Europe

GENEVA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- A total of 184 countries and economies have now joined COVAX, an international initiative co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners to ensure effective and equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines, the WHO chief announced on Monday.

"COVAX represents the largest portfolio of potential COVID-19 vaccines and the most effective way to share safe and effective vaccines equitably across the world," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a virtual press conference.

MURMANSK, October 19. /TASS/: The Northern Fleet’s large anti-submarine warfare ship Vice-Admiral Kulakov and support vessels called at a Greek port to replenish supplies and make ceremonial visits, the Fleet’s press office announced on Monday.

"Today the large anti-submarine warfare ship Vice-Admiral Kulakov, the medium sea tanker Akademik Pashin and the rescue tug Altai made a business call at the Greek port of Piraeus as part of their long-distance deployment missions," the press office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/: The new Russian private space firm Success Rockets is planning to create three satellite constellations of various designation, with one of them to comprise over 500 satellites, according to the company’s presentation obtained by TASS on Monday.

MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/: Aeroflot will resume flights from Moscow to Tokyo on November 5, the airline said. The carrier will also increase the number of flights to Belarus, Switzerland and the Maldives.

"From November 5, regular flights to Japan will resume. The first flight to Tokyo is scheduled for November 5, 2020, flights at the first stage will be operated once a week, then twice a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays (back on Saturdays and Sundays)," the airline said in a statement.

MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/: Russia ranks 43rd in the world in the coronavirus incidence rate per 100,000 residents and 105th in the COVID-19 mortality rate, deputy head of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Elena Yezhlova said.

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union wants a Brexit trade deal with Britain and will work until the last minute to get a fair agreement, though not at any cost, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said on Monday.

“It has to be a fair agreement for both sides - we are not going to sign an agreement at any cost,” Sefcovic told reporters after a meeting with Britain’s Brexit supremo Michael Gove in London.

“The European Union is ready to work until the last minute for a good agreement for both parties,” Sefcovic said.

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain said on Monday the door was still open if the European Union wanted to make some small concessions to save Brexit trade talks, but that unless the bloc budged there would be a no-deal exit in 10 weeks.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday there was no point in continuing talks and it was time to prepare for a no-deal departure when Britain’s informal EU membership - known as the transition period - ends on Dec. 31.

BERLIN (Reuters) - German companies should diversify to other Asian markets beyond China to be less dependent on single supply chains which the pandemic has shown were vulnerable to interruption, economy minister Peter Altmaier said.

Trade between the two exporting and manufacturing powerhouses has led in recent years to China becoming Germany’s most important non-European supplier and its second most important export market.

But Altmaier told a business conference that the coronavirus outbreak had shown that supply chains were often one-sided and created dependencies.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that Moscow hoped talks with the United States would continue despite Washington rejecting a Russian proposal to unconditionally extend the last treaty limiting the two countries’ strategic nuclear weapons.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the demise of the New START accord, which was signed in 2010 and is due to expire in February, would have “harmful” consequences.

BRUSSELS, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- A pan-European telecoms association has warned against banning Chinese equipment vendors, saying that the consequences would be costs increase and delay of 5G networks deployment.

In a recent statement, the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) said it "denounces any bans of Chinese 5G suppliers for geopolitical reasons and emphasizes that such decisions can only be justified on the basis of well-established facts."