Europe

MOSCOW, January 26. /TASS/: The "palace" on Russia’s Black Sea coast in Gelendzhik, which was described as owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a recent "investigation", belongs to one or several businessmen, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Kremlin believes it is inappropriate to reveal the names of the building owners.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff opened the door for continued deficit spending on Tuesday with a proposal to change Germany’s debt issuance law, because the government won’t be able to stick to the strict limits on borrowing for several more years.

Parliament suspended the law, enshrined in the constitution and normally restricting new federal borrowing to 0.35% of economic output, for 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is being used by the West to try to destabilise Russia, a prominent hardliner and ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, saying he must be held to account for repeatedly breaking the law.

Navalny was remanded in custody for 30 days last week after returning from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning. He could face years in jail for parole violations and other legal cases he calls trumped up.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will seek to create a bio-defence preparedness programme in the form of a public-private partnership, to prepare against the next big health crisis, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said.

The 27-nation bloc, like the rest of the world, is struggling to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic that has already killed tens of thousands and prompted economic lockdowns across Europe causing a deep recession.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch police detained more than 150 people in a third night of unrest in cities across the Netherlands, where roaming groups of rioters set fires, threw rocks and looted stores in violence triggered by a night curfew aimed at curbing the coronavirus.

The nation’s first curfew since World War Two followed a warning by the National Institute for Health (RIVM) over a new wave of infections due to the “British variant” of the virus, and was imposed despite weeks of declines in new infections.

FRANKFURT, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), said on Monday that 2021 could be a year of recovery, but that would most likely be accompanied by a "very high level of uncertainty" before achieving the transition to a "new economy".

GENEVA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases worldwide is expected to reach 100 million within this week, said the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"A year ago today, fewer than 1,500 cases of COVID-19 had been reported to WHO, including just 23 cases outside China. This week, we expect to reach 100 million reported cases," Tedros said at a WHO press briefing on Monday.

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte intends to offer his resignation on Tuesday, his office said Monday, a move seen as gamble that the embattled leader will get a fresh mandate from the president to try to forge a more viable coalition.

Conte survived two confidence votes in Parliament last week but crucially lost his absolute majority in the Senate with the defection of a centrist ally, ex-Premier Matteo Renzi. That hobbled his government’s effectiveness in the middle of the pandemic, which has devastated Italy’s long-stagnant economy.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union lashed out Monday at pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, accusing it of failing to guarantee delivery of coronavirus vaccines without valid explanation, and threatened to impose tight export controls within days on COVID-19 vaccines made in the bloc.

Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the EU, already facing heavy criticism for a slow vaccine rollout around its 27 nations, “will take any action required to protect its citizens and its rights.”

KALININGRAD, January 25. /TASS/: More than 3,000 military servicemen of the Baltic Fleet’s units are involved in the just-started large-scale routine combat training drills, the fleet’s press-service said on Monday.