Europe

Spain has extended the state of emergency imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic for two more weeks from Sunday, allowing the government to control people’s movements as it gradually relaxes a national lockdown. Parliament approved the measure on Wednesday after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who heads a fragile coalition government, …

The press office of the Russian Ministry of Culture announced today, Wednesday, that the Russian Minister of Culture Olga Lubimova was infected with the Coruna virus. “The Minister of Culture, Olga Lubyumova, is working remotely. The results of the analysis of Covid-19 are positive,” said a spokeswoman for the Russian …

The death toll from the emerging coronavirus in Spain has increased by 224 new cases during the past 24 hours, after health authorities recorded fewer than 200 deaths during three consecutive days. The Spanish Ministry of Health confirmed today, Wednesday, that the death toll of the epidemic in the country …

France accused Apple of undermining its effort to fight the coronavirus by refusing to help make its iPhones more compatible with a planned “StopCovid” contact-tracing app. Countries are rushing to develop smartphone apps, which are seen as a way to help keep the novel coronavirus epidemic in check while reopening …

Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said on Tuesday he was confident the new European Recovery Fund will make available at least 100 billion euros ($109 billion) for Italy to help its economy bounce back from the coronavirus crisis. European leaders are negotiating over the creation of a fund worth at least …

Turkey will start easing coronavirus containment measures from Monday, President Tayyip Erdogan said, lifting inter-city travel restrictions in seven provinces and easing a curfew imposed on senior and youth citizens. Turkey has about 130,000 confirmed coronavirus cases – the highest total outside Western Europe, the United States and Russia – …

Manufacturing activity in the euro zone collapsed last month as government-imposed lockdowns to stop the spread of the new coronavirus forced factories to close and consumers to stay indoors, a survey showed on Monday. The coronavirus has infected more than 3.5 million people globally and killed around 247,000 so with …

World leaders promised $8 billion on Monday for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said at the end of a pledging event that she chaired. “In the space of just few hours we have collectively pledged 7.4 billion euros ($8.07 billion) for vaccine, …

Turkey has become a primary destination for plastic waste from richer European countries after the garbage was rejected by China and India. An environmental and health crisis is now in the making in Turkey, locals say. In 2018, China banned the import of plastic waste, citing the environmental damage the …

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday urged the world to unite to defeat the new coronavirus. “This virus will be with us for a long time and we must come together to develop and share the tools to defeat it,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told …

Millions of people were allowed to return to work in Italy on Monday as Europe’s longest coronavirus lockdown started to ease, while the U.S. took halting steps to lift some of its own restrictions even as tens of thousands of new cases were reported every day. In Washington, the Senate …

Video surveillance cameras in France will monitor how many people are wearing masks and their compliance with social distancing when the coronavirus lockdown is eased next week. The resort city of Cannes on the Côte d’Azur has trialed the monitoring software, installed at outdoor markets and on buses. It is …

The World Health Organization confirmed that the new Corona virus does not descend from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, from which the pandemic started, noting that this strain has a natural origin ” Mike Ryan, director of the World Health Organization’s emergency program, told a news conference today, Friday, in …

Italy on Friday reported 269 new fatalities from the novel coronavirus, bringing the total to 28,236, as active infections continue to drop. The data released by the Italian Civil Protection Department confirm that the country has left behind the peak of the pandemic, as it prepares for a partial lifting …

A 4.5-magnitude earthquake shook central Bulgaria on Friday but there were no reports of any injuries or damage. The quake occurred just after 2 p.m. local time (1101 GMT) in the Balkan nation. Its epicenter was 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Bulgaria’s second-largest city of Plovdiv at a shallow …

It is rare for Donald Trump to credit other countries with world records, but at a press briefing last month the US President unveiled a list that put Belgium at the top. Unfortunately for Belgium, it was a ranking of deaths from the coronavirus. According to numbers collated by the …

Police in Copenhagen have foiled plans for an act of terror that had “a militant Islamic motive.” The suspect, who had allegedly tried to obtain firearms and ammunition, was thought to be working alone, authorities said. Police in Denmark prevented a terror attack that was said to have “a militant …

Italy on Thursday reported 285 new fatalities from the novel coronavirus, bringing the total to 27,967, with the largest daily drop in active cases since the beginning of the outbreak. The data released by the Italian Civil Protection Department confirm that the country has left behind the peak of the …

Apparently not content to rescue mankind from only one doomsday scenario, teenage eco-warrior Greta Thunberg has sprung into action again, launching a fundraising campaign to help the children of the world survive Covid-19. The project will see the young activist partner with Denmark’s Human Act Foundation to pledge $100,000 each …

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says he has tested positive for the new coronavirus and has told President Vladimir Putin he will self-isolate. First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov will temporarily perform Mishustin’s duties, but the prime minister said Thursday that he would stay in touch on key issues. Mishustin, …