Europe

MOSCOW, March 28. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin expects that herd immunity against COVID-19 in Russia will be developed by the end of summer.

In an interview with Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on Rossiya-1 TV channel, answering a question when the pandemic restrictions in Russia could be lifted and the country would return to a normal life, the president assured that "this will happen."

He recommended to "listen to specialists" who say that restrictions could be lifted "after herd immunity is developed."

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny asked for help from a public commission to get access to painkiller injections for severe pain in his leg, the head of the commission said in a statement, published on Saturday night.

Navalny was jailed last month for two and a half years on charges he called politically motivated. He was arrested as he returned to Russia from Germany in January, where he had been recovering from what doctors said was a nerve agent poisoning.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is confident second doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be administered on time without mixing jabs, culture minister Oliver Dowden said on Sunday amid concerns over a slowdown in supplies.

The government warned earlier this month that its vaccination programme would slow down in April due in part to a delay of a shipment from India’s Serum Institute.

The European Union has also threatened to block vaccine shipments to countries such as the UK with higher vaccination rates.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday he had experienced minor side effects from the coronavirus vaccine after receiving the first shot on Tuesday, the Interfax news agency reported, citing a TV interview.

“I woke up the next morning after the vaccination and it seemed to me I felt slight pain in muscles. I took a thermometer... my temperature was normal,” he told the state Rossiya 1 TV channel.

He said he also had an uncomfortable feeling on the site of the injection.

(Reuters) - British ministers have rejected a request from mining magnate Sanjeev Gupta for a 170 million pound emergency loan to prevent his group, GFG Alliance, from collapsing, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

GFG, a holding company for Gupta’s assets, was the biggest recipient of financing from Greensill, a British financing company, which filed for insolvency earlier in March.

The British government wrote back to Gupta formally rejecting the request last week due to multiple concerns, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

VALLETTA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Malta on Sunday announced more restrictive measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, including cutting the number of people for group gatherings in public spaces from four to two.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said that groups of more than two people will be prohibited, including in queues on bus stops, unless social distancing of two metres is observed.

The fine for people breaching these new rules has been tripled to 300 euros per person.

LONDON (AP) — On March 4, 2020, when there were just 84 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.K., professor Sharon Peacock recognized that the country needed to expand its capacity to analyze the genetic makeup of the virus.

The Cambridge University microbiologist understood that genomic sequencing would be crucial in tracking the disease, controlling outbreaks and developing vaccines. So she began working with colleagues around the country to put together a plan. Within a month, the government had provided 20 million pounds ($28 million) to fund their work.

MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/: The Sukhoi Aircraft Company (part of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation) has started to implement its contract for the delivery of Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jets to the country’s Aerospace Force, the office of Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told TASS on Monday.

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia increased by 8,885 per day to 4,510,744, the federal operational headquarters for the fight against the new infection told reporters on Saturday.

In relative terms, the increase in the number of cases was 0.2%.

The lowest growth rates were recorded per day in the Republic of Tyva (0.01%), Magadan Region (0.02%), Jewish Autonomous Region (0.05%).

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has dismissed the head of the constitutional court, who has opposed some anti-corruption reforms, calling his actions a threat to national security, Zelenskiy’s office said on Saturday.

Zelenskiy and the court under Oleksandr Tupytskyi have been locked in a stand-off since last year over anti-corruption legislation, hobbling Ukraine’s chances of securing more foreign loans.