Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe’s fight to secure COVID-19 vaccine supplies sharpened on Thursday when Britain demanded that it receive all the shots it paid for after the European Union asked AstraZeneca to divert supplies from the UK.

The EU, whose member states are far behind Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States in rolling out vaccines, is scrambling to get supplies just as the West’s biggest drugmakers slow deliveries to the bloc due to production problems.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A German court sentenced a far-right sympathiser to life imprisonment on Thursday for shooting dead a pro-immigration politician two years ago in a case that raised questions about whether Germany is doing enough to tackle right-wing radicalism.

Walter Luebcke, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, was found dead in a pool of blood outside his house in the western state of Hesse in June 2019. He had been shot in the head at close range.

28 Jan 2021; MEMO: The UK government's appointment of the Friends of Israel Initiative founder to lead review of anti-radicalisation programme "is testament of the growing anti-Muslim sentiment in Britain", the UK division of Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) said in a press release.

LONDON, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that Britain will impose mandatory hotel quarantine for arrivals returning from "red list" countries.

Travelers who return from "red list" countries will be placed in quarantine in government-designated accommodation such as hotels for 10 days, Boris Johnson told lawmakers.

It is understood that travelers will have to pay to isolate in a monitored hotel, with coronavirus testing carried out during their stay.

MOSCOW, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that the international community is facing higher risks of military conflicts as some countries may seek scapegoats for their problems.

"Unresolved and growing internal socio-economic problems can push people to look for someone to blame for all the troubles," Putin said in a speech at the World Economic Forum virtual event of the Davos Agenda.

Trade barriers, sanctions, and other restrictions are being used to pressure countries that do not agree to be "obedient," he said.

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: The issue of blogger Alexey Navalny was touched upon during a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to journalists Wednesday.

"As for this topic, yes, it was raised by the US president, and President Putin provided all necessary explanations," the spokesman said.

He refrained from answering a question whether the two presidents have a mutual understanding or vastly different positions. "We provided all necessary explanations," he reiterated.

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has exposed a clandestine cell of the Hizb-ut Tahrir terrorist organization, outlawed in Russia, in the Kaluga region, the FSB said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Federal Security Service and National Guard officers have exposed a clandestine cell of the Hizb-ut Tahrir international terrorist organization (outlawed by the Russian Supreme Court in 2003) in the Kaluga region," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: Russia confirmed 17,741 coronavirus cases in the past day, a record low since October 29, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported.

The total coronavirus caseload hit 3,774,672. The average growth rate reached 0.47%.

The lowest growth rates in the past day were registered in the Tuva Republic (0.07%), the Altai Republic (0.1%), Moscow, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, the Pskov Region, the Kostroma Region and the Republic of Khakassia (0.2%).

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: Russia and the US have agreed to extend the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) without pre-conditions, as Moscow insisted, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists on Wednesday.

"On our conditions," he said in response to a corresponding question by TASS. "For five years without pre-conditions, without any additions, without any appendices whatsoever," he added.

MOSCOW, Jan 27 (NNN-TASS) — Starting from Wednesday, Russia resumes regular air service with Vietnam, India, Finland and Qatar, suspended last year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The decision was made in mid-January by the novel coronavirus crisis center.

The center authorized flights to Vietnam (Moscow-Hanoi, twice a week), India (Moscow-New Delhi, twice a week), Finland (Moscow-Helsinki, twice a week, as well as St. Petersburg-Helsinki, twice a week) and Qatar (Moscow-Doha, thrice a week).