Europe

KIEV, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian government does not plan to introduce a complete lockdown amid the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the country, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on his Telegram page on Wednesday.

Shmyhal noted that the government will introduce stricter regulations in the event of a further deterioration of the pandemic in the country.

LONDON, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Britain and the European Union (EU) admitted on Wednesday that wide divergences remain on some difficult issues as they concluded two weeks of intensive negotiations on post-Brexit relationship.

"Progress made, but I agree with @MichelBarnier that wide divergences remain on some core issues. We continue to work to find solutions that fully respect UK sovereignty," Britain's chief negotiator David Frost wrote on Twitter.

LONDON, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- British lawmakers on Wednesday voted in favor of the government's a month-long lockdown for England by 516 votes to 38, a majority of 478.

The vote outcome paved the way for the new measures, announced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday in a bid to quell the surging coronavirus infections.

The approval came as scientists warned the British National Health Service (NHS) would be overwhelmed with thousands more deaths unless action is taken.

ROME (AP) — Four Italian regions are being put under “red-zone” lockdown, with severe limits imposed on the circumstances under which people can leave home, Premier Giuseppe Conte announced on Wednesday night.

What he called “very stringent” restrictions begin on Friday for Lombardy, Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta in the north, and for Calabria, which forms the southern toe of the Italian peninsula.

MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/: Bitcoin increased by 2% and climbed above $14,000 for the second time in less than a week, according to CoinDesk data.

It was noted that the cryptocurrency also exceeded the $14,000 mark on October 31, 2020.

From 04:00 to 08:00 Moscow time, bitcoin was within the range of $13,700 - 13,900. By 08:13 Moscow time, the cryptocurrency was at $13,932.

Bitcoin rises in price amid expectations of the outcome of the US presidential election. Bitcoin last traded above $14,000 in mid-January 2018.

YEREVAN, November 4. /TASS/: The Azerbaijani armed forces fired at the city of Shusha in Nagorno-Karabakh using heavy guns, which resulted in casualties and destruction, the Armenian Single Information Center reported on Wednesday.

"The Azerbaijani Armed Forces fired at Shusha from heavy guns. There are casualties among the civilians, and there are a lot of destruction in the city," the statement said.

MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/: The number of coronavirus cases in Russia increased by 19,768 over the past day, this is the maximum figure for the entire run of the pandemic. The total number of cases has risen to 1,693,454, according to the operational headquarters for the control and monitoring of the situation with coronavirus.

In relative terms, according to the headquarters, the growth rate rose to 1.2%.

MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/: Moscow will do everything possible to end the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with religious leaders on Wednesday.

"You know that Russia is doing everything in its power to make sure that the conflict in the South Caucasus ends as soon as possible, as well as to protect the lives of people who are unfortunately looking at each other down the barrel of a gun and are using weapons against each other," Putin pointed out.

LONDON (Reuters) - Facebook Inc FB.O and Twitter Inc TWTR.N flagged some of President Donald Trump's posts on the U.S. election as votes were still being counted, in a real-time test of their rules on handling misinformation and premature claims of victory.

The two companies have been under fierce scrutiny over how they police rapidly spreading false information and election-related abuses of their platforms. In the weeks before Tuesday’s vote, both vowed action on posts by candidates trying to declare early victory.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain looks on course to enter a double-dip recession this winter, as business surveys show economic growth almost halted last month even before the latest England-wide lockdown was announced, financial data company IHS Markit said.

The IHS Markit/CIPS services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to a four-month low of 51.4 in October from 56.1 in September, closer to the 50 mark that represents zero growth than an initial reading of 52.3.