Europe

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 weekly case tally slightly exceeded the previous week’s figures, however, the number of active cases declined for the first time since the summer, according to TASS estimates based on the anti-coronavirus crisis center’s data.

On January 11-17, the crisis center reported 166,255 new COVID-19 cases, only 0.7% more than the week before, when 165,167 cases were confirmed.

A total of 181,542 coronavirus patients recovered, which is almost 13.5% more than the previous week.

TASS, January 17: The COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products of the Russian Academy of Sciences may enter civilian circulation in March 2021, the Center’s Deputy Director General for Project Activities and Innovation Konstantin Chernov told Vesti Nedeli news program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Our coronavirus vaccine can enter civilian circulation probably around March," he said.

PARIS (Reuters) - The European Union and the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden should suspend a trade dispute to give themselves time to find common ground, France’s foreign minister said in remarks published on Sunday.

“The issue that’s poisoning everyone is that of the price escalation and taxes on steel, digital technology, Airbus and more particularly our wine sector,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview.

BERLIN (Reuters) - People who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 should be allowed to go to restaurants and cinemas earlier than others, a German minister said, contradicting other cabinet members who have so far opposed special freedoms for those inoculated.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the state had massively restricted people’s basic rights in order to contain infections and avoid overwhelming hospitals.

“It has not yet been conclusively clarified to what extent vaccinated people can infect others,” Maas told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria will extend its COVID-19 lockdown, with the goal to start easing restrictions from Feb. 8, the government said on Sunday.

The catering sector and tourism will not be able to reopen in February, it added.

Austria, a country of 8.9 million people, is in its third lockdown, with only essential shops open. The country has reported nearly 390,000 coronavirus cases and almost 7,000 COVID-19-linked deaths since the pandemic began last year.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should not engage in free trade with countries that abuse human rights, but proposals that the country’s courts should decide whether genocide has been committed by trade partners is flawed, foreign minister Dominic Raab said.

Last week, Raab said Britain would introduce new rules for its companies to try to prevent goods linked to China’s Xinjiang region entering their supply chains.

LONDON, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Britain will host the first in-person Group of Seven (G7) summit in almost two years in June this year, according to a statement released late Saturday by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use Britain's G7 Presidency "to help the world build back better from coronavirus and create a greener, more prosperous future," said the statement.

16 Jan 2021; MEMO: At a press conference on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that Moscow hopes that the US will keep its promise and close Guantanamo Bay.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Vaccines from the West, Russia or China? Or none at all? That dilemma faces nations in southeastern Europe, where coronavirus vaccination campaigns are off to a slow start — overshadowed by heated political debates and conspiracy theories.

In countries like the Czech Republic, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania and Bulgaria, vaccine skeptics have included former presidents and even some doctors. Serbian tennis champion Novak Djokovic was among those who said he did not want to be forced to get inoculated.

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/: The techniques previously used by Washington for democratization of other countries have boomeranged on the United States, the deputy chief of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, wrote in his op-ed published by tass.com.

"The techniques previously used by Washington for democratization of other countries backfired. The cold civil war that had been raging in the US for a few months reached its climax," he said.