Switzerland

GENEVA, Nov 29 (NNN-TASS) – More than 747,000 new daily cases of novel coronavirus were recorded globally in the past day, bringing a total number of infections to 61.29 million and becoming a new record high number of single-day cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its daily bulletin.

According to the WHO updates, another record high number of over 13,000 coronavirus-related deaths was registered, pushing the death toll to the 1.44 million mark.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Austria should expect further heavy restrictions when its current lockdown measures expire in just over a week, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told Austrian paper Kleine Zeitung.

Austria’s nationwide lockdown is due to be lifted on Dec. 7, but it is not yet clear what that will mean for the ski industry - cornerstone of a tourism sector which accounts for some 15% of economic output - or overall life in Austria.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The European Union (EU) foreign policy chief called on Tuesday for an immediate ceasefire in Afghanistan and said that any move to set up an Islamic emirate would affect the bloc’s support.

Josep Borrell, EU High Representative, told an Afghanistan fund-raising conference in Geneva: “A ceasefire should not be an outcome of the (peace) processs, it should accompany the process from today...Any attempt to restore an Islamic emirate would have an impact on our political and financial engagement.”

GENEVA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- "There is now real hope that vaccines, in combination with other tried and tested public health measures, will help to end the pandemic," said the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday.

The WHO chief's remarks came after drugmaker AstraZeneca said Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine, developed with Oxford University, was up to 90 percent effective, making it the third major drug company after Pfizer and Moderna to have reported late-stage data for a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

GENEVA (AP) — Top officials including the U.N. secretary-general and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were taking part in a largely virtual pledging conference for Afghanistan on Tuesday, the latest effort to drum up aid and support for a country where Taliban fighters are making inroads against the government.

The gathering in Geneva, co-hosted by Finland, was expected to draw diplomats, civil society advocates and international organizations from over 70 countries in the first such event in four years.

ZURICH (Reuters) - A World Health Organization (WHO) special COVID-19 envoy predicted a third wave of the pandemic in Europe in early 2021, if governments repeat what he said was a failure to do what was needed to prevent the second wave of infections.

“They missed building up the necessary infrastructure during the summer months, after they brought the first wave under the control,” the WHO’s David Nabarro said in an interview with Swiss newspapers.

21 Nov 2020; MEMO: A human rights group has accused Austrian security authorities of committing "politically-motivated" human rights violations against Muslims, a statement issued on Wednesday revealed.

GENEVA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) believes that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement signed among its 15 participating countries could give a significant boost to foreign direct investment in the region.

GENEVA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that it's "extremely concerned" by the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in some countries, particularly in Europe and the Americas.

"Right now we are extremely concerned by the surge in cases we're seeing in some countries. Particularly in Europe and the Americas, health workers and health systems are being pushed to the breaking point," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Friday expressed “increasing alarm” at violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and said an alleged massacre there might amount to war crimes.

“There is a risk this situation will spiral totally out of control, leading to heavy casualties and destruction, as well as mass displacement within Ethiopia itself and across borders,” she said in a statement delivered by a Geneva-based spokesman, Rupert Colville.