Europe

MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/. An explosion wounded three people during the Communist party congress in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Deputy Vladislav Berdichevsky wrote on Telegram on Saturday.

"Three people were wounded as an unidentified device exploded at the Communist party congress," he wrote.

The Ministry of State Security of the DPR confirmed that an explosion occurred. "The fact of explosion is confirmed, task forces have responded to the scene," the Donetsk News Agency quoted the source in the ministry.

SOCHI, September 29. /TASS/. The threat of new sanctions motivates banks to bring more euro than dollars to the country, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Economist of Russia’s VEB development bank Andrei Klepach told TASS on Saturday.

"First, they (banks) have already brought great dollar amounts. Second, the threat of sanctions exists, though I hope that the US will not assume last resort measures. In this environment, a natural and simplest step is to transfer from payments in dollars to payments in euro," he said.

28 Sep 2018; DW: Risto Mijakovski sits in a tent in the small park opposite the Macedonian parliament building in the capital Skopje. A painter by trade, Mijakovski is a member of the #Bojkotiram (Boycott) movement which wants to preserve the Republic of Macedonia.

"By changing our name they want to completely erase the Macedonian nation. We are losing our identity, our language, everything," he tells DW.

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. European human rights organizations are concerned about the predicament of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church believers, Bishop Victor of Baryshevka, a vicar of the Kiev Diocese, said on Friday in an interview with the Church’s Information Department, following a Warsaw meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Russia may build the first manned base on the surface of the Moon in 2030, the chief of the nuclear planetology department at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Space Research Institute, Igor Mitrofanov, told TASS on Friday.

On Monday, Roscosmos corporation said Russia had plans for building its own base for space crews on the surface of the Moon. The possibility of cooperation with NASA or BRICS countries is being considered, the corporation said.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s president welcomed his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with full military honors in Berlin on Friday, holding out hope that the state visit will lead to a thaw in relations between the NATO allies.

The two nations have clashed over numerous issues in recent years, including Turkey’s jailing of German journalists and a German parliament resolution labeling the early-20th century killing of Armenians in Turkey as “genocide.”

MADRID; 28 Sep2018; (AP) — Thousands of travelers in Europe saw their plans disrupted Friday after airline Ryanair cancelled more than 200 flights because of strikes by cabin crew in Spain, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Italy and Germany.

The budget airline says it had informed passengers of possible disruptions ahead of time, giving them time to adjust.

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Russia’s research and industrial concern Techmash (an affiliate of Rostech) is working on the concept of a new 152-millimeter correctable trajectory shell for artillery pieces, the concern’s deputy CEO Alexander Kochkin said adding that the project had no name yet.

"Currently we are the drafting terms of reference and image of this new type of ammunition. I reckon we will get down to research and development in the near future. It will be a new 152-millimeter correctable trajectory shell for artillery pieces. The project has no name yet," he said.

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Turkey, Russia, France and Germany plan to hold a meeting on Syria in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters upon his return from New York, where he participated in the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

"We will hold a four-party summit in Istanbul, which will involve Turkey, Russia, Germany and France. Preliminary talks on this issue have already taken place, now a date needs to be fixed," Erdogan said, as cited by the Haberturk TV channel.

ANTWERP, Belgium, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Several organizations and institutions on Thursday signed an ambitious agreement to jointly work to introduce train services between this Belgian port and the Chinese port of Shanghai.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Antwerp among the World Free & Special Economic Zones Federation, Brussels-based magazine Diplomatic World and the Antwerp-based non-profit European Federation of Traditional Chinese Culture (EFTCC).