a cargo ship off Libya, Italy’s coastguard said.

Seventeen migrants were saved and a search was underway for the missing after the early Sunday-morning attempted rescue in Libya’s search-and-rescue zone, the coastguard said.

BERLIN, March 13 (Reuters) - Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg airports said no commercial flights would take off on Monday due to a strike by trade union Verdi over pay.

"Due to the warning strike by employees at the aviation security controls, no commercial departures will take place at BER today, March 13. Incoming flights may also be affected," Berlin airport said on its website.

Hamburg airport also said that arrivals could be delayed or cancelled. Bremen said were there would be no flights from its airport.

LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - Britain approved a sharp increase in exports of submarine parts and technology last year to Taiwan as it upgrades its naval forces, a move that could impact British ties with China.

KYIV, March 13 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning to visit Russia as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said on Monday, while Moscow and Kyiv both reported intense fighting in the war's bloodiest battle over the eastern city of Bakhmut.

A visit by Xi next week, days after he secured a third term as China's leader, would come sooner than previously expected. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has already publicly invited Xi to Moscow without specifying a date, would be likely to portray it as a show of support for Russia's war on Ukraine.

VLADIVOSTOK, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Russia launched a Proton-M carrier rocket with a Breeze-M upper stage on Monday, sending the Luch-5X relay satellite into space.

The Proton-M rocket was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 02:13 a.m. Moscow time (2313 GMT Sunday), Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos said in a statement.

The upper stage has separated from the third stage of the Proton-M and is currently putting the satellite into the designated orbit.

Russia's Luch multifunctional space relay system was put into trial operation in February 2016.

LONDON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Had COVID-19 vaccines been shared equitably with the world, at least 1.3 million lives could have been saved in the first year of the rollout, or one preventable death every 24 seconds, an open letter said on Saturday.

STOCKHOLM, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A Swedish expert rebutted the claim made by U.S. and German media that a non-state actor was responsible for last September's Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions.

On Tuesday, the New York Times has cited new intelligence suggesting that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. However, the paper failed to identify a source for the claim that a rented yacht was used to perpetrate the act.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Monday to increase U.K. military funding by 5 billion pounds ($6 billion) over the next two years in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the “epoch-defining challenge” posed by China.