Europe

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/: Russia’s military transport planes Ilyushin-76 and Antonov-124 have delivered to Armenia 64 motor vehicles and other equipment, including armored personnel carriers and trucks, over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry’s press service said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/: The main achievement of the ceasefire in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh is the fact that "cannons are silent", according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"We need to ask military experts," he said when asked how the Kremlin evaluates the first week of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace. "However, we primarily need to focus on the fact that cannons are silent. This is the main achievement. People are not dying. This is the most valuable thing there can be."

BRUSSELS, Nov 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A top EU diplomat warned it was getting dangerously late to secure a post-Brexit trade deal as a week of crucial talks began in Brussels.

The clock is ticking down to Dec 31 when a post-Brexit transition phase ends and the UK and Europe will need a trade deal to govern ties — or face economic chaos.

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost met again in Brussels in hopes of reaching an agreement after eight months of mostly fruitless talks.

YEREVAN, Nov 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan resigned from his post in a sign of political fall-out in the ex-Soviet republic after a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that locked in territorial gains for Azerbaijan.

Mnatsakanyan, whose departure was announced Monday by the ministry’s spokeswoman on its Facebook page, had held the position since May 2018.

BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Joe Biden may revise plans for a major troop drawdown from Germany announced by the administration of President Donald Trump over the summer, German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Tuesday.

“During the election campaign, we heard from the Democrats that they aim to look into these plans again very thoroughly,” the minister said.

“At least there is a chance the plans will be changed. We’ll have to see whether this means that the decision will be completely revoked or only adjusted in certain parts.”

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC and its allies hold a ministerial committee meeting on Tuesday to look at adjusting plans for oil supply cuts next year as the coronavirus crisis continues to drive down demand.

The group known as OPEC+, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and others, are now due to wind down cuts that now stand at 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) to 5.7 million bpd from January.

GENEVA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) believes that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement signed among its 15 participating countries could give a significant boost to foreign direct investment in the region.

17 Nov 2020; MEMO: Germany's Public Prosecutor General (GBA) said on Monday charges of espionage have been filed against an Egyptian-born German citizen who worked at the German government press office and gathered information for an Egyptian intelligence agency, Reuters reports.

The GBA said the man, identified only as Amin K. under German privacy laws, had been working at the press office since 1999 and was hired by the Egyptian embassy in Berlin in 2010 "at the latest".

GENEVA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that it's "extremely concerned" by the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in some countries, particularly in Europe and the Americas.

"Right now we are extremely concerned by the surge in cases we're seeing in some countries. Particularly in Europe and the Americas, health workers and health systems are being pushed to the breaking point," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing.

LONDON (AP) — British airline easyJet has posted its first full-year loss in its 25-year history as a result of the coronavirus pandemic but laid out hope that the rollout of vaccines will help it bounce back strongly next year.

The airline reported Tuesday a pretax loss of 1.27 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) for the year through September as passenger numbers halved to 48.1 million. The summer was particularly tough, with the airline flying just 38% of its planned capacity during the peak holiday season.