Europe

MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 4,662 over the past day to 21,540,891, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Monday.

As many as 448 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, 30.1% fewer than in the previous day. The number of hospitalized patients declined in 51 regions, while in 16 other regions the figure increased. A day earlier, 641 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/: A high "yellow" terrorist threat level in the Belgorod Region has been extended until December 6, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Monday.

"The ‘yellow’ terrorist threat level has been extended for another 2 weeks. It will remain effective in the Belgorod Region until December 6," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/: Ukraine does not have the resources to attack Crimea, while the West will not help Kiev in this adventure, the chairman of the Federation Council’s committee on defense and security, Viktor Bondarev, said on Monday.

"Ukraine has neither the resources, nor the military potential, nor the support of the Crimeans for its promised offensive on the peninsula. Also, the West will not take any real steps to help Ukraine in this adventure. The Kiev authorities will not go beyond the level of rhetoric," Bondarev wrote on his Telegram channel.

BERLIN, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Germany has offered Warsaw the Patriot missile defence system to help it to secure its airspace after a stray missile crashed in Poland last week, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht told a newspaper on Sunday.

The German government had already said it would offer its neighbour further help in air policing with German Eurofighters after the incident, which initially raised fears that the war in Ukraine could spill across the border.

LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - European traders are rushing to fill tanks in the region with Russian diesel before an EU ban begins in February, as alternative sources remain limited.

The European Union will ban Russian oil product imports, on which it relies heavily for its diesel, by Feb. 5. That will follow a ban on Russian crude taking effect in December.

KYIV, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine narrowly escaped disaster during fighting at the weekend that rocked Europe's largest atomic power plant with a barrage of shells, some falling near reactors and damaging a radioactive waste storage building, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said.

It was not clear which side was responsible for the explosions at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which has been under Russian control since soon after it invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

LISBON, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said here on Friday that Brazil and Portugal need to have a close relationship.

"Portugal is a historic partner, and we need to learn to have a very close relationship," Lula told journalists after meeting with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

Lula, who will assume office for the third time on Jan. 1, 2023, said his government will give more attention to climate issues, including the protection of the Amazon rainforest.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s top diplomat was holding talks Monday with the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo in Brussels, in a bid to defuse tensions between the Balkan neighbors amid their dispute over vehicle license plates.

The EU’s high representative, Josep Borrell, had separate talks planned with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Albin Kurti, the prime minister of Kosovo, before a joint meeting later in the day.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — When the power is out, as it so often is, the high-rise apartment overlooking Ukraine’s war-torn capital feels like a deathtrap. No lights, no water, no way to cook food. And no elevator by which to escape from the 21st floor should a Russian missile strike. Even when electricity comes back, it’s never on for long.

MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/: The West does not want to rupture relations with Russia completely, which is fraught with World War III, so they prod Kiev into holding talks with Moscow, but Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky does not want them in order not to acknowledge the fact of Ukraine’s break-up, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel on Saturday.