Europe

SEVASTOPOL, December 6. /TASS/: Pilots of the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s naval aviation kicked off their first flights in the winter training period, practicing notional enemy warship tracking and missile strikes against naval targets, the Fleet’s press office reported on Monday.

MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/: Two people tested positive for the COVID-19 Omicron variant after returning to Russia from South Africa, the Russian sanitary watchdog said.

The variant was detected as a result of whole genome sequencing conducted by the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology that’s run by the sanitary watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, the agency said in a statement.

A total of 10 people had positive PCR tests for COVID-19 after returning from South Africa, and the variants are being determined for the rest of the tests, the agency said.

VIENNA, December 6. /TASS/: President of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen swore in the new Chancellor of the republic Karl Nehammer in the Hofburg residence Monday. Nehammer succeeded Alexander Schallenberg, who will now once again lead to Foreign Ministry of Austria.

Following Sebastian Kurz's resignation of as the leader of the People’s Party of Austria on December 3, Nehammer was appointed as his successor, which, considering the People’s Party government coalition with The Greens, made him the head of the government.

LISBON, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, signed yesterday, a decree that formalises the dissolution of the Portuguese Parliament, calling for early legislative elections for Jan 30, 2022.

According to the country’s Constitution, when parliament is dissolved, the legislative power will be represented by a “Standing Commission of the Assembly of the Republic.”

MOSCOW, Dec 6 (NNN-TASS) – The dangerous actions of the U.S. Air Force have created a threat to civil aviation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said yesterday.

In a Telegram post, Zakharova expressed concern over the increased intensity of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) aircraft flight near the Russian border, including over the Black Sea.

06 Dec 2021; MEMO: In a new report the Guardian has mapped out the surveillance and deterrent systems being used on EU borders to deter refugees.

Last month Poland approved a $398 million, 18-foot-high wall, with cameras and motion sensors to be built along its border with Belarus. It is also sending automated texts to people telling them not to attempt to cross from Belarus.

Madrid, Dec 6 (AP) Russia's 15-year wait for a Davis Cup title ended after another clutch performance from Daniil Medvedev.

Medvedev capped his amazing year with a 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Marin Cilic in the second singles match to give Russia an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Croatia and its first Davis Cup title since 2006.

BRUSSELS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - European Union states spent nearly 200 billion euros ($225 billion) on defence in 2020, the most since records began in 2006, but joint investment by governments fell, the European Defence Agency (EDA) said in a report on Monday.

The EDA, an EU agency that helps the bloc's governments to develop their military capabilities, said the total spending of EU countries except for Denmark - which opts out of EU military projects - reached $198 billion, a 5% increase on 2019.

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Future pandemics could be even more lethal than COVID-19 so the lessons learned from the outbreak must not be squandered and the world should ensure it is prepared for the next viral onslaught, one of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine said.

The novel coronavirus has killed 5.26 million people across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University, wiped out trillions of dollars in economic output and turned life upside down for billions of people.

MADRID, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma has cost an estimated 842,33 million euros (953 million U.S. dollars) in damage, according to the regional Treasury Department of the Canary Islands.

The eruption has continued for 11th weeks after it began on Sept. 19, and shows no sign of stopping.

The activity was followed by the opening of a new mouth on the north-east face of the mountain and the formation of another cone emitting lava, ash and gases.