Europe

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó should be recognized as the nation’s interim president in a case that will ultimately determine who controls almost $2 billion of gold held by the Bank of England.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece says it will renew a request for European Union funds in 2022 to extend a border wall along its frontier with Turkey and promised to expand a powerful surveillance network aimed at stopping migrants entering the country illegally.

A public order minister, Takis Theodorikakos, told a parliamentary committee that Greece expects some countries bordering the EU to continue to exploit migration to exert political pressure on member states, citing the recent crisis in Belarus on its border with Poland and other EU members.

WESTERSTEDE, Germany (AP) — As hospitals across Europe brace themselves for a surge in coronavirus cases over the holiday season because of the new omicron variant, Westerstede Clinical Center is cautiously hopeful it can weather the storm.

The region of northwestern Germany it mainly serves has among the lowest case numbers nationally, and an above-average vaccination rate.

“I think we’re on a stable level here,” said the head of the hospital’s intensive care unit, Rene Lehr, when The Associated Press was recently granted rare access inside the facility.

LONDON, December 18. /TASS/: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on Saturday said he declared a "major incident" in the city due to a surge of Omicron cases.

"I have taken the decision, along with our partners, to declare a major incident," the mayor said on Sky News television.

He said hospital admissions and staff absences were going up "by massive levels" and Omicron was the dominant variant. Still, he didn’t announce any new measures.

Last time a major incident was declared was on January 8 amid the spread of the coronavirus’s Alfa variant.

MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/: Russia will engage in creating counter threats if NATO turns down the Russian proposals for security guarantees, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Solovyov Live YouTube channel on Saturday.

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/: The number of the fatalities from COVID-19 in Russia surged by 1,023 in the last 24 hours versus 1,076 a day earlier to 297,203 deaths, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Sunday. This figure hit a record low since October 19, 2021.

The conditional mortality (the final one can be determined only after the end of the pandemic) stands at 2.91%, according to the crisis center.

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/: The World Health Organization (WHO) will likely approve the Russian Sputnik V jab in a few months, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Sunday.

"I am totally convinced that in a few months, the WHO is likely to recognize Sputnik V, and then it will also be possible to develop [the talks] with Europe in this direction," the Kremlin spokesman noted.

 PARIS, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Over fifty people were arrested in France overnight as fans of Algeria celebrated their Arab Cup final triumph, largely on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

   French police said Sunday that in Paris alone 32 were detained and 432 people had been cautioned, mainly for traffic offences as fans celebrated in the city centre.

   African champions Algeria beat Tunisia in Qatar on Saturday with a 2-0 extra-time win in the final of the Arab Cup, sending supporters out in droves across France with further incidents in Lyon and Roubaix.

RUKLA, Lithuania Dec 19 (Reuters) - NATO will discuss Russia's security proposals but it will not let Moscow dictate the alliance's military posture, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Sunday on a visit to German troops based in Lithuania to deter a Russian attack.

On Friday, Moscow set out a list of demands for the West that includes withdrawing NATO battalions from Poland and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, once part of the Soviet Union.

DUBLIN, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A European Commissioner said on Sunday that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's refusal to compromise on Brexit was "untenable" and called on him not to let Conservative Party "machinations" determine his replacement for Brexit minister David Frost.

EU Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, Ireland's appointment to the European Commission, said she hoped that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and other big issues would help nudge Britain to reciprocate on concessions made by Brussels.