Europe

LONDON - The OPEC+ alliance will ensure oil prices do not plunge steeply again when it meets to set policy at the end of November, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said on Thursday.

He was answering a question about whether there was room in for a planned increase in oil output from January by OPEC+, a grouping that includes OPEC states, Russia and other allies.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union imposed sanctions on top Russian officials close to President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in an unexpectedly robust and swift response to the August poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Pushed by France and Germany, where Navalny was treated after collapsing on a flight from Siberia, the EU targeted six Russians and a state scientific research centre, according to the bloc’s Official Journal.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission urged member nations on Thursday to step up preparations against the new surge of coronavirus infections and recommended common measures to roll out vaccines should they become available.

With new cases hitting about 100,000 daily, Europe has by a wide margin overtaken the United States, where an average of more than 51,000 COVID-19 infections is reported every day.

“Time is running out,” said EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, urging greater coordination in tracing infections.

ROME, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) and China must continue to cooperate in the fields of science, research and innovation in order to tackle global issues such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, experts from industries and institutions agreed during an online panel discussion held on Wednesday.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new strategy for combating COVID-19 seemed to unravel Wednesday as regional leaders chose their own paths and the mayors of the cities facing the toughest restrictions accused Johnson of using the crisis to divide them for political advantage.

BURGAS, Bulgaria (AP) — In Bulgaria, Roma communities were sprayed with disinfectant from crop dusters this spring as coronavirus cases surged in the country. In Slovakia, their villages were the only ones where the army conducted testing. And across Central and Eastern Europe, reports of police using excessive force against Roma spiked as officers were deployed to enforce lockdowns in their towns.

LONDON Oct 14 (APP): Pakistan Army team won the International Pace Sticking Competition held at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, United Kingdom (UK)
on October 13, 2020.

A statement of Pakistan High Commission London issued here said, while displaying the highest standards of drill, turnout and discipline, the team from Pakistan Military Academy won this competition for the third consecutive time.

This year 9 teams took part in the competition, the statement added.

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/: Russian military agencies are checking data on an affected object in Armenian territory, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/: Considering the decisions by the operational headquarters, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order on the resumption of air service with Serbia, Cuba and Japan on a reciprocal basis, an official at the headquarters announced on Wednesday.

Flights Moscow-Belgrade, Moscow-Cayo Coco and Moscow-Santa Clara will be operated twice a week. Three flights will fly to Japan from November 1: two from Moscow to Tokyo and one from Vladivostok to Tokyo.

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/: Russia is for continuing a constructive dialogue with the West, but for the time being it has met with no understanding, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Wednesday.

"The Kremlin sees the need for and usefulness of this dialogue. The Kremlin has systematically pressed for resuming and continuing this dialogue, based on mutual respect. But it is impossible to tango solo," Peskov said.

He stressed that "Russia was not the initiator of curtailing dialogue with its Western partners on all possible tracks."