Europe

MINSK, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- The intergovernmental agreement on visa-free travel between Belarus and China came into force on Friday.

From now on, Belarusians can stay in China without a visa for up to 30 days in one trip, but not more than 90 days a year. The same rule applies to Chinese citizens.

If a person wants to stay in the country for more than 30 days or engage in educational and professional activities, he or she needs a special visa. Visa-free travel covers private trips, business trips and tourist trips.

KRONOTSKY NATURE RESERVE /Kamchatka/, August 10. /TASS/. The possible tightening up of economic sanctions against Russia may be treated as a declaration of economic war, which must be responded by all economic, political and other means possible, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said during his visit to the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.

During his visit to the Kronotsky State Nature Reserve, Medvedev was asked what sanctions could be imposed on Russia in the future and how they can affect the country’s economy.

London, Aug 9 (AP): A British inquiry has concluded that sexual abuse at two leading Roman Catholic schools in Britain was considerably higher than is reflected by conviction figures, with monks hiding allegations to protect the church's reputation.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse issued a scathing report Thursday, saying that monks at Ampleforth in North Yorkshire and Downside in Somerset hid allegations of "appalling sexual abuse" against pupils as young as seven.

Berlin, Aug 8; AFP: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned today that US President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran could further destabilise the Middle East and boost radical forces in the region.

Trump brought back the punishing sanctions after unilaterally pulling out of a landmark 2015 deal between Tehran and Western powers to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"We still think that it is a mistake to give up on the nuclear accord with Iran," Maas said in an interview with the daily Passauer Neue Presse.

7 Aug 2018; DW: Even 23 years after the Battle of Vukovar, a divide remains between Croats and Serbs in the city. In school, children are separated according to their ethnicity. Srecko Matic visited the eastern Croatian city.

MOSCOW, August 7. /TASS/. Russia’s first heavily upgraded Tupolev Tu-22M3M strategic missile-carrying bomber has been outfitted with new radio-electronic equipment, Tupolev Aircraft Company CEO Alexander Konyukhov told TASS on Tuesday.

"As a result of deep modernization, we have actually got a new plane, Tu-22M3M. It features absolutely new onboard radio-electronic equipment," the chief executive said.

MOSCOW, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Russia said Tuesday it would do everything to preserve and fully implement the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which is under threat by U.S. unilateral sanctions.

"The introduction of the first batch of U.S. restrictions is aimed at disrupting the implementation of the JCPOA, which Washington unilaterally abandoned on May 8," a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to restore sanctions against Iran.

BERLIN 7 Aug 2018; A German mother, identified as Berrin T, and her partner have been convicted for raping her son and selling him to paedophiles.

The Freiburg state court convicted the couple for a total of 40 counts of serious sexual abuse of children.  Couple were also convicted for of rape and human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

6 Aug 2018; DW: Swastikas have been daubed at the spot where a Syrian child was killed in an accident in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Local politicians condemned the graffiti, which is being investigated by police.

The small town of Schönberg in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has become the scene of an ugly neo-Nazi hate campaign after a young boy was hit by a tractor on June 20. Two men have since been identified in connection with the crime.

BRUSSELS, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU)'s updated Blocking Statute will enter into force Tuesday as a countermeasure to Washington's re-imposed sanctions against Iran, the European Commission announced it on its website on Monday.

The statute, introduced in 1996 in response to U.S. extra-territorial sanctions legislation, was amended on June 6 by adding within its scope the list of extra-territorial U.S. sanctions on Iran.