COVID-19 mutations detected in Russia not linked to new strain reported in Britain
A total of 1,424 COVID-19 mutations have been detected in Russia, but none of them are linked to the highly infectious new strain recently reported in Britain, said Anna Popova, head of the country's consumer rights and human well-being watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, on Tuesday.
NYS laboratory starts research of COVID-19 variant discovered in UK
The Wadsworth Laboratory in Albany has begun aggressive research of the new, highly contagious COVID-19 strain that has been discovered in the United Kingdom, said an official release issued by the New York State government on Tuesday.
Chinese visa application center in London suspends operation
Due to pandemic prevention reasons, the Chinese Visa Application Service Center in London suspends its operations from Tuesday: the Chinese Embassy in the UK
Brexit talks flirt with failure as new deadline blown; 12/31 final date looms
EU and UK trade talks inched onwards under renewed pressure Monday as transport chaos triggered by the emergence of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus in Britain overshadowed efforts to reach a Brexit deal.
Putin orders increase in share of modern weaponry for nuclear deterrence
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the nation's share of modern weaponry among its nuclear deterrent forces must reach nearly 90 percent in 2021.
Coronavirus variant discovered in UK currently has no significant impact on vaccines, severity: WHO experts
Despite a number of mutations so far of SARS-CoV-2 virus, the culprit behind the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, none of them, including the latest UK variant, has made a significant impact on the susceptibility of the virus to any of the currently used therapeutics, drugs or the vaccines under development, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
EU drug regulator to decide on coronavirus vaccine authorization
The EU's drug regulator will decide on Monday whether to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, with desperate countries hoping for the green light to finally start inoculating their citizens.
German verdict due in worst anti-Semitic rampage since WWII
A German court is to hand down its verdict Monday on a deadly far-right attack in Halle in 2019 that nearly became the country's worst anti-Semitic atrocity since World War II.
Britain hit by virus travel bans
Countries worldwide banned arrivals from the UK on Monday over a new highly infectious coronavirus strain which Britain said was "out of control," as the WHO called for stronger containment measures.
Shanghai reports eight COVID-19 cases from Russia
Shanghai has recently seen more COVID-19 cases imported from Russia.
Israel bans flights from Britain over new COVID-19 variant
Israel bans flights from Britain over discovery of a fast-spreading variant of COVID-19.
Putin orders special services to better protect Russian security
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday demanded the country's intelligence agencies better safeguard national security.
Several European countries halt UK flights over fears of mutant coronavirus
A number of European countries on Sunday began to ban flights from Britain following the emergence of a highly infectious variant of coronavirus.
See each other by video call this Christmas, Merkel tells Germans
Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans on Saturday to avoid visiting family members over Christmas and to use video calls instead for greetings, the way service members stationed abroad do, as the country battles COVID-19.
Irish-UK border town braces for Brexit
As the UK braces for the end of the Brexit transition period, the Northern Irish town of Warrenpoint reflects on four years at the heart of Britain's turbulent departure from the EU.
Hungarian PM cuts local business tax, Budapest's opposition mayor cries foul
Hungary's government will extend a moratorium on household and business loan repayments until July and halve a local business tax collected by municipalities, a move strongly criticized on Saturday by Budapest's opposition lord mayor.
England, Italy brace for Christmas lockdowns
Millions of people in England and Italy will celebrate Christmas under tough new coronavirus restrictions as Europe battles a winter surge including a more infectious new strain.
Britain digs heels in as deadline looms
Britain reiterated on Saturday that it would prefer to leave the European Union with no trade deal rather than compromise its independence while there was no word from Brussels on whether progress had been made after a crucial day of talks.