Europe

MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/: Russia declared two staff members of Bulgaria’s Embassy in Moscow personae non gratae, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

"On October 12, Bulgarian Ambassador Atanas Krystin was invited to the Russian Foreign Ministry where he was given the ministry’s note on declaring two staff members of the Bulgarian Embassy in Moscow personae non gratae," the ministry said.

This step is "a retaliatory tit-for-tat measure," according to the ministry.

BRUSSELS, October 12. /TASS/: The EU foreign ministers have agreed on the EU’s common stance on imposing sanctions on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting in Luxembourg. A European diplomatic source informed TASS on Monday that the decision had been prompted by the Belarusian leader’s inauguration.

"The foreign ministers agreed on a common stance on adding [Belarusian] President Alexander Lukashenko to the Belarus sanctions list, given his inauguration after the election, which was not free or fair," the interlocutor said.

MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not rule out that medical professionals could be redistributed between Russia’s regions to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the event of their shortage.

He told reporters that this had been done "during the first outbreak when medical workers from Moscow visited many regions, and medical professionals from other regions were likewise sent to those areas where the situation was more complex."

BRUSSELS, October 12. /TASS/: The European Council has prolonged the sanctions regime for the use of chemical weapons for one year, until October 16, 2021, the statement published by the Council on Monday informs. Some members of the EU propose to expand the sanctions list in relation to the incident with Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny.

"The Council today decided to extend the regime allowing the EU to impose restrictive measures on persons and entities involved in the development and use of chemical weapons by one year, until 16 October 2021," the statement reads.

MOSOW, October 12. /TASS/: The system of fighting coronavirus created in Russia makes it possible to refrain from going over to a full lockdown, despite the current increase in the number of cases, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

LONDON (Reuters) - The problem of increasing COVID-19 cases in England is not limited to the north of England, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam said on Monday.

“Pretty much all areas of the UK are now seeing growth in the infection rates,” Van Tam told a government briefing, presenting the latest data on infections.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will on Monday impose a tiered system of further restrictions on parts of England as the COVID-19 outbreak accelerates, though anger is rising at the cost of the stringent curtailment of freedoms.

Johnson has chaired an emergency response committee, known as a COBRA meeting, and will then address parliament at around 1430 GMT, offering lawmakers a vote later in the week on the measures. He will then hold a press conference.

12 Oct 2020; MEMO: Iran does not, at this stage, have enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi has said.

“The Iranians continue to enrich uranium, and to a much higher degree than they have committed themselves to. And this amount is growing by the month,” Grossi added in an interview published on Saturday in the Austrian Die Presse newspaper.

12 Oct 2020; MEMO: The UK Home Office is considering using nets to prevent refugees from crossing the English Channel.

In an interview with the Telegraph, the Home Office’s clandestine channel threat commander, Dan O’Mahoney claimed the nets would ‘clog up propellers’ and ‘bring boats to a standstill’.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - U.S. academics Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson won the 2020 Nobel Economics on Monday for work on auctions hailed as benefiting buyers and sellers around the world of everything from fishing quotas to aircraft landing slots.

Among the insights of the two Stanford University economists is an explanation of how bidders seek to avoid the so-called “winner’s curse” of over-paying, and what happens when bidders gain a better understanding of their rivals’ sense of value.