Europe

02 Jan 2022; MEMO: Sweden granted citizenship to over 27,000 Syrian refugees in 2021, remaining one of the most welcoming European countries for asylum seekers and migrants.

According to a report by the Swedish Migration Agency, a total of 85,000 people were granted Swedish citizenship last year. 27, 340 of them were Syrians, 4,067 were Somalis and 3,471 were Eritreans.

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, December 31. /TASS/: In his New Year address to the Russians President Vladimir Putin wished everyone good health in 2022. According to the head of state, this is the main wish and success in various fields will follow.

"In a few seconds, the New Year will come, and in many families, including our compatriots outside Russia, the traditional words will sound:" Happy New Year!" he said.

Russians pronounce these simple words with special feeling because they are passed down from generation to generation, the President said.

MOSCOW, December 31: Gas prices in Europe dropped below $800 per 1,000 cubic meters during the trading session for the first time since November, according to ICE data.

February futures prices at the TTF hub in the Netherlands plunged to $796 per 1,000 cubic meters or 68 euro per MWh.

Since the beginning the trading session the price of gas decreased by more than 22%. In comparison with the all-time high achieved last week the price of gas plummeted almost threefold.

MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/: New Russian vaccine against the coronavirus, Convasel, can be registered before the end of the first quarter of 2022, head of the Federal Bio-Medical Agency (FMBA) Veronika Skvortsova said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

"We plan to submit a report by the end of this year. Of course, the regulator will decide, there are different approaches," she said adding that the period of observation of the people they began to vaccinate in August-September takes six months.

MADRID, Dec 31 (Reuters) - After nearly two years of COVID-19-induced uncertainty, Madrid's bars and restaurants had been counting on solid bookings over the festive season to bolster their finances, but soaring contagion has triggered a wave of last-minute cancellations.

"We all thought... we'd be able to make some money and pay off many things that are overdue," said Juan Lozano, head waiter at the La Querida restaurant in Madrid's Pozuelo neighbourhood, which was almost fully booked in early December.

Dec 31 (Reuters) - Britain has approved Pfizer's (PFE.N) COVID-19 pill for adults who have mild to moderate infection and are at high risk of their illness worsening, its second easily administered antiviral against the coronavirus.

Britain is scrambling to build its defences amid a record surge in COVID-19 cases in the winter season as the Omicron variant of the virus spreads quickly.

LONDON, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday that Britain is in an "incomparably better" position than last year in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the country's daily infections repeatedly rising to new highs these days fueled by the Omicron variant.

KIEV, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian Navy held a passing exercise (PASSEX) in the Black Sea with the French Navy, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Thursday in a statement.

The landing ship Yuriy Olefirenko of the Ukrainian Navy, and the Aquitaine-class frigate Auvergne of the French Navy were involved in the exercise.

The exercise, which defined English as a working language, focused on improving the interoperability and coherence of the naval crews. In particular, the maneuvers included training on conducting night signal production.

LONDON, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- A number of new "surge hubs" are to be set up in Britain as the country's National Health Service (NHS) goes on a "war footing" in preparation for a wave of Omicron hospital admissions, health authorities said Thursday.

Temporary structures capable of housing around 100 patients will be erected in the grounds of eight hospitals across the country, with work starting as early as this week, NHS England has said.

LONDON (AP) — Officials have warned revellers in Scotland and Wales to think twice before travelling to England to ring in the new year, highlighting how the four parts of the U.K. were again taking starkly different approaches to coronavirus restrictions amid record-high infections and soaring hospitalizations.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted tightening restrictions in England despite the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant, instead focusing on frequent self-testing and an expanded vaccine booster program to control the spread of infections.