Europe

LISBON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Portugal will accelerate the immunization campaign against COVID-19 to curb the rapid spread of the Delta variant, vice-admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, Portuguese vaccination coordinator, said Saturday.

The goal is to vaccinate "about 850,000 people a week" using the "maximum stocks of vaccine" available, Gouveia e Melo told the Portuguese news agency Lusa. "We are in a war against the virus, and we are going to give as much as we can to advance the vaccination process, taking it to the limit."

LONDON, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Britain has reported another 24,885 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,879,616, according to official figures released Saturday.

The country also recorded another 18 coronavirus-related death. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 128,207. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

KRANJ, Slovenia (AP) — Tiny Slovenia took charge of the world’s largest trading bloc this week, and immediately shone a harsh spotlight on one of the European Union’s most vexing problems: How to accommodate increasingly vocal member countries with very different visions of Europe’s future.

Already, nationalist governments in Hungary and Poland are worrying their more politically mainstream partners in the 27-nation EU. Some fear that new legislation introduced by the two countries could undermine democratic standards and the independence of the judiciary.

IZHEVSK, July 3. /TASS/: About 800 kilograms of chlorine leaked from a container at a water treatment facility in Izhevsk, a city with a population of more than 600,000 people west of the Ural Mountains.

The first report about the incident in the capital of Russia’s Republic of Udmurtia was made by the regional department of the Russian emergencies ministry at approximately 19:00 Moscow time. The department recommended that residents of the nearby Gorodok Metallurgov district leave the dangerous zone or seal doors and windows if evacuation is impossible.

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/: A spike in tensions in the south of Armenia due to the establishing a new border with Azerbaijan is a "border incident," it does not fall under the provisions of the Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on collective defense, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas has told reporters.

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/: The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases reported worldwide in July dropped 1.5 times as compared to June, to levels observed in October 2020, according to TASS calculations.

Overall, 11.2 million confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus were registered on the planet in June, compared to 18.4 million cases in May. The number of active cases currently stands at 11 million, which is among the lowest monthly figures in 2021.

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 24,439 in the past 24 hours, this is the highest number since January 15, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Saturday.

The relative growth rate stands at 0.44%. As many as 5,585,799 people in Russia have been infected so far.

The Moscow Region confirmed 2,596 new COVID-19 cases, St. Petersburg - 1,733, the Nizhny Novgorod Region - 411, the Voronezh Region - 357 and Buryatia - 329.

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation. An executive order to this effect was posted on the official legal information website on Saturday.

"To approve the attached National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation," the document said.

The executive order comes into effect from the date of its signing.

COPENHAGEN, July 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organization said that Covid-19 tests should be carried out in schools — even when no cases have been detected — to avoid the “harmful” effects of remote learning.
 
   Screenings in schools had previously only been recommended if a cluster of coronavirus cases has been identified, but the WHO now believes PCR or rapid antigen tests should be given even in the absence of symptoms among students and staff.
 

MOSCOW, Jul 3 (NNN-SANA) – Russian Defence Ministry, said that, the terrorist organisation of Jabhat al-Nusra, with the help of “White Helmets” terrorists, prepare to fabricate a chemical attack in Idleb.

Deputy Head of the Russian Coordination Centre in Hmeimim, General Vadim Kolit, said in a press statement that, information indicates that terrorists of Jabhat al-Nusra, prepare for a provocation in the de-escalation zone in Idleb, based on the fabrication of a chemical weapons attack, to accuse the Syrian Arab Army of the act.