Europe

BERLIN, July 12. /TASS/: All the construction permits for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Germany were issued, spokesperson of the German Economy Ministry Beate Baron said at a briefing on Monday.

"All the construction permits have been issued — and already a long time ago. As far as operations are concerned, the Federal Network Agency [the German regulator — TASS] can probably help in this regard," she said.

MOSCOW, July 12. /TASS/: The Sputnik V vaccine is effective against new coronavirus strains according to the study results by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology published in the Vaccines leading international journal, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) reported on Monday.

Chisinau (Moldova), Jul 12 (AP-PTI) A pro-reform party seeking closer ties for Moldova with the European Union has won a clear majority in the parliamentary election, electoral commission results show Monday.

Sunday's election was called by President Maia Sandu, who sought to gain a parliament made up of pro-EU reformists in the former Soviet republic.

BRUSSELS, July 12 (Reuters) - The European Union should consider imposing more sanctions on Belarus because Minsk is flying in migrants from abroad to send them illegally into the bloc, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Monday.

His government accuses Belarusian authorities of sending hundreds of mainly Iraqi migrants across the border into Lithuania, an EU member state.

Lithuania began building a 550-km (320-mile) razor wire barrier on the border with Belarus on Friday, a move that EU foreign ministers were due to discuss in Brussels. 

BRUSSELS, July 12 (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to launch a global infrastructure plan linking Europe to the world, its latest step after deals with India and Japan and a similar pledge by the Group of Seven richest democracies.

Suspicious of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative to link Europe to Asia via infrastructure in a bid for greater influence, the EU set out a formal path for an ambitious "connectivity" plan from 2022.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to confirm Monday that all remaining lockdown restrictions in England will be lifted in a week’s time while urging people to remain cautious amid a huge resurgence of the coronavirus.

Johnson is expected to say at a news conference that face masks and all social distancing measures will be lifted in England on July 19. However, given the sharp rise in new cases, he is also likely to downplay talk of “Freedom Day.”

LONDON (AP) — Facebook’s WhatsApp faces a complaint from European Union consumer groups who say the chat service has been unfairly pressuring users to accept a new privacy update in what it calls a breach of the bloc’s regulations.

The European Consumer Organisation, or BEUC, filed a complaint Monday over the way WhatsApp has brought in changes to its terms of service and privacy policy, saying they aren’t transparent or easily understood by users.

LONDON (AP) — Italian soccer’s redemption story is complete. England’s painful half-century wait for a major title goes on.

And it just had to be because of a penalty shootout.

Italy won the European Championship for the second time by beating England 3-2 on penalties on Sunday. The match finished 1-1 after extra time at Wembley Stadium, which was filled mostly with English fans hoping to celebrate the team’s first international trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/: Nearly 1.2 million people in the Moscow region have received both shots of the coronavirus vaccine, the press service of the region’s governor said on Sunday.

"More than one million people have been inoculated with the first dose of the vaccine and nearly 1.2 million people have received both shots," it said on its Instagram account.

MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/: Moscow has overcome peak numbers of COVID-19 cases and sees stabilization and a slight decline in the incidence, the Russian capital’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Sunday.

"Moscow is certainly going through a challenging time. Thank God, we have overcome the peak numbers and now some stabilization is observed and even a slight decline in the incidence rate," Sobyanin said.