Europe

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -A Swedish appeals court on Wednesday said telecoms regulator PTS would be able to conduct 5G spectrum auctions, setting aside an earlier ruling, though it remained an option for Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei to appeal the decision.

PTS said last month it was halting 5G spectrum auctions and appealing a court decision to suspend parts of its earlier decision, in which it followed Britain in banning Huawei equipment from 5G networks, citing national security risks.

LONDON (Reuters) -Nearly 140,000 people in the United Kingdom have received their first COVID-19 shots in the first week of roll-out of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the minister in charge of the programme said on Wednesday.

The vaccine was approved for emergency use two weeks ago, with rollout commencing on Dec 8, making Britain the first country to deploy the shot outside of clinical trials.

LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday on a weakening dollar and progress on the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, though gains were capped by a surprise gain in U.S. crude inventories and tighter coronavirus lockdowns in Europe.

Brent crude futures rose 25 cents, or 0.5%, to $51.01 a barrel by 1017 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 21 cents, or 0.4%, at $47.83.

London, Dec 16, IRNA - Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Kazem Gharibabadi expressed concern over US decision to conduct nuclear explosion tests, saying it will jeopardize non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and international peace and security.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The World Bank expects Russia’s economy to start recovering in 2021, at a pace that may depend on the impact of a COVID-19 vaccine, but has said “the worst may still lie ahead” for Russian banks.

Russia’s commodity-dependent economy has been hit this year by a plunge in prices for oil, its main export, and by the impact of the new coronavirus, with lockdowns slowing business activity.

16 Dec 2020; MEMO: The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed regret after two assistants of the military attaché at the Sudanese embassy in London applied for political asylum in the UK following the termination of their missions.

15 Dec 2020; MEMO: Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) has revealed that China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Syria are the world's biggest jailers of journalists for the second year.

In a report the organisation stated that the number of journalists in prison this year is just two less than it was this time last year, when the number stood at 389.

15 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Over 100 Muslim scholars and organisations in Britain have signed an open letter calling upon the ambassadors of the UAE and Bahrain to demand they withdraw from sharing a platform with a Nakba denier, Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli Ambassador.

Paris, Dec 15 (AP-PTI) French President Emmanuel Macron announced a referendum to add the fight against climate change and the need to preserve the environment into the French Constitution.

Speaking on Monday to a citizen's group in charge of making proposals on climate-related issues, Macron proposed a change in the constitution that requires a parliamentary vote, and then a referendum.

MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/: Two launches of Russia’s latest Angara carrier rocket are planned for 2021, Chief of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin announced on Monday.

"Two launches next year," the Roscosmos chief wrote on Twitter, without specifying the rocket’s modifications.

The Roscosmos head told TASS in August that the 2021 plan envisaged the launch of heavy Angara-A5 rocket No. 3 with a new Persei booster and a light Angara-1.2 launch vehicle. He also said that a fourth Angara heavy carrier rocket would be ready in 2021.