Europe

MOSCOW, May 16. / TASS /: Russia’s coronavirus spread rate surged to 1.06 on Sunday and has been above 1 for eight days in a row, according to TASS estimates based on the anti-coronavirus crisis center’s data.

YEREVAN, May 16. /TASS/: The situation in the Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is unsolved and Azerbaijan’s forces still remain there, the Armenian Defense Ministry stated on Sunday.

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: Russia confirmed 8,554 COVID-19 cases over the past day, bringing the total caseload to 4,940,245, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Sunday.

In relative terms the growth rate reached 0.17%.

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has started tracking the British Royal Navy’s HMS Trent patrol vessel, the Russian Defense Ministry’s National Defense Management Center reported on Sunday.

"The forces and means of the Black Sea Fleet have started tracking the activities of the Trent patrol vessel of the British Navy, which entered the Black Sea waters on May 16," the statement said.

On May 11, the report said the Black Sea Fleet started keeping a close eye on the French Navy’s patrol ship Commandant Birot, which had entered the Black Sea.

16 May 2021; MEMO: Foreign ministers of EU countries will meet on Tuesday to discuss Palestine-Israel escalation as "unacceptable number of civilian casualties" increase, the bloc's top diplomat said on Sunday, reports Anadolu Agency.

"In view of the ongoing escalation between Israel and Palestine and the unacceptable number of civilian casualties, I am convening an extraordinary VTC of the EU Foreign Ministers on Tuesday," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote on Twitter.

(Reuters) --- Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz expects to be charged but eventually cleared in an investigation into whether he gave false testimony to a parliamentary commission, he told Sunday newspapers, ruling out the idea of resigning if indicted.

The investigation by anti-corruption prosecutors, made public, last week poses a stiff political challenge for the conservative Kurz, 34, who governs in coalition with the Greens.

(Reuters) --- Ministers will make a decision on June 14 about whether or not to proceed with the final phase of lockdown easing in England, health minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday, describing the pandemic as "under control".

On Friday Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Britain would accelerate its COVID-19 vaccination programme to try to contain a fast-spreading variant first identified in India, warning that Britain's reopening could be knocked off track by the Indian variant. 

PARIS, May 15 (Xinhua) -- France has administered the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 20 million people, reaching its target days ahead of the reopening of catering businesses and cultural venues, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Saturday.

Castex announced on Twitter the hitting of the 20-million mark, a number that represents some 30 percent of the population.

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/: Palestine calls for an urgent meeting of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators (Russia, the United States, the UN and the EU) at the level of foreign ministers, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal told TASS on Saturday.

PRAGUE, May 15. /TASS/: By including the Czech Republic into the list of unfriendly states, Russia made "another step towards the escalation of relations" with Prague, the European Union and its allies, the Czech Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

"We consider this course of action by the Russian Federation to be another step towards the escalation of relations not only with the Czech Republic, but also with the EU and its allies," the Czech Foreign Ministry said.