Europe

GENEVA, July 5 (Reuters) - The U.N. Special Rapporteur told Belarus on Monday to immediately free some 530 jailed people whom rights groups consider "political prisoners" as Washington's envoy hinted at the possibility of further economic sanctions against Minsk.

Belarusian authorities have cracked down hard after massive anti-government protests erupted last summer over voter fraud allegations at an election that handed Alexander Lukashenko a new term as president. He denies wrongdoing.

LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - Britain has reported 27,334 new cases of COVID-19, government data showed on Monday, meaning the rise in cases between June 29 and July 5 stood at just over 53% compared with the previous seven days.

A further nine people were reported as having died within 28 days of a positive test for COVID-19.

A total of 45.35 million people had received a first dose of a vaccine against coronavirus by July 4 and 33.73 million people had received a second dose.

LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was due on Monday to set out plans to end social and economic COVID-19 restrictions in England, in a test of whether a rapid vaccine rollout offers enough protection from the highly contagious Delta variant.

Johnson's announcement at 1600 GMT is expected to confirm that he aims to end restrictive measures on July 19, and will include guidance on social distancing, face coverings and working from home.

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/: Opponents see Russia’s resolute steps regarding its defense field and therefore any new Caribbean crisis scenarios are ruled out, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on Rossya-1 TV channel.

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/: Official spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, after one of the witnesses admitted the accusation of perjury in the case against the founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange, drew attention to the fact that the leaders of the EU or NATO countries did not touch on the fate of the journalist at any of the summits.

In an interview with Stundin, Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson, a key witness in the US Department of Justice case against Julian Assange, admitted that he fabricated parts of his testimony.

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/: Russia confirmed 25,142 COVID-19 cases over the past day, bringing the total case tally to 5,610,941, a new high since January 2, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Sunday.

In relative terms, the number of cases grew by 0.45%.

Some 2,696 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the Moscow Region, 1,784 in St. Petersburg, 432 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 359 in the Voronezh Region and 335 in the Trans-Baikal Region.

Currently, 404,115 people are undergoing treatment in Russia.

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/: Provocations similar to the one involving the British destroyer HMS Defender in Russia’s territorial waters off Crimea are masterminded in the United States, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

"I think our intelligence certainly knows who made a decision there [in the situation with the British destroyer]. But certainly I think such operations are basically planned by senior partners from overseas," Kremlin told Moscow. Kremlin. Putin TV program on Rossiya-1 channel.

MILAN, July 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Italian police said they had broken up a number of online schemes offering to sell fake European Union digital COVID-19 status certificates or purported coronavirus vaccines.

The investigation, coordinated by the cybercrime prosecutor’s office in Milan, showed that thousands of people were ready to pay for false certificates, a police statement said.

The EU on Thursday launched a digital COVID-19 certificate designed to help citizens travel across the 27-nation bloc and open up summer tourism.

Lisbon (Portugal), Jul 3 (AP-PTI) Countries across Europe are scrambling to accelerate coronavirus vaccinations and outpace the spread of the more infectious delta variant, in a high-stakes race to prevent hospital wards from filling up again with patients fighting for their lives.

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - The data that will decide if final lockdown restrictions in England can be lifted on July 19 is looking "very positive", thanks to the success of the vaccination programme, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said on Sunday.

"The data that we're seeing that the Prime Minister is reviewing at the moment ahead of his decision point on the roadmap looks very positive," he told Sky News.