Europe

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/: The number of cyber crimes in Moscow rose by almost 40% since the beginning of the year, the city prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Monday.

"More than 14,600 crimes involving information and communication technologies were recorded in Moscow in the first quarter of the year, up 38% compared to the same period last year," the statement reads.

According to the prosecution authorities, most cyber criminals seek to steal money from other people’s bank accounts.

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/: Russia has registered 8,589 new confirmed COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, bringing the total count to 4,710,690 cases, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told journalists on Monday.

According to the crisis center, the relative increase of new infections is at the level of 0.18%.

The lowest daily growth rates were seen in the Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous Regions (0% each), the Republics of Altai and Tuva (0.01% each) and in the Magadan Region and Jewish Autonomous Region (0.02% each).

LISBON, April 19 (NNN-Xinhua) — Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced that 183,000 jabs were administered against COVID-19 this weekend, with the vaccination of 170,000 teachers and school staff completed.

The immunization of Portuguese education professionals had been interrupted due to questions raised about the AstraZeneca vaccine.

According to Costa, “the vaccination process is proceeding in its normal terms” and Portugal “is ready to fulfill the objective” of its immunization process.

LONDON, April 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday cancelled a planned trip to India, scheduled to take place next week, due to the current coronavirus situation in India, Johnson’s office said.

Johnson had already postponed the trip once from January, when COVID-19 infections were high in Britain. Infections in India are currently surging as the country endures a second wave of the virus.

(Reuters) --- Austria will only use Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine once the European Medicines Agency has approved it, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Monday, amid growing public frustration with the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Austria has been in talks with Russia to buy a million doses of the vaccine, and Kurz said on March 31 the order would probably be placed the following week. However, that order has yet to be announced.

(Reuters) --- Greece began opening to tourists on Monday with few bookings but hopes for a better season to help make up for a 2020 devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

On Rhodes island, where most visitors are from abroad, hoteliers are scrubbing, polishing and painting in anticipation of a make-or-break year.

"We're preparing the hotel in order to start as soon as the government gives us the green light," said George Tselios, general manager of Sun Beach Hotel, whose customers are from Scandinavia, Germany, Austria and Britain.

(Reuters) --- The Kremlin on Monday said Russia would continue to respond in kind if further sanctions were imposed, after new U.S. measures last week targeting sovereign debt and blacklisting Russian companies prompted Moscow to retaliate.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "The principle of reciprocity is an absolute constant. These (retaliatory) decisions will keep being taken if similar practice continues."

(Reuters) --- The co-leader of Germany's Greens, Annalena Baerbock, said on Monday she would run to become chancellor in September's elections, the first time the left-leaning party has sought the top job in its 40-year history.

Baerbock, a former champion trampolinist who has seen support for her party rise over the past year, said she would offer a "new start" and focus on investing in education, digital and green technologies.

(Reuters) --- The European Union resolved on Monday to step up its influence in the Indo-Pacific region, using areas from security to health to protect its interests and counter China's rising power, although the bloc insists its strategy is not against Beijing.

Led by France, Germany and the Netherlands, which first set out ways to deepen ties with countries such as India, Japan and Australia, the 27-member bloc wants to use the nascent plan to show Beijing that it is against the spread of authoritarianism.

MOSCOW, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia says U.S. influence is evident in the Czech Republic's decision to expel 18 Russian diplomats from Prague.

Czech authorities took the step to please the United States following recent American sanctions on Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday in a statement.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said Saturday that the country was expelling 18 staffers from the Russian embassy in Prague for the alleged involvement of the Russian special services in two ammunition depot explosions in 2014.