Europe

PARIS, April 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The novel coronavirus has killed at least 2,853,908 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019.

At least 131,213,930 cases of coronavirus have been registered. The vast majority have recovered, though some have continued to experience symptoms weeks or even months later.

These figures are based on daily tolls provided by health authorities in each country and exclude later re-evaluations by statistical organisations, as has happened in Russia, Spain and Britain.

GENEVA (Reuters) -The World Health Organization does not back requiring vaccination passports for travel due to uncertainty over whether inoculation prevents transmission of the virus, as well as equity concerns, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

“We as WHO are saying at this stage we would not like to see the vaccination passport as a requirement for entry or exit because we are not certain at this stage that the vaccine prevents transmission,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said.

KYIV (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on NATO on Tuesday to lay out a path for Ukraine to join the Western military alliance, after days in which Russia has massed troops near the conflict-hit Donbass region.

Zelenskiy’s comments drew an immediate rebuke from Moscow, which said Kyiv’s approach to NATO could further inflame the situation in Donbass, where violence has increased in recent days.

PARIS (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday a global deal on cross-border taxation was within reach as he welcomed a pledge by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to work on a global corporate minimum rate.

“We welcome the United States’ support for minimum corporate tax,” Le Maire said in a statement to Reuters, adding he also wanted to make progress with Yellen in international talks to rewrite the rules for cross-border taxation of digital companies.

BELGRADE, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of Serbia, Greece and Cyprus met in Belgrade on Monday, vowing to improve economic cooperation and stimulate development.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and Nikos Christodoulides, Foreign Minister of Cyprus, met with their Serbian counterpart Nikola Selakovic to find ways to pursue the joint interest of their countries in trilateral cooperation.

BELGRADE, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Tuesday received an injection of China's Sinopharm vaccine against COVID-19 in the country's eastern municipality of Majdanpek.

"I feel great, like nothing happened," he said after the inoculation.

China has provided vaccines to Serbia to help the Balkan country fight the COVID-19 epidemic, with the latest shipment arriving in Belgrade on Monday.

PARIS (AP) — France’s role before and during the 1994 Rwandan genocide was a “monumental failure” that the country must acknowledge, the lead author of a report commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron said, as the country is about to open its archives from this period to the public.

VIENNA (AP) — Efforts to bring the United States back into the 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear program are to step up a gear on Tuesday as Iran and the five world powers remaining in the accord meet in Vienna while the U.S. is due to start indirect talks with Tehran.

Friday’s announcement that Washington and Tehran would begin indirect talks through intermediaries was one of the first signs of tangible progress in efforts to return both nations to the terms of the accord, which bound Iran to restrictions in return for relief from U.S. and international sanctions.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s slow but steady march out of a three-month lockdown remains on track even as coronavirus cases surge elsewhere in Europe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday, as he confirmed that businesses from barbers to bookstores will be allowed to reopen next week.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a law allowing him to potentially hold onto power until 2036, a move that formalizes constitutional changes endorsed in a vote last year.

The July 1 constitutional vote included a provision that reset Putin’s previous term limits, allowing him to run for president two more times. The change was rubber-stamped by the Kremlin-controlled legislature and the relevant law signed by Putin was posted Monday on an official portal of legal information.