Europe

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s remarks about amendments to the Minsk Accords and expanding the list of negotiators on the Normandy platform are an alarming sign, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said following the Ukrainian leader’s interview to The Financial Times.

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/: The summit between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden is planned for summer but its precise date and location will still have to be agreed, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday.

"Indeed, certain proposals have been voiced, I cannot confirm the date yet. There have been no agreements on date yet. We are indeed talking about summer months, many factors will still have to be analyzed to reach any final agreements," he said.

"No particular country [where the summit can be held] has been named," Peskov clarified.

BERLIN April 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany will send oxygen and medical aid to India in the coming days to help it tackle its COVID-19 crisis, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.

India is suffering from a spike in coronavirus infections, with the number of cases surging by 349,691 in the past 24 hours, the fourth straight day of record peaks. Hospitals are turning away patients after running out of medical oxygen.

(Reuters) --- Moderna's (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine will be reviewed on April 30 by technical experts for possible WHO emergency-use listing, a World Health Organization spokesman told Reuters.

"We are discussing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Friday...," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said in reply to a query. A decision on the U.S. drugmaker's vaccine, now being evaluated under the abridged procedure on the basis of prior review by the European Medicines Agency, was expected in one to four days after that, Lindmeier said.

(Reuters) --- Bulgaria's new anti-establishment party, There Is Such A People (ITN), said on Monday it would not try to form a government despite a surge of support in this month's parliamentary election, bringing the Balkan country closer to snap polls in the summer.

Popular anger at widespread corruption boosted support for ITN and two smaller anti-graft parties at the April 4 election, but even together the three groupings would not have a majority in the fragmented parliament.

(Reuters) --- A British minister on Monday flatly denied a report that Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would rather bodies piled “high in their thousands” than order a third social and economic lockdown to stem coronavirus infections.

Johnson is facing a stream of allegations in newspapers about everything from his muddled initial handling of the COVID-19 crisis to questions over who financed the redecoration of his official apartment.

(Reuters) --- For candidate Angus Robertson, helping his Scottish National Party win a majority in May 6 elections would be a dream come true. Beyond that lies a far bigger prize - another referendum and the prospect of breaking from the United Kingdom.

He only needs to look up for inspiration in his push for independence that would end the 314-year union between Scotland and England and profoundly change the course of British history.

PARIS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- France has launched a battle to contain highly infectious variants of COVID-19 by reinforcing border control, ramping up tests and imposing mandatory 10-day quarantine for all arrivals from high-risk countries, where the new coronavirus strains are active, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Sunday.

"We have launched the battle against these variants which are a threat against which we must protect ourselves," Castex told reporters at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport.

New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) The European Union on Sunday said it is pooling in resources to respond rapidly to help India's fight against the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic.

A senior official of the 27-nation powerful bloc said the European Union (EU) has already activated its Civil Protection Mechanism to mobilise support for India including supplying urgently needed oxygen and medicines.

Under the mechanism, the EU plays a central role in coordinating its responses to emergencies in Europe and beyond.

PARIS (AP) — Protesters in Paris and other French cities on Sunday denounced a ruling by France’s highest court that the killer of Jewish woman Sarah Halimi was not criminally responsible and therefore could not go on trial.

Thousands of people filled Trocadero Plaza in Paris, in front of the Eiffel Tower, answering a call by Jewish associations and groups fighting antisemitism who say that justice has not been done. Other protests took place in Marseille, Lyon, Strasbourg, Bordeaux and elsewhere.