Europe

MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/: An employee of the Romanian Embassy in Russia has been declared persona non grata in response to the expulsion of a Russian diplomat from Bucharest, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 8,115 to 4,896,842 in the past day, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Tuesday.

According to data from the crisis center, the coronavirus growth rate stands at 0.17%.

The rate is the lowest in the Altai and Magadan regions (0.02%) and the Tuva region (0.03%).

In particular, 717 coronavirus cases were reported in St. Petersburg in the past day, 657 in the Moscow Region, 205 in the Rostov Region, 132 in the Voronezh Region and 124 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

(Reuters) --- The European Union launched a new lawsuit against AstraZeneca on Tuesday that could lead to financial sanctions for the company which the EU alleges has breached a supply contract for COVID-19 vaccines.

The lawsuit is the EU's second against AstraZeneca after the bloc took action at the end of April over delayed vaccine supplies. 

(Reuters) --- Italy's government is set to ask the European Union to pay Libya to stop migrant boats leaving its coast, newspaper la Repubblica reported on Tuesday.

The scheme, which the newspaper says Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi may propose to EU leaders at a summit on May 24 and 25, would be similar to a deal struck with Turkey to halt migrant flows from the Balkans in 2016.

Draghi's office was not immediately available to comment.

(Reuters) --- British climate activist Gail Bradbrook, co-founder of the Extinction Rebellion group, was arrested at home on Tuesday for conspiracy to cause criminal damage and fraud after her group attacked banks such as HSBC (HSBA.L) and Barclays .

Activists from the group smashed the window frontage of HSBC and Barclays in Canary Wharf last month and have targeted Lloyd's of London as part of what the activists cast as a "Money Rebellion".

(Reuters) --- Britain set out plans to crack down on hostile activity by foreign states on Tuesday, introducing a proposed law to give security services and law enforcement new powers to tackle growing threats.

The bill will haul legislation into the modern age, updating archaic official secrets acts, some dating back more than hundred years, so that they are relevant to the threats posed in the age of cyber warfare, the government said.

(Reuters) --- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday submitted legislation to parliament to formalise a Russian exit from the Open Skies treaty, a pact that allows unarmed surveillance flights over member countries.

The United States left the Open Skies arms control and verification treaty in November in one of Donald Trump's final acts as president. Washington accused Russia of violating it, something Moscow denied. Russia said in January it would also withdraw from the treaty. 

(Reuters) --- Russia has proposed discussing arms control and security issues at a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

Lavrov said Russia was still waiting for answers from Washington on a proposed summit between the two leaders, and that Moscow had proposed that strategic nuclear stability, both offensive and defensive, be high on the agenda.

ATHENS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday called for waiving intellectual property rights protected by patents for COVID-19 vaccines in order to speed up production to assist countries in need.

"The health crisis has highlighted more than anything the need for joint action to address threats," Mitsotakis said following a meeting with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez in Athens.

BERLIN (AP) — German investors are increasingly optimistic about the country’s economy as the latest surge of new coronavirus infections seems to be slowing, a closely-watched survey showed Tuesday.

The Mannheim-based ZEW institute said its indicator of economic expectations for Germany over the next six months increased 13.7 points in May over the previous month to a reading of 84.4, the highest value since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The last time the indicator was at a higher level was in February 2000.