Europe

LONDON, June 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The virus alert level across Britain has been lowered from four to three, after a steady decrease in COVID-19 cases in the country, the Department of Health and Social Care said.

Britain’s Chief Medical Officers, reviewed the evidence and agreed that COVID-19 alert level should move from level four to level three, according to a statement released Friday by the department.

LONDON (Reuters) - British security officials have told UK telecom operators to ensure they have adequate stockpiles of Huawei equipment due to fears that new U.S. sanctions will disrupt the Chinese firm’s ability to maintain critical supplies, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Britain granted Huawei a limited role in its future 5G networks in January, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson has since come under renewed pressure from Washington and some lawmakers in his own party who say the company’s equipment is a security risk. Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegations.

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron ordered on Friday a top judicial oversight body to review potential pressure on a prosecutor in a case targeting one of his former rivals in the presidential election that brought him to power.

The former head of France’s financial prosecutors, Eliane Houlette, told lawmakers earlier this month that she had come under pressure over her handling of former prime minister Francois Fillon’s case about the misuse of public funds.

BRUSSELS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- European leaders met at a video conference on Friday, discussing an ambitious fund to help the European economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. But no consensus was reached.

The heads of state and government of the European Union's member states hopefully will meet again physically in July to address their differences, President of the European Council Charles Michel told media following the video conference.

GENEVA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- A senior World Health Organization (WHO) expert said here on Friday that in light of the recent clusters of COVID-19 cases in China, Beijing has done well to control the spreading.

Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the Health Emergencies Program of the WHO, made the remark at a press conference in Geneva.

BERLIN (AP) — Preparing for her appearance before the U.N. General Assembly last fall, Greta Thunberg found herself constantly interrupted by world leaders, including U.N. chief Antonio Guterres and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had formed a queue to speak to her and take selfies.

“Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, waits in line but doesn’t quite make it before it’s time for the event to start,” Thunberg recalls.

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England has apologized for the links some of its past governors had with slavery, as a global anti-racism movement sparked by the death of George Floyd forces many British institutions to confront uncomfortable truths about their pasts.

The central bank called the trade in human beings “an unacceptable part of English history,” and pledged not to display any images of former leaders who had any involvement.

NOVO-OGAREVO, June 19. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to accelerate work on draft laws aimed at prevention of petroleum product spills.

"I ask the government and the State Duma to expedite work on the relevant bills," the head of state said, opening the meeting on the progress in diesel oil spill relief operations in Norilsk.

"Mechanisms of preventing such situations, appropriate, timely and comprehensive response to them and compensation of consequences should be provided in laws," Putin added.

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/: Protesters in Portland, Oregon, toppled a statue of George Washington, America’s first president, who led the country from 1789 to 1797, CBS reported Friday.

The bronze monument was installed near the building of the non-profit German-American Society. According to the report, the vandals who attacked the statue, first draped it with a US flag, and then set fire to it. Then, they toppled the statue, smeared it with red paint and wrote "1619" on it. This is the year the first African slaves arrived in the United States.

MINSK, June 19. /TASS/: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the issues between both states are not catastrophic and can be solved.

Before the meeting, Lukashenko held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We really did have an honest and kind conversation, although some think that tensions are sparked between us — this is not true, there are always some issues," the Belarusian leader noted. "I think we will solve them. These are not catastrophic issues."