Europe

30 Mar 2021; MEMO: The Russian energy ministry has promoted the use of the Northern Sea route for international shipping as an alternative to Egypt's Suez Canal after a huge shipping container blocked the canal and disrupted international maritime trade for nearly a week, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

LONDON (AP) — More than 20 heads of government and global agencies called in a commentary published Tuesday for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness that they say will protect future generations in the wake of COVID-19.

But there were few details to explain how such an agreement might actually compel countries to act more cooperatively.

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on the Army's spring draft that will run from April 1 to July 15 this year, according to the document posted on the website of the government’s legal information web portal on Monday.

"To draft 134,650 Russian citizens aged 18-27 for military service from April 1 to July 15 this year who are not in reserve and are subject to active duty," the document says.

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/: Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, who is currently in Moscow for consultations on bilateral relations, told TASS on Monday he hopes to return to Washington in the near future.

"I hope to be back soon," he answered a corresponding question.

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/: Documents for registration of the Sputnik Light coronavirus vaccine lodged with the Russian Health Ministry, according to the website of the state register of medicines.

Alexei Kuznetsov, an aide to the Russian health minister, told journalists on Monday, the ministry had received the Sputnik Light dossier. "The ministry’s expert organization will soon examine the vaccine’s quality, safety and efficacy. A decision will be taken afterwards," he said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said he could be locked up in solitary confinement after being accused of numerous minor infractions, and posted the first picture on Monday of himself from prison, a grainy image showing his head had been shaven.

The fate of Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critics, is in focus after he said on Thursday that being woken up by a guard every hour during the night amounted to torture and that his appeal for treatment for acute back and leg pain had been ignored.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The presidents of the European Council and the European Commission will meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey on April 6, an EU spokesman said on Monday, in the latest sign of improving ties.

The EU did not give further details of the trip by Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen. But the visit is part of a relaunch of relations approved by EU leaders last week after Turkey moved to calm a dispute over hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece’s cabinet on Monday approved a national recovery plan that it hopes will boost economic growth by as much as seven percentage points over the next six years and create tens of thousands of jobs.

Under the multi-billion euro coronavirus recovery package agreed by European Union leaders last year, Athens is to get 19.4 billion euros in grants and 12.7 billion euros in cheap loans over the coming years, equal to about 16% of its gross domestic product.

LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin jumped to a one-week high on Monday, rising as much as 4.5% to $58,300 and nearing a record high above $61,000 hit earlier this month.

Visa Inc said earlier it would allow the use of cryptocurrency to settle transactions on its payment network, the latest sign of growing acceptance of digital currencies by the mainstream financial industry.

LONDON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Another 3,862 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,333,042, according to official figures released Sunday.

The country also reported another 19 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 126,592. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.