Europe

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: Russia’s emergencies ministry has confirmed that a fishing trawler with a crew of ten has lost way in the Barents Sea.

"On February 21, we received information that the main engine of the Polaris № МК0355 small trawler has failed in the Barents Sea, near the Rybachy Peninsula in the Murmansk region, were it was fishing. The trawler has a crew of ten," the press service of the Russian emergencies ministry told TASS on Sunday.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: Russia’s Vector State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology has received more than 45 inquiries from foreign countries for tests and possible production of its anti-coronavirus vaccine, Epivaccorona, the Center’s director, Rinat Maksyutov said on Sunday.

BERLIN, February 22. /TASS/: Nord Stream 2 AG, the project operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, has filed a request to the German federal navigation and hydrographic authority (BSH) for the immediate entry into force of the earlier issued permit to construct the gas pipeline in German waters, NDR radio station reports.

A regulator’s spokesperson confirmed receipt of the request and noted that "it is under review." No information has been provided so far regarding the time when the authority will decide upon the request.

MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/: The price of Bitcoin gained 1.97% during the trading session to the level of $58,100, according to CoinDesk portal data.

The Bitcoin price set a new all-time high record.

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency invented in 2008 by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without intermediaries.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday as the slow return of U.S. crude output cut by frigid conditions served as a reminder of the tight supply situation, just as demand recovers from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brent crude was up 33 cents, or 0.5%, at $63.24 a barrel by 0945 GMT, after gaining nearly 1% last week. U.S. oil rose 23 cents, or 0.4%, to $59.47 a barrel, having fallen 0.4% last week.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission on Monday announced three flagship projects - in drone technologies, space communication and space traffic management - aimed at giving the 27-country bloc a competitive edge in these new fields.

Called the Action Plan on Synergies between the civil, defence and space industries, the scheme’s objective is to harness research and innovation in the three sectors for the projects and other ventures.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A former Nazi concentration camp guard who lived in the United States for over 60 years returned to Germany on Saturday after being expelled, a police spokesman said.

The 95-year-old man faces questioning by local police after arriving at Frankfurt airport. He was not arrested. U.S. Justice Department officials have named him as Friedrich Karl Berger, while Germany authorities refer to him only as Friedrich Karl B.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - An incident involving a Boeing 747-400 cargo plane that dropped engine parts shortly after take-off from Maastricht airport on Saturday is under investigation, the Dutch Safety Board said.

The cargo plane, flight 5504, scattered small metal parts over the southern Dutch town of Meerssen, causing damage and injuring a woman, Maastricht Airport spokeswoman Hella Hendriks said.

GENEVA (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called on Monday for salvaging the 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and world powers which he said was in Tehran’s interest.

Addressing the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, he noted the Biden’s administration’s stated readiness to rejoin the pact, adding: “It is in Iran’s best interest to change course now, before the agreement is damaged beyond repair.”

LONDON, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged that every adult in Britain will be given a jab of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of July, local media reported Sunday.

"We will now aim to offer a jab to every adult by the end of July, helping us protect the most vulnerable sooner, and take further steps to ease some of the restrictions in place," Johnson told Sky News.

The British government has previously set a target to offer vaccines to all adults by September.