Europe

London; 10 July 2020 (UMMN): According to UK government counterterrorism agency report on Thursday; Neo-Nazis and far-right activists of the United Kingdom are advising their followers to “deliberately infect” Jews and Muslims with coronavirus.

According to a CNN report, these groups are exploiting the crisis to promote their divisive, xenophobic and racist narratives "to sow division" and create social discord.

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/: The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) is outraged over the detention of Khabarovsk Region Governor Sergei Furgal, and it aims to defend its fellow party member, LDPR head Vladimir Zhirinovsky said on Thursday ahead of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) plenary session.

"We are outraged by the fact that our governor Sergei Ivanovich Furgal was arrested in the morning. We will continue to defend him, to take part in all elections and seek victory," Zhirinovsky said. "This is a very big political case."

BELGRADE, July 9. /TASS/: Allegations, made by the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies (CEAS) in Belgrade, that Russia is involved in riots in Belgrade are absurd, Russia Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said Thursday.

"Although making absurd, ungrounded allegations against Russia is not a rarity for the CEAS, it is still surprising, how distorted the perception of reality could be in the ‘experts’ who managed to find a ‘Russian trace’ in riots in Serbia," the envoy tweeted.

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/: The Central Military District’s air defense missile regiment stationed in the Irkutsk Region in Eastern Siberia will get upgraded S-300PM-2 ‘Favorit’ surface-to-air missile systems by the end of the year, Anti-Aircraft Missile Troops Commander of the 14th Air Force and Air Defense Army Colonel Gennady Shlag said on Thursday.

"Until the end of the year, the Angara air defense missile regiment is due to complete accepting the upgraded S-300PM-2 ‘Favorit’ systems for service," the colonel said.

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Thursday that it was utterly illogical to tie the murder of a Chechen national in Austria to Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic.

LONDON, July 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UK government unveiled a package worth £30 billion to save jobs and help the young into work to kickstart the coronavirus-hit economy.

Delivering a mini-budget to parliament, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s measures included bonuses to companies retaining staff and taking on apprentices, investment in ‘green’ jobs and allowing the whole country to enjoy discounted meals in restaurants.

“People need to know that although hardship lies ahead, no one will be left without hope,” said Sunak.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary will on Thursday review rules on travel to neighbouring Austria, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia where numbers of coronavirus cases have been rising, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff said.

The landlocked country lifted most of its lockdown restrictions and opened its borders to travellers from European Union states and neighbouring non-EU members in June.

LONDON (Reuters) - Concerns about renewed coronavirus lockdowns in the United States outweighed signs of a recovery in U.S. gasoline demand on Thursday to keep a lid on oil prices.

The market is also in a holding pattern ahead of a meeting on July 15 of the market monitoring panel of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies.

BRUSSELS/TOKYO (Reuters) - The European Parliament urged Japan to comply with international rules on child protection and to allow for joint parental custody after a number of EU citizens were denied access to their children by Japanese mothers.

Unlike most countries, Japan does not recognise joint custody after divorce and children often lose contact with the non-custodial parent.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday that it was setting up an independent panel to review its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the response by governments.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have agreed to head the panel and chose its members, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual meeting with representatives of WHO’s 194 member states, which was webcast.