Europe

MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/: By declaring its plans to hold an extraordinary virtual conference of foreign ministers ahead of the NATO-Russia Council’s meeting, the North Atlantic Alliance is trying to increase tensions around the internal Ukrainian conflict, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told TASS on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/: Serbia’s security in many respects relies on Russia’s response to threats to that country, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday, commenting on the statement of Adm. Robert Burke, Commander Allied Joint Force Command Naples/Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa, about that country’s defense capabilities.

MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 cases rose by 15,903 in the past 24 hours to 10,570,212, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Tuesday.

In relative terms, the COVID-19 daily incidence surged by 0.15%.

In particular, over the past day, some 1,297 cases of the infection were detected in St. Petersburg, as many as 974 COVID-19 cases were registered in the Moscow Region, some 431 cases - in the Chelyabinsk Region, 428 cases - in the Krasnodar Region, 421 cases - in the Sverdlovsk Region.

BRUSSELS, January 4. / TASS /: The alliance has confirmed that the NATO-Russia Council meeting will take place on January 12, calling on Moscow to consider "NATO’s concerns about Russia’s actions," the NATO official told TASS on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/: Crew of a cargo ship in the Sea of Okhotsk has sent a distress signal for evacuation due to ice formation, which could damage its hull, the Emergencies Ministry’s press service told TASS on Tuesday.

"At 13:10 Moscow Time as a result of ice formation and a threat of damage to the Grigory Lovtsov cargo ship’s hull a distress signal for the crew’s evacuation has been sent," the ministry said. The crew consists of eight people, no one has been hurt.

VIENNA, Jan 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) – In a special video conference, held yesterday, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), decided to appoint Haitham Al-Ghais of Kuwait, as its next secretary general.

The appointment takes effect on Aug 1, and will last for three years, according to an OPEC press release.

Al-Ghais, a veteran of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Kuwait’s OPEC governor, from 2017 to June 2021, currently serves as deputy managing director for international marketing at KPC.

LONDON, Jan 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A record number of more than 28,000 migrants crossed the Channel from France to the UK in small boats last year, the PA news agency reported Tuesday, based on its analysis of government data.

  As people smugglers exploited demand, charging thousands of pounds for trips across the busy shipping lane in flimsy boats, at least 28,395 people reached the UK — more than triple the figure for 2020.

  The peak came in November, during the course of which least 6,869 people reached the UK, spurred by favourable weather conditions.

BRUSSELS, Jan 4 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has scheduled a special meeting of allied ambassadors and top Russian officials for next week as both sides seek dialogue to prevent open conflict over Ukraine, a NATO official said on Tuesday.

Alarmed by Russia's military build-up along Ukraine's border, the Western military alliance has been seeking a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council for months but the forum seemed in jeopardy after an espionage dispute in October.

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sees no need for further restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus’ omicron variant his spokesman said on ahead of a press conference on Tuesday.

Amid indications that omicron may produce “milder” illness than earlier variants and the success of a nationwide vaccine booster program, the government believes the existing level of controls is still appropriate, Johnson spokesman Max Blain told reporters in London. The government continues to monitor the data and is prepared to respond if the situation changes, he said.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — OPEC and allied oil-producing countries are expected to press ahead Tuesday with restoring cutbacks in output made during the depths of the coronavirus pandemic as hopes grow that travel and demand for fuel will hold up despite the rapid spread of the omicron variant.