Spain

British travelers returning home from parts of Europe and beyond began quarantine under new restrictions on Aug. 15, while Russia said it had produced the first batch of its controversial coronavirus vaccine.    

Countries among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic unveiled further measures on Aug. 14 to battle rising infections, as the number of cases worldwide passed 21 million.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it was extending a ban on non-essential travel through border crossings with Canada and Mexico throughout most of September "to slow the spread" of the disease.

All Spanish regions have agreed to order the closure of nightclubs and a ban on smoking in open areas when it is impossible to maintain a safe distance.

These are part of the measures aimed at controlling the growing number of people infected with the new coronavirus, Health Minister Salvador Ilya was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Bucharest, Aug 14 /Agerpres/ - Top seed Romanian tennis player Simona Halep on Friday soared into the women's singles semi-finals at the 202,250-USD WTA Prague Open tennis tournament after defeating Poland's Magdalena Frech with 6-2 6-0. World number two Halep, 28, prevailed in just 59 minutes over Polish lucky loser Magdalena Frech, 22, world's number 174.

The wine industry in North Macedonia, from vineyards to grape farmers, risks collapse this year amid drastically lower demand and prices for this landmark product, the country's biggest association of wine producers, "Wines from Macedonia", warned.

Italy ordered travellers arriving from Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain to be tested for Covid-19 on Wednesday and added Colombia to a list of countries under a complete travel ban amid growing concern over new infections.

Quarantine is now mandatory in the southern Italian regions of Puglia and Campania for travelers returning from Greece, Spain and Malta, as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to Italian media reports on Wednesday. 

What explains this shift, from being the region that initially had among the fewest cases in Europe, to a surge?

Some country-specific reasons might explain individual cases, such as recent elections in Serbia and North Macedonia, or the government crisis in Kosovo, or protests in Montenegro and Serbia. However, none provides an overarching regional perspective.

With the number of confirmed coronavirus cases showing an alarming upward trend, the government has announced a fresh batch of measures to curb the spread of infections, including the decision to call off the 85th Thessaloniki International Fair that was scheduled for September 13-15.

Bucharest, Aug 11 /Agerpres/ - Romanian tennis player Irina Begu breezed on Tuesday 6-2, 6-2 past No. 9 seed, Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, into the round of sixteen of the WTA Tour event in Prague, featuring $ 202,250 in prize money. Begu (age 29, WTA's 82nd) managed an impressive victory, her first in the WTA circuit after the break imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.