Europe

PARIS (AP) — France’s government is forging ahead with efforts to increase pressure on unvaccinated people to get coronavirus shots, as the country reported 208,000 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday — a record fueled by the omicron variant.

Health Minister Olivier Veran on Wednesday defended a government plan to allow only the fully vaccinated to enjoy continued access to places such as restaurants, cinemas, theaters, museums, and sports arenas. The pass will also be required on long-distance trains and domestic flights.

BERLIN (AP) — The World Health Organization says the number of COVID-19 cases recorded worldwide increased by 11% last week compared with the previous week, with the biggest increase in the Americas. The gain followed a gradual increase since October.

The U.N. health agency said in its weekly epidemiological report released late Tuesday that there were nearly 4.99 million newly reported cases around the world from Dec. 20-26.

MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/: Russia’s MC-21 civilian aircraft has received a basic type certificate, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov told reporters.

"The MC-21 aircraft has received a basic type certificate today," he said.

The basic certification assumes the use of an American Pratt&Whitney (PW140) engine and a wing made of materials from abroad.

Next year, the certificate will be amended to allow the use of the Russian composite wing and the PD-14 engine in the aircraft, the minister added.

BRUSSELS, December 28. /TASS/: Delaying the certification of Nord Stream 2 is not a problem for Russia, but for European consumers, Russia's Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told TASS.

MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/: Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu thanked the domestic defense industry for substantially upgrading the Russian Army’s armaments in 2021.

MOSCOW, December 28. / TASS /: It is necessary to protect the rights of compatriots living abroad, further uniting the Russian community and supporting the national language and culture, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Tuesday at the United Russia General Council commission on international cooperation and support of compatriots abroad, which he chairs.

KYIV, Dec 28 (Reuters) - The United States will finance projects including surveillance and monitoring equipment to strengthen Ukraine's borders with Russia and Belarus, amid continuing escalation with Moscow, Ukraine's border service said on Tuesday.

Kyiv accuses Moscow of massing tens of thousands of troops near its borders in preparation for a possible offensive.

Russia denies planning any attack but accuses Ukraine and the United States of destabilising behaviour, and has sought security guarantees against NATO's eastward expansion.

BRUSSELS (AP) — In a setback for the Belgian government, an advisory body on Tuesday suspended a Cabinet-ordered closure of part of the cultural sector — saying that new coronavirus restrictions imposed on theaters are unreasonable.

Under new restrictions that took effect Sunday, movie houses, concert halls and art centers were ordered to shut their doors. Some stayed open in protest. The order came despite the assessment of the scientific committee advising the government that going to such places poses no extra risk to public health.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Donald Tusk, the leader of Poland’s main opposition party, called Tuesday for the creation of a parliamentary commission to investigate surveillance after reports that powerful spyware was used against three people associated with the political opposition.

“This is an unprecedented thing in our history. This is the biggest and deepest crisis of democracy after 1989,” said Tusk, who served as Poland’s prime minister from 2007-2014 and president of the European Council from 2014-2019.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that one of the country’s oldest and most prominent human rights organizations should be shut down, a move that stirred up public outrage and is the latest step in a months-long crackdown on rights activists, independent media and opposition supporters.