Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said reopening schools in September was a social, economic and moral imperative and insisted they would be able to operate safely despite the ongoing threat from the pandemic.

His comments follow a study earlier this month which warned that Britain risks a second wave of COVID-19 this winter twice as large as the initial outbreak if schools open without an improved test-and-trace system.

BRUSSELS, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) starts on Saturday to allow travelers from eleven non-EU countries to enter its external border, after removing Morocco from its latest "safe list".

According to the COVID-19 situation monitored by the World Health Organization, as of Saturday Morocco reported 30,662 cases, with 1,018 new infections. A total of 461 people have died due to the virus in the country, 12 of them being newly confirmed.

MOSCOW, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. efforts to clamp down on popular short video-sharing app TikTok are an "egregious" example of unfair economic competition for U.S. dominance in the international information space, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Saturday.

"The actions of the U.S. authorities run counter to the basic principles of a free market economy and violate rules of the World Trade Organization," Zakharova said in a commentary posted on the foreign ministry's website.

MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/: The number of registered terrorism-and extremism-related crimes in Russia grew in the first half of this year, the Prosecutor-General’s Office has said.

"It is noteworthy that the number of terrorism-related crimes grew by 21.7%. Most of them were committed in the North Caucasus Federal District (550 out of 1,183)," its report said.

MINSK, August 8. /TASS/: Belarusian law enforcement officers detained several participants of a solidarity rally in central Minsk, the unregistered Vesna human rights center said on Saturday.

"Participants of traditional bicycle rallies of solidarity are being detained in Minsk," the statement says, adding that four people have been detained so far.

Belarusian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova did not comment on the report. However, she rejected information released via Telegram channels that a cycler was allegedly hit by a police car.

MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/: Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has described the events in Abkhazia and South Ossetia of 12 years ago "when Russia responded to the criminal behavior of the then president of Georgia" as "essentially a declaration of war on the Russian Federation."

TARAMCHUK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine wants to build on a lull in fighting in the eastern Donbass region to push for a lasting peace settlement at a new round of four-way talks with Russia, France and Germany, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Reuters.

Dressed in a T-shirt and khaki trousers, Zelenskiy was speaking on a visit to the area on the 12th day of what Kyiv hopes will be a permanent ceasefire agreed with Russian-backed forces on July 27.

(Reuters) - UK ministers are considering blocking migrant boats in the English Channel before they can enter British waters in a desperate effort to stem rising numbers of crossings, The Times newspaper reported.

The approach being considered is modeled on tactics used by Australia against migrants and could involve the Royal Navy and Border Force intercepting vessels as they leave French waters, according to the newspaper.

ROME, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Italy's cabinet on Friday gave green light to a new decree containing new supportive measures worth 25 billion euros (29.4 billion U.S. dollars) to address the COVID-19 emergency and encourage economic recovery.

The decision on the extra spending had been taken by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's cabinet in a previous meeting on July 23 and authorized by parliament on July 29.

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — As Kseniya Milya’s grandfather lay dying of COVID-19 at a hospital in Belarus’ capital of Minsk, the country’s authoritarian leader was blithely dismissing the pandemic as “psychosis,” and recommending an unusual remedy: Have a regular shot of vodka and work hard in the fields.