Europe

GENEVA, July 14. /TASS/: A resolution on Belarus, authored by European Union member states and containing demands to the Belarusian government, received no wide support during the 47th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Less than a half of HRC members, or only 21 out of the 47 member states voted to support the document. Seven countries, including Russia, China, Cuba and Venezela, were against. 19 countries abstained.

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/: Russia confirmed 23,827 COVID-19 cases over the past day, bringing the total case tally to 5,857,002, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Wednesday.

In relative terms, the incidence rate rose by 0.41%.

Moscow confirmed 3,966 COVID-19 cases over the past day, a new low since June 8. Some 2,469 COVID-19 cases were recorded in the Moscow Region, 1,942 in St. Petersburg, 531 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 461 in the Sverdlovsk Region and 451 in the Krasnodar Region.

VLADIVOSTOK, July 14. /TASS/: The Russian Pacific Fleet’s support vessels that participated in far-reaching naval maneuvers in the Pacific have returned to their home naval base in Vladivostok, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/: Russia and France have rich history of bilateral relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a congratulatory telegram to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, voicing confidence that the development of constructive dialogue would contribute to enhancing stability on the continent.

SARAJEVO, July 14 (Reuters) - Bosnian police on Wednesday arrested the country's intelligence chief on accusations of money laundering and abusing his office to forge university diplomas, police and prosecutors said.

Osman Mehmedagic, the head of the Intelligence-Security Agency (OSA), was arrested at the request of state prosecutors and police were conducting activities accordingly, Sarajevo police spokesman Mirza Hadziabdic told Reuters.

ATHENS, July 14 (Reuters) - Tourism is not to blame for a surge of COVID-19 infections in Greece, the tourism minister said on Wednesday after the government reintroduced restrictions aimed at saving the summer season.

Greece, which relies on tourism for a fifth of its economy, kicked off the season in May, hoping that revenue would reach about half of the record it saw in 2019 when more than 30 million people visited the country.

BERLIN, July 13 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday rejected the idea of mandatory vaccination and would instead rely on promoting the benefits of immunization to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a visit to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Merkel said the government could "gain trust by advertising vaccination." The goal was to educate citizens and turn them into "advertisers, ambassadors of vaccination, " she added.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Wednesday is unveiling sweeping new legislation to help meet its pledge to cut emissions of the gases that cause global warming by 55% over this decade, including a controversial plan to tax foreign companies for the pollution they cause.

The proposals by the European Commission, which is the EU’s executive branch, will cover everything from tougher caps on car pollution to new national limits on gases from buildings. It will see a revamp of the bloc’s emissions trading scheme under which companies pay for the gases they send into the air.

BERLIN (AP) — Police said they were searching locations in the central German state of Hesse on Wednesday in connection with suspected Islamic extremists.

Hesse police said on Twitter that the raids were taking place “at numerous premises” across the state.

German news agency dpa reported that the suspects are alleged supporters of the Islamic State group. It quoted a police spokesman saying there was no immediate threat of an attack.

LONDON (AP) — Official figures show inflation in the U.K. rising to its highest level in nearly three years because of increases in the prices of food and motor fuel.

The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that the annual rate of inflation rose to 2.5% in June from 2.1% the previous month. June’s rate is the highest August 2018 when inflation hit 2.7%.