Europe

MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/: The example of influenza shows that a vaccine against the novel coronavirus will not be a panacea for that virus, President of the Dmitry Rogachev National Medical Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology and Chief Freelance Pediatric Hematologist and Oncologist of the Russian Ministry of Health Alexander Rumyantsev told TASS.

MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/: Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told reporters that the Kremlin had noted Russians’ considerable interest in the vote on the constitutional amendments, but no preliminary conclusions will be drawn.

"We do not draw any conclusions based on first results. It’s obvious that the interest in the vote is substantial, but it is too early to draw conclusions. Wait, it has just begun," Peskov said.

FRANKFURT/HELSINKI (Reuters) - The euro zone is “probably past” the worst of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but the recovery will be uneven, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Friday.

Speaking as fears of a second wave shook investors and the general public across the world, Lagarde struck a constructive tone but urged authorities to use the truce currently offered by the virus to prepare.

LONDON (Reuters) - Finalising the European Union’s package of measures to help the economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic is a “massive priority” for Germany’s presidency of the EU, German Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Kukies said on Friday.

EU leaders agreed in April to build a trillion-euro emergency fund to help the 27-nation bloc rebound from the pandemic, but the final details have yet to be agreed.

“We really need to act quickly now if we want the funds to be available on January 1, 2021,” Kukies told an online event.

LONDON (Reuters) - Last fall, European Space Agency satellites detected huge plumes of the invisible planet-warming gas methane leaking from the Yamal pipeline that carries natural gas from Siberia to Europe.

Energy consultancy Kayrros estimated one leak was spewing out 93 tonnes of methane every hour, meaning the daily emissions from the leakage were equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide pumped out in a year by 15,000 cars in the United States.

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Rishi Sunak sees a very high bar for bailing out companies that are struggling as a result of the coronavirus crisis, Bloomberg Television reported on Friday.

Sunak also said the economy was past the acute phase of the crisis, and that the best way to preserve jobs was to allow businesses to continue to reopen.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Most European Union countries are at risk of missing their targets for reducing health-damaging air pollution for both 2020 and 2030, the European Commission said on Friday.

In its first report on countries’ progress towards EU air pollution goals, the Commission said member states needed to step up efforts to tackle the estimated 400,000 premature deaths a year caused in the EU by exposure to polluted air.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A Danish court on Friday found a Norwegian citizen guilty of spying for an Iranian intelligence service and of complicity in a suspected plot to kill an Iranian Arab opposition figure in Denmark.

The 40-year-old Norwegian man, who has Iranian heritage, was arrested in October 2018 after a major police operation in which Denmark temporarily closed its international borders. The court did not give the man’s name.

PARIS, June 25 (Xinhua) -- France is launching a "large scale" coronavirus testing campaign to identify any "dormant clusters" and to get ready for a potential resurgence of the epidemic, Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Thursday.

Speaking to Le Monde newspaper, Veran said the massive testing campaign will target people who live near previous COVID-19 risk zones and will aim to detect asymptomatic individuals who may be transmitting the virus without knowing it.

LONDON, June 25 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday condemned the "appalling" scenes in Brixton in south London where 22 police officers were injured and police cars smashed up when they tried to break up an "unlicensed" street party Wednesday night.

A spokesman for the prime minister said the British government would shortly be launching a consultation on doubling the maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency worker.

"These were appalling scenes. Violence against the police will not be tolerated," the spokesman said.