News in Brief

Date: 13 July 2021 - 22:00

News ID: ۹۲۴۰۳

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s sovereign fund on Tuesday announced a deal with a top Indian vaccine manufacturer to produce the Russia-designed Sputnik V vaccine. The Russian Direct Investment Fund, or RDIF, said its deal with the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, envisages annual production of more than 300 million doses of the vaccine in India starting in September. “This strategic partnership is a major step to substantially increase our production capabilities demonstrating a perfect example of joining forces and expertise to save lives both in India and around the world,” RDIF chief executive Kirill Dmitriev said in a statement. The RDIF, which bankrolled Sputnik V and markets it abroad, has previously negotiated Sputnik V production deals with manufacturers in several countries, including India, South Korea, Brazil, China, Turkey, as well as Belarus and Kazakhstan.

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BEIJING (AP) — China on Tuesday denounced an appeal by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for a U.S.-European “unified front” against Chinese “unfair economic practices” and human rights abuses. “China strongly deplores and rejects Treasury Secretary Yellen’s remarks,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian. Yellen issued the appeal Tuesday during a meeting with European Union officials in Brussels. Zhao said Beijing “always firmly supported” the multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization. “We do not bully and impose sanctions at every turn, nor do we exercise long-arm jurisdiction against other countries’ enterprises,” Zhao said, referring to U.S. sanctions. U.S. President Joe Biden has said he wants better relations with Beijing but has yet to say whether he will roll back tariff hikes on Chinese goods and other sanctions imposed by his predecessor Donald Trump in a fight with Beijing over its technology advances and trade surplus.

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ZURICH (Reuters) -- Switzerland suffered one of its heaviest rainfalls on record during a thunderstorm that caused flooding and travel chaos on Tuesday in its financial capital, Zurich. More than 4 cm (1.57 inches) of rain fell on Zurich overnight and over 3.1 cm of rain fell in 10 minutes on Waldegg, just outside the city, broadcaster SRF said. That compared with the record 4.11 cm that fell in 10 minutes on Lausanne during a storm in August 2018, it said. Sections of Zurich’s bus and tram network were halted because fallen trees blocked lines, and some streets were flooded. City authorities gave no details of any injuries or deaths. The southern canton of Wallis warned people to stay away from rivers as water levels rose.

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CARACAS (Reuters) -- Venezuelan prosecutors said they had charged opposition politician Freddy Guevara with terrorism and treason, among other allegations, after the country’s intelligence service arrested him from his car on a Caracas highway. Guevara is a close ally of opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized as the South American country’s legitimate president by the United States and others. Guaido said unidentified armed men threatened him with arrest earlier on Monday as he left his apartment in an effort to assist Guevara. In a statement, the chief prosecutor’s office said it had sought an arrest warrant for Guevara due to his “ties with extremist groups and paramilitaries associated with the Colombian government.” The incidents took place as the government and opposition prepare for negotiations planned for next month in Mexico with mediation by Norway aimed at resolving the South American country’s deep political crisis, people familiar with the matter told Reuters last week.

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia on Tuesday reported 780 coronavirus-related deaths, the most confirmed in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic, as well as 24,702 new cases nationwide. Russia is in the grips of a surge in cases that authorities have blamed on the contagious Delta variant and the slow rate of vaccinations. Moscow, where the mayor has said the situation is beginning to stabilize, reported 4,991 new COVID-19 cases.

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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Witnesses say thousands of Tigrayans are being detained and their businesses closed in cities across Ethiopia in a new wave of ethnic targeting by authorities over the eight-month conflict in the Tigray region. The detentions follow the dramatic turn in the war last month when resurgent Tigray forces marched into the regional capital, Mekele, as Ethiopian soldiers retreated and Ethiopia’s government announced a unilateral cease-fire. An earlier wave of detentions followed the start of the war in November after months of tensions between the government and Tigray’s leaders. Meron Addis, a 32-year-old attorney who has raised money for food and other aid to people in Tigray and has been outspoken about the toll on civilians, told The Associated Press that two plainclothes police officers came to her home in the capital, Addis Ababa, on June 28 and accused her of storing weapons. Then dozens of uniformed officers searched the place without presenting a warrant, she said.