Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - At the edge of the desert in North Khorasan province in northeast Iran, near the country’s largest deposit of bauxite, sits an aluminium production complex that the government has publicly hailed as a key part of its efforts to boost output of the metal.

LONDON (Reuters) - British transport minister Grant Shapps said he would say more on June 29 about possible air bridges with other countries to enable travel during the coronavirus crisis, adding that conversations were ongoing.

Britons hoping to go on holiday and airlines are putting pressure on the government to drop a quarantine on those returning to Britain or to form air bridges, where two countries agree to allow travel without such measures.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union (EU) hopes to reopen borders for outsiders from July, but will review individual nations’ COVID-19 situation fortnightly, according to diplomats and a document laying out criteria that could keep Americans and Russians out.

The 27-nation bloc is eager to restart tourism, which has taken a massive hit during the coronavirus pandemic, but fears of second spikes have so far only allowed for partial and patchy reopening of borders with multiple health and security curbs.

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine is opening more of its hospitals to coronavirus cases as the institutions initially chosen to accept patients no longer have enough beds to cope with a surge in infections, the health minister said on Wednesday.

The daily rise of coronavirus cases hit a new high of 940 on Wednesday, bringing the total to 39,014, with 1,051 deaths. Most new cases were registered in west Ukraine and the capital.

HAGUE, June 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) said “grave errors” were made in acquittal last year of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo, as they began their bid to overturn the decision at an appeals hearing on Monday.

The ICC, the world’s first permanent war crimes court, said in January last year that prosecutors had failed to prove any case against Gbagbo.

LONDON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday that the current 2-meter social distancing rule will be loosened from July 4 to "1 meter plus" in England so as to further ease the coronavirus lockdown.

Following a review, the prime minister set out the guidance that allows people to keep a social distance of "1 meter plus" where it is not possible to stay 2 meters apart.

This means staying 1 meter apart, plus mitigations which reduce the risk of transmission, according to a statement from 10 Downing Street.

LISBON, June 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Portugal’s government has tightened the lockdown in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in an effort to bring a series of coronavirus outbreaks under control.

From today the limit on outdoor gatherings is back down to 10, from the national maximum of 20.

All shops must close by 20:00 and restaurants may not serve alcohol after that hour, while drinking in all other public places is banned.

The measures were approved at an online cabinet meeting last night, after a meeting between the Prime Minister António Costa and Lisbon area mayors.

LONDON, June 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson said pubs, restaurants and hotels could reopen in England early next month, easing the coronavirus lockdown that has all but shut the economy.

In other signs of a gradual return to normal life, hairdressers will also open again, along with tourist attractions like theme parks, but nightclubs, indoor gyms, and swimming pools will have to stay closed.

BRUSSELS, June 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 1,000 parliamentarians from across Europe have signed a letter strongly opposing plans by Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

The letter raises “serious concerns” about the proposals and calls for “commensurate consequences”.

More than 240 signatories are legislators in Britain.

The publication of the letter in several newspapers comes a week before the annexation process could begin.

MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/: A second group of 20 volunteers have been inoculated against the coronavirus infection by Russian military doctors as part of the vaccine’s clinical trials, the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday.

"Twenty more volunteers were vaccinated today. These people will receive booster vaccination, with the second component of the vaccine to be injected in a span of three weeks," the ministry quoted Yevgeny Kryukov, chief of the Burdenko military hospital, as saying.