Europe

MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 28,145 in the past day, a new high since the start of pandemic, and the total case count reached 2,375,546, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Thursday.

The average growth rate climbed to 1.2%.

The lowest growth rates in the past day were registered in the Nenets Autonomous Region (0.2%), the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region, the Republics of Dagestan and Mari El (0.6%).

LONDON, Dec 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Commonwealth has deployed a team of election observers to Ghana to keep watch during the country’s General Election slated for Monday next week.

The Commonwealth Observer Group is made up of politicians, diplomats and experts in law, human rights, gender and election administration from across member countries.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said the group was constituted following an invitation from the Electoral Commission of Ghana ahead of the Dec 7 election.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union diplomats said on Thursday they hoped a Brexit trade deal with Britain could be agreed by Friday or at the weekend, and EU officials said negotiators were likely to review progress in the next two days.

A British minister said he believed “good progress” was being made at talks but cautioned that London would not sign up to a deal that was not in its interest.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The promise of COVID-19 vaccines is “phenomenal” and “potentially game-changing”, Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, told a briefing on Thursday.

Speaking from Copenhagen, he said supplies were expected to be very limited in the early stages and countries must decide who gets priority, though the WHO said there is “growing consensus” that first recipients should be older people, medical workers and people with co-morbidities.

LONDON (Reuters) - Global progress toward energy efficiency has slowed to its lowest rate in 10 years due to subdued prices amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, dealing a setback to efforts to curb climate change.

“As a result of the crisis and continuing low energy prices, energy intensity is expected to improve by only 0.8% in 2020, roughly half the rates (last year)”, to levels last reached in 2010, the Paris-based watchdog said in a report.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization does not recommend countries issuing “immunity passports” for those who have recovered from COVID-19, but is investigating the prospects of using e-vaccination certificates, a WHO medical expert said on Thursday.

“We are looking very closely into the use of technology in this COVID-19 response, one of them how we can work with member states toward an e-vaccination certificate,” he told a virtual briefing in Copenhagen.

02 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Ukraine is interested in purchasing Turkey's Bayraktar UAVs and wants to carry out a joint project with Turkey through technology sharing, Ukraine's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Dmytro Kuleba expressed his appreciation for the level of dialog and dynamic in Turkish-Ukrainian ties at a news conference following a visit to the Ukraine Association in Ankara.

03 Dec 2020; MEMO:  The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories called on Wednesday for a transparent investigation into Israel's shootings at several Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, causing the children critical injuries, news agencies reported.

03 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Dozens of protesters gathered on Wednesday before the United Arab Emirates (UAE) embassy in the UK capital during a ceremony marking the occasion of UAE National Day.

The protesters indicated that while the UAE celebrates its national day and promulgates false achievements to conceal its violations, a bulk of United Nations (UN) reports have exposed the country's shocking human rights record, including the war crimes committed by the Emirati regime in Yemen, Libya and elsewhere.

Paris, Dec 3 (AP-PTI) France and the United Nations vowed Wednesday to keep providing humanitarian aid to Lebanon but urged the country's leaders to form a new government as a political deadlock in Beirut has blocked billions of dollars in assistance for the cash-strapped country hit by multiple crises.

A meeting organised via videoconference by the U.N. and France was the second since the disastrous August 4 explosion that destroyed Beirut's port and wrecked large parts of the capital.