Europe

LONDON (AP) — The new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in more European countries on Saturday, just days after being identified in South Africa, leaving governments around the world scrambling to stop the spread.

The U.K. on Saturday tightened its rules on mask-wearing and on testing of international arrivals after finding two cases. New cases were confirmed Saturday in Germany and Italy, with Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong also reporting that the variant has been found in travelers.

KIEV, November 26. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Friday blamed his predecessor Pyotr Poroshenko for the loss of Donbass, and Ukraine’s acting prime minister in 2014, Alexander Turchinov, for the loss of Crimea.

"Mr. Turchinov is one of those people who lost Crimea. And Mr. Poroshenko is one of those who lost Donbass. This says it all. It is my own opinion and, I am certain, the opinion of a majority of Ukrainians," Zelensky told a news conference.

MINSK, November 27. /TASS/: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev informed his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko about the meeting Aliyev had with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

"Ilham Aliyev informed Alexander Lukashenko about the earlier trilateral meeting of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia," Lukashenko’s press service said Saturday. "Besides, Alexander Lukashenko and Ilham Aliyev discussed Azerbaijan’s relations with the CSTO."

MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/: In the past 24 hours, 33,946 new Covid cases were registered in Russia, bringing the total case count to 9,536 825, the federal coronavirus prevention anti-crisis center reported Saturday.

The relative case growth is 0.36%.

In particular, 1,879 cases were registered in St. Petersburg, 1,867 - in the Moscow Region, 1,056 - in the Samara Region, 759 - in the Voronezh Region, and 722-in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

A total of 1,031,616 people continue receiving medical treatment in Russia.

MOSCOW, Nov 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The leaders of arch foes Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to ease tensions left over after their war over Nagorno-Karabakh last year under the mediation of Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Friday.

Both Armenia’s Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev hailed talks held with Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as positive.

Putin announced that the pair had agreed to begin the process of demarcating their borders, re-building transport links in the region, as well as moving forward on “humanitarian issues.”

GUADELOUPE, Nov 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France has postponed a mandatory coronavirus vaccination requirement for health workers in Guadeloupe and Martinique, after the measure spurred several days of widespread protests and unrest in the French Caribbean territories.

In a statement on Friday, the French health ministry said the implementation of the vaccination requirement – also in place in mainland France – would be pushed back until Dec 31 to allow for dialogue.

LONDON, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A Kurdish woman from northern Iraq, who was among 27 migrants who died trying to cross the Channel between France and Britain this week, has become the first victim to be named by British media.

The migrants died when their dinghy deflated as they made a perilous crossing of the English Channel on Wednesday, the worst tragedy on record in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

Maryam Nuri Mohamed Amin, 24, made the journey in order to see her fiance, the BBC reported, citing family members and a close friend.

BUDAPEST, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Hungary will impose restrictions on travellers from Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, the government said on Saturday after a new coronavirus variant was detected in South Africa.

Hungary said it was joining a European Union move to curb air travel from southern Africa and that its measures would be published in a government decree later in the day.

MADRID, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Thousands of Spanish police officers marched through Madrid on Saturday to protest against a proposed reform of a security law which they say will hamper their ability to do their work.

Politicians from Spain's three main conservative parties joined police officers in the protest against proposed changes to the 2015 Citizens Security Law, which critics say violates the right to protest and limits free expression.

MOSCOW, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Russia has no plans to invade Ukraine and suggestions to the contrary are malicious U.S. propaganda, Moscow's foreign intelligence chief said on Saturday.

U.S., NATO and Ukrainian officials have raised the alarm in recent weeks over what they say are unusual Russian troop movements near the border with Ukraine, suggesting that Moscow may be poised to launch an attack.

Russia has repeatedly said it is free to move its troops on its own territory and that such movements should not be a cause for concern.