Europe

(Reuters) --- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out on Monday the next phase of lockdown easing in England, giving the green light to “cautious hugging” and allowing pubs to serve customers pints inside after months of strict measures.

The country is in the process of gradually lifting its latest lockdown over a period of months, in line with a four-step plan unveiled in February, after a rapid vaccine rollout helped drive down COVID-19 cases and deaths.

GENEVA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday validated the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm for emergency use, a move widely welcomed by officials and experts worldwide and set to benefit the global fight against the pandemic.

This is a "great success and benefit for the world" because the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine validated by the WHO is proving very effective in countries including Pakistan where it is being administered, said Musarrat Amin, a Pakistani strategic security analyst.

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic was massively relaxing its coronavirus restrictions on Monday as the hard-hit nation paid respect to nearly 30,000 dead.

The latest wave of easing came after new infections fell to the levels last seen in August, at which time the government failed to react in time to a rising number of infections, which later contributed to record numbers of deaths.

People in the capital, Prague, formed lines before opening time as all stores and shopping malls across the country returned to business.

LONDON (AP) — Scotland’s leader told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Sunday that a second Scottish independence referendum is “a matter of when, not if,” after her party won its fourth straight parliamentary election.

Johnson has invited the leaders of the U.K.’s devolved nations for crisis talks on the union after the regional election results rolled in, saying the U.K. was “best served when we work together” and that the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should cooperate on plans to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, May 9. /TASS/: Rescuers in Kamchatka, in Russia’s Far East, have discovered a burnt debris of the Mi-2 helicopter that went missing on May 8, the regional branch of the Russian Emergencies Ministry told TASS.

"The debris of the helicopter was found in the forest area of the Chapayevka village. There is no data on the fate of the passenger and the crew. The circumstances of the incident are being investigated," the ministry reported.

MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/: New confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 8,419 in the past twenty-four hours to 4,880,262, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday. The coronavirus growth rate equaled 0.17%, the latest data show.

The slowest coronavirus growth rates were registered in the Republic of Altai (0.02%) and in the Republic of Tyva (0.03%) in the past day, the latest data show.

MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/: An improvised light plane that crash landed in the Republic of Tatarstan in the Volga area, killing two, was apparently hijacked, a source in law-enforcement agencies told TASS on Sunday.

"According to preliminary data, the plane was hijacked by two individuals from the Alemetyevsk aeroclub, which operates the plane. Both of them died," the source said.

According to the source’s data, the light plane crashed almost immediately after it took off, some 900 m from the runway of the Poima aerodrome.

MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/: There can be no forgiveness for those who have forgotten the lessons of World War Two and are again nurturing aggressive plans, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday.

MADRID, May 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Spain has lifted a state of emergency in place since October to fight the pandemic, allowing Spaniards to travel between regions for the first time in months.

Although the emergency measure, which expired at midnight (2200 GMT Saturday) will lead to more freedoms, it is a headache for the country’s 17 regional governments responsible for health care.

The state of emergency provided them with a legal framework to impose measures — such as nighttime curfews or a ban on non-essential travel between regions — that limited freedoms.

BRUSSELS, May 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The European Union and India have agreed to pick back up talks on a free trade deal that were frozen in 2013, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has indicated.

“Between the EU and India there is a close relationship but also a lot of untapped potentials,” von der Leyen said on Saturday before talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leading officials.