Russia

MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 4,457 over the past day to 18,480,934, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Friday.

This is the highest number of daily infections since May 28, 2022, when 4,556 infections were recorded.

As many as 1,266 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, 1.3% fewer than in the previous day. The number of hospitalized patients declined in 38 regions, while in 36 other regions the figure increased. A day earlier, 1,283 people were rushed to hospitals.

July 15 (Reuters) - A Briton who was detained by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine and accused of being a mercenary has died, an official in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said on Friday.

The death of Paul Urey, 45, was confirmed by a British charity which described him as a humanitarian worker and denied he had any military background.

MOSCOW, July 15 (Reuters) - The head of the company now running the former McDonald's Corp chain of restaurants in Russia told RBC TV that producers of French fries are refusing to supply to the country and warned that attempts to increase domestic processing are fraught with difficulties.

McDonald's quit Russia after a Western backlash against Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine, which included a barrage of economic sanctions, and sold all the restaurants it owned to a local licensee in May.

14 July 2022; MEMO: The president of the BRICS International Forum expects Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to join the group "very soon". In an interview with Russia's Izvestia, Purnima Anand said that China, Russia and India discussed this issue during the 14th BRICS Summit, which was held online last month.

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on provision of counter-terrorism and other operations of Russian Armed Forces, other forces, counter-terrorism and other operations units abroad. The document has been published on the official legal information website Thursday.

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/: Russia will continue contacts with European colleagues regarding the situation with the transit of goods to its Kaliningrad Region, and some questions are yet to be answered, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Thursday.

"Work and contacts will continue in any case, since there are still a number of questions to be answered during the dialogue," Peskov said when asked whether the Kremlin intends to seek that the problem be settled in full.

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the law ‘On control over the activity of individuals under foreign influence’.

The document, posted on the official portal of legal information, summarizes the current norms of the Russian legislation on foreign agents and introduces some new provisions, subsequently coming into effect on December 1, 2022.

MOSCOW, July 13. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 3,929 in the past 24 hours, while the number of deaths increased by 42, the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Wednesday.

As many as 3,002 cases and 48 deaths were registered in the country on the previous day, and 18,472,239 and 381,711 since the beginning of the pandemic, respectively.

MOSCOW, July 13. /TASS/: Moscow is anticipating progress on the Lithuania transit embargo against Kaliningrad though the predicament is still not completely solved, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday.

"So far, this situation has not been finalized. We are awaiting some progress yet right now we cannot state that this problem has been resolved," he said in response to a request to comment on reports that the EU and Russia have allegedly reached agreements on the transit of cargoes to the region.

MOSCOW, July 13 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it hoped President Joe Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia would not be used to try to foster anti-Russian relations, just as the United States seeks to convince Riyadh to boost oil production amid soaring prices.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that Biden will make the case for greater oil production from OPEC nations to bring down gasoline prices when he meets Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia this week.