Europe

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — At the main hospital in Romania’s capital, the morgue ran out of space for the dead in recent days, and doctors in Bulgaria have suspended routine surgeries so they can tend to a surge in COVID-19 patients. In the Serbian capital, the graveyard now operates an extra day during the week in order to bury all the bodies arriving.

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgarians are heading to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament and a new president amid a surge of coronavirus infections.

Some 6.7 million eligible voters hope that after inconclusive general elections in April and July, the third attempt to elect 240 lawmakers will result in a government to lead the European Union’s poorest member out of health and economic crises.

Analysts predict a low turnout due to people’s concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, a sluggish vaccine uptake and political apathy after two inconclusive elections.

PARIS, November 12. /TASS/: Russian agencies are collaborating with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to approve the use of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Friday.

"No, the issue was not brought up today, but we have it under control," the Russian foreign minister said when asked whether the Sputnik V authorization was touched upon at the talks with the French defense and foreign ministers.

MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin finds it inappropriate for Russia to carry out its maneuvers in the Black Sea in response to NATO exercises there, there is no need to escalate the situation. He said it in an interview with Pavel Zarubin, the host of the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program.

MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/: Russia is not a party to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the journalist of the Rossiya-1 TV channel Pavel Zarubin.

"The Minsk agreements do not say that Russia is a party to the conflict, we have never agreed with this and will not agree, we are not," the Russian leader stressed.

As the President noted, the Western partners "are trying to push Russia to implementation of the Minsk agreements."

MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases have exceeded 9 million since the beginning of the pandemic. Another 39,256 cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours, the total number of infected people has reached 9,031,851, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Saturday. According to the crisis center, the growth rate was 0.44%.

PARIS, Nov 13 (NNN-XINHUA) – Some 28 heads of state and government, gathered in Paris last night, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

In his video message, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, praised the role of UNESCO in promoting dialogue and mutual understanding.

MOSCOW, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Belarus wants Russian nuclear-capable Iskander missile systems to deploy them in the south and west of the country, President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with a Russian defence magazine published on Saturday.

Russia is a close ally of Belarus, which the European Union has accused of engineering a crisis on its border by flying in thousands of migrants and pushing them to try to cross illegally into Poland. Brussels is gearing up to sanction Minsk.

BIALYSTOK, Poland, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The body of a young Syrian man has been found in Poland near the border with Belarus, Polish police said on Saturday, amid mounting international tension over a migrant crisis the European Union says has been orchestrated by Minsk.

Thousands of migrants from the Middle East are sheltering in freezing conditions on the border between Belarus and EU states Poland and Lithuania, which are refusing to let them cross.

At least eight of them have already died and fears are growing for the safety of others as harsh winter conditions set in.

MOSCOW, Nov 13 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Belarus had not consulted him before raising the possibility of cutting Russian natural gas flows to Europe, adding that such a move would risk harming ties between Minsk and its key ally Moscow.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened on Thursday to retaliate against any new European Union sanctions against Minsk over a migrant standoff on the Belarus-EU border, suggesting he could halt the transit of gas and other goods via Belarus.