Europe

MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/: The world is a step away from introducing COVID-19 vaccines, which are crucial today for ensuring quality healthcare, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Russia Melita Vujnovic said on Monday during the Russian Scientific and Practical Conference with international participation "Medicine and Quality 2020". The conference is held online.

MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/: The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Russia over the past 24 hours has increased by 28,142, bringing the total to 2,488,912, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told journalists on Monday.

On Sunday, 29,039 daily infections were detected which was the highest since the beginning of the pandemic.

On average, according to TASS’ calculations, over the past seven days in Russia 18.8 cases of the infection per 100,000 residents have been detected daily, a day earlier this value was at 18.6.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Monday as the positive impact from COVID-19 vaccines and an OPEC+ deal on oil production cuts was undermined by surging coronavirus cases and heightened tensions between the United States and China.

Brent crude fell 76 cents, or 1.5%, to $48.49 a barrel by 0911 GMT. U.S. crude was down 82 cents, or 1.8%, at $45.44.

PARIS (Reuters) -France, Germany and Britain said on Monday they were alarmed by an Iranian announcement that it intended to install additional, advanced uranium-enriching centrifuges and by legislation that could expand its nuclear programme.

“If Iran is serious about preserving a space for diplomacy, it must not implement these steps,” the three powers, who along with China and Russia are party to a 2015 nuclear containment deal with Tehran, known as the JCPoA, said in a joint statement.

PARIS (Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi begins on Monday a visit to France to underscore close ties, but with a renewed crackdown on political dissent at home, the trip has overshadowed French efforts to nurture their security and business relationship.

With both countries concerned by the political vacuum in Libya, instability across the region and the threat from jihadist groups in Egypt, they have cultivated closer economic and military ties during Sisi’s rise to power.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers evaluated grounds on Monday for sanctions against Turkey over a Mediterranean gas dispute before the bloc’s leaders decide at a summit on Dec. 10-11 whether to make good on their threat to impose punitive measures.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his country would not “bow down to threats and blackmail” but repeated his call for negotiations over the conflicting claims to continental shelves and rights to potential energy resources.

BRUSSELS, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The globe has experienced the hottest November on record, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said in a report on Monday.

After analyzing surface and air temperatures, the service managed by the European Commission found that November 2020 was 0.8 degree Celcius warmer than the average for 1981-2010, 0.1 degree Celcius above the previous record.

BUCHAREST, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Romania's main opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) is likely to win the most votes in the country's quadrennial parliamentary election on Sunday, according to a surprising exit poll jointly launched by poll agencies CURS and Avangarde as voting ended at 9:00 p.m. local time (1900 GMT).

PARIS (AP) — Hoping to strengthen its funding, the World Health Organization is appointing a CEO to a foundation intended to bring in more private donations, which should leave the global health body less vulnerable if a country withdraws or cuts funding as the United States did.

Anil Soni will join the new WHO Foundation in January after eight years with the multinational pharmaceutical Viatris.

BRUSSELS (AP) — One of the most intense days in the long-running Brexit trade negotiations started off with little good news about any progress Monday, with the United Kingdom and the European Union seemingly still stuck on the same issues that have dogged the standoff for months.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier held a pre-dawn briefing with ambassadors of the 27 member states to see if a deal is still possible with London ahead of the Jan. 1 deadline, but had no news of a breakthrough.