Europe

New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) As the world grapples with the highly mutated Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, scientists have identified a new strain of the COVID-19 causing virus in Southern France.

Known as 'IHU', the B.1.640.2 variant has been reported by researchers at institute IHU Mediterranee Infection in at least 12 cases, and has been linked to travel to African country Cameroon.

However, the researchers noted that it is too early to speculate on how this variant behaves as far as infection and protection from vaccines is concerned.

BERLIN, January 3. /TASS/: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz considers efforts to build relations with Russia as an important factor and is going to place this issue under his personal control and expects to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin already in January, the German newspaper Bild reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

TASS has no official comment from Berlin on this information.

MINSK, January 3. /TASS/: An excursion bus carrying 40 Russian citizens collided with a car in Belarus’ Vitebsk Region, the car driver died and bus passengers were injured in the accident, the Belarusian Investigative Committee said in a statement on Monday.

"As a result of the accident, the driver of the car died, while the passengers and the bus driver were hospitalized with injuries. There were four children among the injured," the statement says.

MOSCOW, January 3. /TASS/: Confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 16,343 in the past day to 10,554,309, the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Monday.

Russia registered a record low increase in daily coronavirus cases (0.16%) since June 17, 2021, the latest data show.

In particular, 1,341 coronavirus cases were registered in the past 24 hours in St. Petersburg, 1,335 in Moscow, 1,180 in the Moscow Region, 445 in the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk Regions each and 432 in the Krasnodar Region, the crisis center reported.

MOSCOW, January 3. /TASS/: Russian Presidential Administration Deputy Head Dmitry Kozak will hold talks with Normandy format German and French counterparts in Moscow on January 6, a source in the Kremlin administration told TASS on Monday.

LONDON, Jan 3 (NNN-Xinhua) — Secondary school students in England are once again being asked to wear masks in classrooms as Omicron continues to spread in Britain ahead of children’s return to school next week.

The recommendation came as the government pledges to keep face-to-face education going despite surging COVID-19 infections in England.

LISBON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Disconsolate passengers stuck on a cruise ship moored in Lisbon's port for five days due to a COVID-19 outbreak began disembarking early on Monday, focused on clearing the final hurdle of a negative test before boarding homebound flights.

The AIDAnova, carrying 2,844 passengers and 1,353 crew, had docked in Portugal's capital on Wednesday.

The ship was en route to the island of Madeira for New Year's Eve celebrations, but the cruise was cut short after COVID-19 was detected among the crew, 52 of whom tested positive between Wednesday and Friday.

LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - New measures are not needed now in Britain to fight the Omicron variant, which is "plainly milder" than earlier forms of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday.

"The way forward for the country as a whole is to continue with the path that we are on," he told broadcasters. "Of course we will keep all measures under review, but the mixture of things that we are doing at the moment is I think the right one."

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - China, Russia, Britain, the United States and France have agreed that a further spread of nuclear arms and a nuclear war should be avoided, according to a joint statement by the five nuclear powers published by the Kremlin on Monday.

It said that the five countries - which are the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - consider it their primary responsibility to avoid war between the nuclear states and to reduce strategic risks, while aiming to work with all countries to create an atmosphere of security.

KIEV, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Joe Biden held a telephone conversation late Sunday discussing regional security issues, according to Zelensky's official Twitter account.

Zelensky said he appreciated U.S. support for Ukraine, noting that the phone conversation with Biden illustrated the "special nature" of relations between Kiev and Washington.