Europe

MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/: Configuration and orbit of a new orbital station being developed in Russia are being currently discussed at the Roscosmos space agency, state corporation’s General Director Dmitry Rogozin said.

"We are discussing configuration and orbit of a new station," he wrote on his Facebook page in response to a question of one of the users whether there were plans of development of the station’s base module.

MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/: Oil has spilled into the Ob River in the Khanty-Mansi Region (Yugra) located in Western Siberia, and the source of water pollution is being established, the head of the regional branch of the Federal Supervisory Natural Resources Management Service, told TASS on Saturday.

"Yes, there is such a fact. Search teams are working. There are two pipes of different companies and it is being established which of them [caused the spill]," Sergei Pikunov said when asked about an oil spill into the Ob River floodplain.

MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/: Many representatives of diplomatic community in Vienna as well as members of various international organizations have displayed interest in inoculation with Russian preparations, Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov stated on Sunday.

PARIS, March 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The novel coronavirus has killed at least 2,581,034 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019.

At least 116,031,470 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.

LONDON (Reuters) - The reopening of England’s schools to all pupils on Monday will mark the first step back towards normality, and is only possible because of the efforts of the public to bring COVID-19 infection rates down, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

Johnson has announced a roadmap for lifting lockdown measures that sees schools open first, followed in later stages by the gradual easing of restrictions on mixing with other people and the re-opening of non-essential shops and other venues.

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government is facing criticism for hiring consulting giant McKinsey to help it rewrite plans for spending the European Union funds aimed at rebuilding the economy.

The government said on Saturday it had signed a 25,000 euro ($30,000) contract with McKinsey to look at the issue. It did not give details of how much work the firm would do, but the sum is very small by the standards of consulting firm costs.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish police on Saturday dispersed hundreds of people who had gathered in central Stockholm to protest coronavirus restrictions set by the Swedish government.

Swedish authorities said the demonstration — the first major protest against the country’s coronavirus restrictions — was illegal as it was held without permission.

Stockholm police said on their website they decided to cut short the gathering just after it started when the number of participants exceeded the limits for public gatherings under Sweden’s pandemic laws.

BERLIN (AP) — Swiss voters decide Sunday on a proposal to ban face coverings, both the niqabs and burqas worn by a few Muslim women in the country and the ski masks and bandannas used by protesters. Polls are pointing to a close outcome.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s boast in August that it was the first country to authorize a coronavirus vaccine led to skepticism at the time because of its insufficient testing. Six months later, as demand for the Sputnik V vaccine grows, experts are raising questions again — this time, over whether Moscow can keep up with all the orders from the countries that want it.

MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/: The coronavirus situation in Russia is improving, the World Health Organization’s Representative to Russia, Melita Vujnovic, has said.

"For the second week in a row, fewer than 1 million new cases are recorded in the WHO European Region, to which Russia belongs, the transmission of the infection in the regions continues to slow down. The decrease in the number of new cases over the past month is due to those countries, which take steps in public healthcare and the social sphere, and the Russian Federation is among them," she said.