Europe

MINSK, January 19. /TASS/: Relations between Belarus and Russia are developing fruitfully and constructively in various areas, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said on Tuesday at a meeting with Russian Ambassador in Minsk Dmitry Mezentsev.

"The New Year has just begun. Last year, the Belarusian-Russian relations developed constructively and fruitfully. For the first time in many years, we entered the new year with resolved issues in the fuel and energy sector and reached all agreements," the Belarusian prime minister’s press service quotes him as saying.

MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus recoveries grew by 23,262 in the past 24 hours. A total of 3,002,026 people have recovered by now, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Tuesday.

According to the crisis center, recoveries have risen to 83.1% of the total number of infected individuals.

Another 2,259 patients were discharged in St. Petersburg, 1,498 in the Moscow Region, 496 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 428 in the Belgorod Region and 385 in the Sverdlovsk Region.

MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/: The Nord Stream 2 project is still facing rough pressure from the United States, while the restrictions, which are illegal from the point of view of international law, are growing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

"This international project is still facing crude, illegal pressure from the United States of America," he said.

MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/: The situation around the case of blogger Alexey Navalny and observance of his rights within the framework of legal proceedings does not require special attention of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated to journalists on Tuesday.

"This is not the situation that requires the president’s special attention," the Kremlin representative said. He added that "rights of all Russian citizens are guaranteed by laws and Russia’s overseeing agencies; this will happen in this case as well."

19 Jan 2021; MEMO: The European Union has imposed sanctions on Syria's foreign minister following his recent appointment to the role. Faisal Mekdad was added to the EU sanctions and restrictions list applicable to the Syrian regime after a decision by the European Council on Friday. He is now subject to a travel ban and having his assets frozen.

PARIS (Reuters) - Boeing’s 737 MAX airliner will receive final clearance to resume flying in Europe next week, the head of the EU’s air safety watchdog said on Tuesday.

The EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) published a draft airworthiness directive in November and has made some largely presentational changes after public consultations, Executive Director Patrick Ky said in an online media briefing.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed on Tuesday as optimism that government stimulus will eventually lift global economic growth and oil demand trumped concerns that renewed COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns globally are cooling fuel consumption.

Brent crude futures for March rose 46 cents to $55.21 a barrel by 0916 GMT after slipping 35 cents in the previous session.

“The perception that any retracement will be quick as confidence in economic and oil demand recovery is unlikely to fade away,” said PVM analysts in a note.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he is self-isolating until Sunday after receiving a warning from the health service’s COVID mobile phone app that he may have been in contact with someone who tested positive.

“Last night I was alerted by the @NHSCOVID19app to self isolate so I’ll be staying at home & not leaving at all until Sunday,” Hancock said on Twitter.

ROME (Reuters) - Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte addressed the Italian Senate on Tuesday, hoping to win over enough opposition and unaligned lawmakers to keep him in office after a junior partner quit his coalition.

Conte gave almost the same speech to the upper house as he had delivered on Monday to the Chamber of Deputies, where he won by a wider than expected margin of 321 votes to 259, securing an absolute majority.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has opened a criminal case against a police officer accused of leaking data that could have helped identify the alleged poisoners of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the RBC business daily reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

The officer could face up to 10 years in jail if found guilty of abuse of power. He was detained last month and is currently under house arrest, a court in the city of Samara told RBC.