Europe

BRUSSELS, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Five European Union (EU) member states will share nearly three million additional "solidarity vaccine" doses following an agreement with the majority of other members, the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU announced on Thursday.

After days of negotiations, EU ambassadors agreed to change a system that usually distributes vaccines between the bloc's 27 countries based on population size. The tweak was aimed at helping the member states that need more vaccines in their fight against the coronavirus.

COPENHAGEN, April 1 (Xinhua) -- As the European region currently fights a resurgence of COVID-19 transmissions, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe on Thursday called upon the governments in the region to "scale-up of both vaccine production and vaccination."

According to WHO Europe, to date, only 10 percent of the region's total population has received one vaccine dose, and four percent has completed a full vaccine series.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Caretaker Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s political future was in doubt Friday after lawmakers passed a motion of censure against him that was filed by two parties in his own outgoing coalition.

The politically damaging move came at the end of a marathon parliamentary debate about the stalled process to form a new government following elections last month. Opposition lawmakers accused Rutte of lying and undermining public trust in politicians. He narrowly survived a motion of no-confidence.

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/: Diplomatic missions of 12 states have suspended work in North Korea and all foreign personnel of international humanitarian organizations have left the country due to the challenging situation, namely over the lack of goods and medicine, the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang wrote on its Facebook page.

"Those leaving the Korean capital can be understood - not everyone can tolerate the unprecedentedly strict total restrictions, the sharpest shortage of essential goods, including medicine, the lack of possibility to solve health problems," the Embassy said.

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/: It is up to Russian President Vladimir Putin to decide when the country’s Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov will return to Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Channel One’s Great Game show on Thursday.

"It is up to Russian President Vladimir Putin to decide," he said in response to a question.

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/: The coronavirus pandemic in Russia may end by August, Viktor Maleyev, an advisor to the scientific director of the Russian health watchdog’s Research Institute of Epidemiology, said in a post on the watchdog’s Instagram.

"The coronavirus pandemic in Russia may end by August 2021 because many people will develop immunity," the post reads.

According to Maleyev, the daily number of coronavirus cases may drop to hundreds and below in the summer, given the seasonal nature of the virus. However, a slight rise in infections is possible in the fall.

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/: The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has foiled a terror plot targeting a fuel and energy industry facility by a member of the Islamic State, he resisted detention and was eliminated, the FSB Public Relations Center told TASS Thursday.

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/: The movement of Russian troops across the country should not concern other states since this does not pose any threat to them, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, commenting on a remark by the Ukrainian military on Russia’s military buildup along the border with Ukraine.

"The Russian Federation transfers the Armed Forces on its soil as it wants to. This should not concern anyone and this is not posing any threat to anyone," Peskov stressed.

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s capital Berlin is set to impose a nighttime ban on gatherings from Friday and a reduction in children at nursery to from next week try to stop a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, media reported on Thursday.

As the weather has turned warm in recent days, Berliners have been flocking to public spaces to picnic and party, stoking concerns that the coronavirus may be spreading among younger people after schools gradually reopened last month.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday discussed prospects for working together on climate change, protecting the environment and green energy, the Kremlin said.

In a readout of their telephone call, the Kremlin said the Saudi prince outlined initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the Middle East.

Putin spoke of Russian efforts to protect the environment, the Kremlin said.