Europe

MOSCOW, February 15./TASS/: The World Health Organization reported 300,500 new coronavirus cases across the globe in the past 24 hours, which is the lowest figure in the past four months. The previous record low of 291,200 COVID-19 cases was recorded on October 7, 2020.

Europe once again is reporting the largest amount of new cases, accounting for more than half of the world’s new daily infections, with 122,500 incidences. North and South America saw 115,600 new cases.

TASS has set out to weigh the pace of the decline in various countries.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/: Russia’s low-cost airline Pobeda will resume flights to Italy’s Bergamo starting March 26, the company said in its mailout to passengers.

"Pobeda is resuming flights to Milan (Bergamo). Moscow-Milan (Bergamo) flights will be performed from March 26, 2021, on Fridays," the company said.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/: The Kremlin considers the offer made by Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla, to talk to Putin on the Clubhouse social network interesting, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. However, this offer should be considered in detail first, he added.

"We want to make sense of it first. Putin himself does not use social networks, he doesn’t have any personal accounts," the spokesman told reporters.

MOSCOW, Feb 15 (NNN-TASS) – Russia officially restores air services with Armenia and Azerbaijan, starting today, previously suspended due to the pandemic. The decision was officially announced by the Russian government on Feb 3.

Airlines of both republics now can carry out two flights per week from Moscow to Baku, and four times per week from Moscow to Yerevan. Russia’s Aeroflot announced its plans to carry out four flights per week to Yerevan, starting today (Feb 15), and two flights per week to Baku, starting Feb 17.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices soared on Monday to their highest in about 13 months as vaccine rollouts promised to revive demand and producers kept supply reined in.

Brent crude was up 77 cents, or 1.2%, at $63.20 a barrel at 0955 GMT, after climbing to a session high of $63.76, the highest since Jan. 22, 2020.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.04, or 1.8 %, to $60.51 a barrel. It touched $60.95 - its highest since Jan. 8 last year, earlier in the session.

Oil prices gained around 5% last week.

LONDON, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure to lift all COVID-19 lockdowns in two and a half months as lockdown-sceptic Tories called on him to commit to a timetable for easing the restrictions with a complete end to controls by the end of April.

In a letter to the prime minister, leaders of the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) said the "tremendous pace" of the vaccination rollout means restrictions in England should begin easing from early March, the London-based Evening Standard newspaper reported on Sunday.

Barcelona, Feb 15 (AP-PTI) The pro-union Socialist Party claimed a narrow win in regional elections in Catalonia late Sunday, but the bloc of parties supporting secession by Spain's northeastern corner widened their control of the regional parliament.

With 99 per cent of the votes counted, the three main parties pledging to carve out an independent Catalan state increased their number of seats in the regional parliament to 74. In 2017, those same parties won 70 seats of the 135-seat chamber, just two above the majority.

PARIS (AP) — Activists rallied Sunday in Paris to demand that the French government abandon a bill aimed at rooting out Islamist extremism that the protesters say could trample on religious freedom and make all Muslims into potential suspects.

French lawmakers hold a key vote Tuesday on the draft law, which is expected to win approval in both houses of parliament. The legislative debate comes amid lingering fears of extremist violence after an Islamic radical beheaded a history teacher and other recent attacks.

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech government on Sunday re-declared a state of emergency for next two weeks to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in one of the European Union’s hardest-hit nations.

The decision comes in defiance of the lower house of Parliament, which has refused the minority government’s request to extend the powerful tool that gives the Cabinet the extra powers needed to impose nationwide restrictions and limit people’s travel and rights.

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/: Moscow plans to foster relations with Japan, but won’t take any steps that run counter to Russia’s Constitution, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a meeting with editors-in-chief of Russian media outlets, aired by the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Sunday.

"We want to develop ties with Japan and we will do this. But we won’t do anything that runs counter to the key law of the Russian Federation," the president said at a meeting broadcast in the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin TV program.