Europe

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s parliament approved Friday new labor laws on working from home, introducing additional protection for employees who do their job away from company premises.

The new rules are a response to the trend of more staff working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Portugal’s Socialist government said. It said it sees benefits in working from home but wanted to adapt labor legislation to it.

LONDON (AA) - The UK became the first country in the world to approve a COVID-19 treatment pill that can be taken at home when Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the treatment on Thursday.

The pill, taken orally, is called molnupiravir, and was developed by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck Sharp & Dohme.

British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: "Today is a historic day for our country, as the UK is now the first country in the world to approve an antiviral that can be taken at home for COVID-19.

04 Nov 2021; MEMO: Pope Francis affirmed his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Thursday.

The need for peaceful co-existence among various faiths, as well as the goal of a two-state solution in the Holy Land, were discussed during a meeting with Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the spiritual leader of the Catholic world, according to the official Vatican News agency.

GENEVA (AP) — A new project trumpeted by U.S. President Joe Biden in which companies underpin development of low-carbon technologies through their buying power amounts to a “big transformation,” U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said Thursday.

MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/: The Black Sea Fleet began to monitor the actions of the USS Mount Whitney, which entered the Black Sea on Thursday, the Russian National Defense Management Center reported.

"The Black Sea Fleet has begun monitoring the actions of the US Navy ship Mount Whitney, which entered the Black Sea on November 4," the center said.

Earlier, the US Sixth Fleet reported that the Mount Whitney ship headed to the Black Sea for joint operations with NATO allies and partners in the region.

MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/: Recurrent Israeli missile strikes on Syrian territory pose a direct threat to civilian air traffic in the country, Russian Ambassador to Syria Alexander Efimov said in an interview with TASS.

"Another alarming moment is the recurrent missile strikes by Israel. They often target even the suburbs of Damascus, and there have been cases when explosions happened directly in the capital’s residential districts. Israeli raids also pose a direct threat to civilian air traffic in the sky over Syria," he said.

MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/: The number of deaths due to coronavirus in Russia increased by 1,195 per day against 1,189 a day earlier to a total of 243,255, the federal operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus told reporters on Thursday.

In absolute terms, this was the highest increase since the beginning of the pandemic, the previous maximum was seen on Wednesday. Conditional mortality (the final can be determined after the end of the pandemic) remained at the level of 2.8%, the headquarters said.

MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/: Direct gas supplies via the Yamal-Europe pipeline to Germany resumed on Thursday afternoon after five days of shutdown and reverse in the opposite direction, according to the information of the European gas transmission operator Gascade.

Thus, the volume of supplies in the first hour after the pumping was resumed reached 186,600 cubic meters.

Meanwhile, gas prices in Europe fell by almost 4% to $877 per 1,000 cubic meters, according to the ICE exchange.

MINSK, November 4. /TASS/: President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has put his signature under the integration decree approving 28 union programs with Russia.

Prior to that, the document had been signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I see your signature under the decree, along with those of all the members of the Supreme State Council. If you do not mind, I will sign the decree. But we all will be responsible, not just me," Lukashenko said.

MOSCOW, Nov 4 (NNN-TASS) — Global coronavirus infection rates are on the decline for the second consecutive month.

A total of 12.9 mln cases were confirmed across the world in October, nearly three mln below the number in September, according to TASS estimates.

Mortality rates are also declining. About 214,000 coronavirus patients died globally in the past month, a 20% drop from the September figure. TASS has put together key coronavirus statistics from the past month.