Europe

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s coronavirus infection rate climbed to its highest recorded level yet on Monday as what officials have called a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” gathers pace.

The national disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, said the country has seen 201.1 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days. That was above the previous record of 197.6 from Dec. 22 last year. While it’s still a lower rate than in several other European countries, it has set alarm bells ringing.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Barack Obama is expressing confidence at U.N. climate talks Monday that the Biden administration will ultimately get its $555 billion climate package through Congress, and faulting U.S. rivals China and Russia for what he calls a “dangerous absence of urgency” in cutting their own climate-wrecking emissions.

CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT, France (AP) — The U.S. lifted restrictions Monday on travel from a long list of countries including Mexico, Canada and most of Europe, setting the stage for emotional reunions nearly two years in the making and providing a boost for the airline and tourism industries decimated by the pandemic.

Wives will hug husbands for the first time in months. Grandmas will coo over grandsons who have doubled in age since they last saw them. Aunts and uncles and cousins will snuggle babies they haven’t met yet.

08 Nov 2021; MEMO: A vessel operated by the German NGO Sea-Eye arrived on Sunday in the Sicilian port of Trapani carrying 847 migrants who were rescued in the central Mediterranean Sea. The NGO had previously asked the Italian authorities for a safe port in which to disembark the migrants.

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in the summit of the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies that will run via a videoconference on November 12, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS on Sunday.

"Yes, it is being planned," Peskov said in response to a question about whether the Russian leader was expected to deliver a speech at the APEC summit on November 12.

SEVASTOPOL, November 7. /TASS/: The air defense team of the Black Sea Fleet’s frigate Admiral Essen held drills to protect a naval base from a notional enemy missile strike, the Fleet’s press ofice reported on Sunday.

BERLIN, November 7. /TASS/: The Minister-President of the German state of Bavaria Markus Soder has urged to launch the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as soon as possible to ensure stable gas supplies ahead of the cold season.

"A wise strategy to ensure power supplies is necessary. In this regard, there are good reasons to launch the Nord Stream 2 pipeline soon to bring gas prices to a normal level," Soder said in an interview with Funke Mediengruppe, published on Sunday. "We cannot just stand aside and watch prices growing ahead of the cold winter," he added.

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/: Confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 39,165 in the past 24 hours to 8,795,095, the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday. The coronavirus growth rate equaled 0.45%, the latest figures show.

In particular, 2,551 new coronavirus cases were identified in the past day in St. Petersburg, 1,695 in the Samara Region, 796 in the Voronezh Region, 790 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region and 783 in the Republic of Crimea, the crisis center reported.

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/: US and NATO guided missile ships that enter the Black Sea are attempting to test the strength of Russia’s Black Sea coast and southern border protection, Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said on Sunday.

PARIS, Nov 6 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — With Europe reporting over a hundred outbreaks of bird flu in recent months, the Netherlands and now France have ordered poultry farmers to keep their chickens indoors. The poultry lockdown measure has already been in place in certain areas in France since September.

The order cited a “rising infection rate in migratory corridors” as the reason for raising the risk level for the entire country.