Europe

DUESSELDORF/BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court on Thursday referred a patent licensing dispute between Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia and German carmaker Daimler to the European Court of Justice to clarify the law as it applies to supply chains.

The Duesseldorf Regional Court said it would suspend proceedings in Nokia’s fight against Daimler over royalties for technology used in navigation systems, vehicle communications and self-driving cars.

LONDON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The British economy is forecast to shrink by 11.3 percent this year, the worst recession in more than 300 years in the country as a result of the coronavirus crisis, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said Wednesday.

The chancellor told British lawmakers that the Office of Budget of Responsibility (OBR) did not expect the economy to return to its pre-coronavirus levels until the end of 2022.

BRUSSELS (AP) — In a global push to end violence against women, activists held rallies Wednesday and world leaders called for action to stop the abuse, which has worsened because of the coronavirus pandemic this year.

Protests from France to Ukraine were held on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to draw attention to domestic violence in what is an uphill struggle to protect millions of women killed or abused every year by their partners and close relatives.

LONDON (AP) — AstraZeneca and Oxford University on Wednesday acknowledged a manufacturing error that is raising questions about preliminary results of their experimental COVID-19 vaccine.

A statement describing the error came days after the company and the university described the shots as “highly effective” and made no mention of why some study participants didn’t receive as much vaccine in the first of two shots as expected.

MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/: The Lotos air-droppable self-propelled artillery gun developed by the Central Research Institute for Precision Machine-Building (TsNIITochMash, part of the state tech corporation Rostec) for the Airborne Force and mounted on the chassis of the BMD-4M airborne infantry fighting vehicle has passed acceptance trials, Rostec announced on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/: Russia is interested in resuming full bilateral cooperation with Libya in all areas, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Speaker of Libya’s Chamber of Representatives Aguila Saleh Issa, who arrived in Moscow on an official visit on Tuesday.

VLADIVOSTOK, November 25. /TASS/: The Project 20380 latest corvette Aldar Tsydenzhapov built for Russia’s Pacific Fleet conducted its first launch of an Uran cruise missile against a naval target in the Peter the Great Gulf in the Primorye Region, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/: Russia’s Federal Security Service has detained several militants of the Islamic State terror group (outlawed in Russia), who plotted terror attacks in the Moscow Region.

According to a video posted by the FSB Public Relations Center, five people were held and one of them pleaded guilty. "Do you acknowledge your guilt?" an FSB officer asked him. "Yes," the detained man said.

MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/: As many as 507 coronavirus deaths were recorded in Russia in the past 24 hours, up from 491 the day before, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Wednesday.

The coronavirus death toll has climbed to 37,538.

According to data from the crisis center, 1.74% of coronavirus patients have died in Russia.

In particular, 21 deaths were recorded in the Krasnoyarsk region, 15 in the Rostov region and 11 in the Perm region. The Omsk and Nizhny Novgorod regions reported 12 fatalities each.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose for a fourth straight session on Wednesday as the market shrugged off an industry report showing U.S. crude stockpiles rose more than expected, extending a rally driven by hopes that a COVID-19 vaccine will boost fuel demand.

Brent crude was up ‮30‬ cents, or ‮0.6‬%, at $48.‮16‬ a barrel by ‮1211‬ GMT, having risen almost 4% in the previous session.

West Texas Intermediate crude gained 24 cents, or 0.5%, to $45.15, after rising more than 4% on Tuesday.