Europe

MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/: The Kremlin considers the cause for sanctions against Russian high-ranking officials over the incident with blogger Alexey Navalny "more than dubious," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the RT TV channel published on Friday.

"The cause for these sanctions was more than dubious, the sanctions were unprecedented due to the questionable reason of including in them top representatives of the presidential administration," he emphasized.

MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/: The role of Russian President Vladimir Putin in resolving the conflict in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh was key, intense work that spanned many days preceded the settlement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday in an interview with RT.

"This role was key," he noted. "Many, many days of hard work preceded the signing, sometimes even round-the-clock work, it was President Putin’s work."

13 Nov 2020; MEMO: Moscow has revealed a draft agreement with Khartoum on Wednesday that allows for establishing a naval logistics base on the Sudanese coast in the Red Sea.

The proposed naval base will be able to accommodate up to 300 soldiers and employees as stipulated in the agreement, in addition to ships equipped with nuclear gear "taking into account nuclear and environmental safety requirements", provided that no more than four ships would anchor simultaneously.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Friday expressed “increasing alarm” at violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and said an alleged massacre there might amount to war crimes.

“There is a risk this situation will spiral totally out of control, leading to heavy casualties and destruction, as well as mass displacement within Ethiopia itself and across borders,” she said in a statement delivered by a Geneva-based spokesman, Rupert Colville.

LONDON (Reuters) - Dominic Cummings, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s most powerful adviser, will step down by year-end, reducing the sway of Brexit hardliners as Johnson tries to recast his premiership after a series of coronavirus failures.

Cummings, who masterminded the 2016 Brexit referendum vote and Johnson’s 2019 landslide election win, told the BBC that he wanted to be largely redundant by the end of this year, once Britain has left informal membership of the European Union.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish telecoms regulator PTS will appeal a court decision against its plan to exclude Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei from its 5G networks.

PTS on Monday halted 5G spectrum auctions after a court suspended parts of its earlier decision, in which it followed Britain in banning Huawei equipment from 5G networks, citing national security risks.

The Chinese company had appealed against PTS’ decision to exclude it, saying it wanted a court to check if it had been taken according to the law.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s economic recovery continued until October but has slowed since August, the Economy Ministry said on Friday, adding that lockdown measures implemented to slow the spread of the coronavirus hit the economy in November.

The Economy Ministry said in its monthly report that the restrictions imposed from the start of November which have seen restaurants, bars and entertainment venues such as cinemas and theatres close meant consumption was taking a hit.

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) The World Health Organisation announced on Friday that it will set up a Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India, with Prime Minister Narendra expressing confidence that just like the country has emerged as the 'pharmacy of the world', the WHO institution will become the centre for global wellness.

LONDON, Nov 12 (APP): Pakistan’s Exports to the United Kingdom (UK) during the July-September 2020-21,despite COVID-19 stood at US $ 465 million as compared to US $ 414 million achieved same period of the last fiscal year, depicting an increase of 12 percent, Economic and Trade Wing of Pakistan High Commission sources said.

MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/: About 12,000 infectious hospital beds in Moscow are occupied by patients with the novel coronavirus infection, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in an interview with the Russia-24 TV channel on Thursday.

"Over the last couple of weeks we went from 8,000 [hospital beds occupied] close to 12,000. That is, still during a week more [people] are admitted to hospitals than discharged. On some days it is different, it happens in different ways but still one has to evaluate not on a daily but on a weekly basis," the Mayor said.