Europe

BERLIN (AP) — Official figures released Thursday show Germany has become the latest country to surpass 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Germany’s disease control agency said it recorded 351 additional deaths in connection with the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, taking the total toll to 100,119.

In Europe, Germany is the fifth country to pass that mark, after Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy and France.

PARIS (AP) — France is launching a new process for women to formally report domestic violence and sexual and other abuse, circumventing police stations where many victims feel uncomfortable filing such complaints.

The measure comes after tens of thousands of women in France shared testimonies online about police victim-blaming them or mishandling complaints as they reported sexual abuse. The government has also come under pressure in recent years to better protect women from deadly domestic violence.

MOSCOW (AP) — A fire at a coal mine in Russia’s Siberia killed 11 people and injured more than 40 on Thursday, with dozens of others remaining trapped, authorities said.

Efforts to rescue those trapped in the mine were halted on Thursday afternoon because of an explosion threat, and rescuers were rushed out of the mine, administrators of the mine told the Interfax news agency.

CALAIS, France (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron appealed Thursday to neighboring European countries to do more to stop illegal migration into France after at least 27 people died trying to cross the English Channel.

Macron said that when migrants arrive on French shores with hopes of heading to Britain “it is already too late.”

24 Nov 2021; MEMO: Thirty-one refugees tragically drowned in the English Channel today, after their boat sank near Calais, in the highest single loss of life since records began, the BBC reported.

The International Organisation for Migrants (IOM) said the tragic sinking of the boat was the highest death toll since it began collecting data in 2014.

Five women, including a young girl, were said to have been passengers aboard the boat.

PARIS (AP) — France’s interior minister said four suspected traffickers were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of being linked to a deadly migrant boat sinking in the English Channel that killed at least 31 people.

Two of the suspects appeared in court Wednesday, and all four are suspected of a link to the sunken boat, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters in the French port city of Calais.

The regional prosecutor opened an investigation into aggravated manslaughter after the sinking, the deadliest to date in the channel.

MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/: The Kremlin has no information on whether US Javelin anti-tank missile systems were used in the Donbass region, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"No, we do not have any information on where and how they were used. But it is an obvious fact that they are present there," the Russian presidential spokesman said, commenting on a statement by Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Chief Kirill Budanov that the Ukrainian military had used the US Javelin anti-tank missile systems in Donbass.

MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/: The Sputnik M coronavirus vaccine for teenagers has been approved in Russia, Deputy Director General of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology Denis Logunov said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"The use of the Sputnik vaccine on children was authorized today, the vaccine was approved and we are happy to share the news," he pointed out.

MURMANSK, November 24. /TASS/: Moscow and Helsinki, presiding in the Arctic format should cooperate to strengthen the efficiency of common activities, Antti Helantera, Ambassador of Finland to Russia reported on Wednesday at the IV International session Cooperation in the Arctic.

SOCHI, November 24. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin said he personally tested an intranasal vaccine against coronavirus.

"I have nothing unusual, an absolutely classic case, exactly six months after inoculation my protective titers went down and specialists recommended to have a revaccination procedure which is what I did a couple of days ago," the head of state said at a meeting with cabinet members on Wednesday.