Europe

MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/: The number of coronavirus-related fatalities in Russia went up by 613 in the past 24 hours, compared to 562 on the previous day, bringing the total to 45,893, the national anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters Thursday.

The provisional death rate has risen to 1.77%

In the past 24 hours, 69 patients died in St. Petersburg, followed by the Moscow Region (29), the Voronezh Region (28), the Rostov Region (26) and the Chelyabinsk Region (19).

TBILISI, December 11. /TASS/: The Georgian government has stepped down due to a new parliament convocation as required by law, the government press service told TASS Friday.

"The government resigned. From now on, the prime minister and the whole cabinet are acting [ministers]," TASS was told.

MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/:  A terrorist blew himself up trying to break into the operational activities area in Karachay-Cherkessia settlement of Uchkeken, the National Antiterrorism Committee told journalists Friday, adding that six law enforcement officer were injured in the incident.

VALDOSTA, Ga. (Reuters) - Convinced that the presidential election had been stolen from Donald Trump, the young couple from Blairsville, Georgia at first resolved to skip the state’s Jan. 5 runoffs for two U.S. Senate seats. What’s the point, they figured, of voting in another rigged election?

Then they thought better of it, setting aside their anger for the more pressing concern of keeping one of the two houses of Congress under Republican control.

“Everybody is going to vote,” said Kayla Frank, 25.

11 Dec 2020; MEMO:  The German government has extended the ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia for another year on account of the kingdom's war in Yemen, German press agency DPA reported.

The agency quoted a government spokeswoman confirming that the government has also revoked permits that had already been on hold, with the exception of weapons jointly produced with other European countries.

Brussels, Dec 11 (AP-PTI) European Union leaders early Friday gave the green light for the expansion of sanctions against Turkey over its exploration of gas reserves in Mediterranean waters claimed by EU members Greece and Cyprus.

Regrettably, Turkey has engaged in unilateral actions and provocations and escalated its rhetoric against the EU, EU member states and European leaders, they said in a statement from their summit in Brussels.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will not back down in trade talks with the European Union and will thrive even if breaking away from the bloc without a trade deal is a “choppy” ride, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said on Friday.

The United Kingdom quit the EU in January but remains an informal member until Dec. 31 when it will finally leave the bloc’s orbit after 48 years - with or without a trade agreement.

LONDON (Reuters) - With prospects for a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU looking precarious, Britain’s retail industry repeated a warning on Friday that shoppers face higher food prices from next year if new tariffs are imposed in the absence of an agreement.

Britain’s Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31. In the absence of a deal, Britain would trade with the European Union on World Trade Organisation terms, meaning new tariffs.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday there was a “strong possibility” Britain would not secure a deal.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde brokered a difficult compromise this week to secure backing for a new pandemic-fighting package of measures, but her battle to convince sceptics among her colleagues and investors has only just begun.

The ECB unveiled plans to buy an additional half trillion euros worth of bonds and give banks even larger subsidies for keeping credit flowing, in a bid to support the euro zone economy through the expected end of the coronavirus outbreak.

BRUSSELS, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of the 27 European Union (EU) member states on Thursday reached an agreement on the EU long-term budget and recovery fund, paving way for the implementation of the recovery package totaling over 1.8 trillion euros (2.19 trillion U.S. dollars) to tackle the socio-economic consequences of COVID-19 pandemic.