Europe

MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/: Moscow is ready for the next stage of lifting restrictions introduced over the coronavirus outbreak, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his blog on Monday.

"We are registering the continued decline in the incidence of the disease and all its main parameters… We can switch over to the next stage of lifting restrictions scheduled for June 16, 2020. From tomorrow, the summer terraces of restaurants and cafes are allowed to reopen. Restrictions on providing planned assistance at dental clinics will be lifted," the Moscow mayor wrote.

MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/: In the past 24 hours, 8,246 COVID-19 cases were registered in Russia, the lowest daily increase since May 1, coronavirus prevention operational headquarters told journalists Monday.

The daily growth rate was 1.6% versus 1.7% one day earlier. A total of 537,210 people contracted the infection in Russia since the beginning of the pandemic.

A total of 537,210 people have contracted the disease in Russia.

MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/: Two employees of the Czech Embassy in Moscow have been declared personae non gratae as a tit-for-tat measure in response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the Czech Republic, they must leave Russia by the end of June 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed in a message on the outcomes of the meeting with the Czech ambassador.

15 June 2020; AFP: President Emmanuel Macron vowed on Sunday that France would not seek to erase elements of its history or take down statues of controversial public figures, despite growing global scrutiny of former colonial powers in the wake of worldwide protests.

In an address to the nation, Macron said France would be "uncompromising" in its fight against racism after days of demonstrations over alleged prejudice among police forces.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary is ready to give financial support to Audi (NSUG.DE) to allow its Hungarian manufacturing plant to run at full capacity in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Viktor Orban was reported as saying on Monday as he visited the plant.

“We have to fight for the Audi plant as well,” state news agency MTI cited Orban as saying. Orban said Audi was key to the Hungarian economy’s recovery from the adverse impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany has signalled it will push for a tougher EU line towards China, adding language to a draft document that would see a stronger demand for “reciprocity” - seen as code for access for European firms — and a new emphasis on “values”.

Germany takes over the rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of this year. It has set out its policy plans for the presidency in a draft reviewed by Reuters on Monday, which supersedes an earlier draft compiled in March.

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland’s two dominant centre-right parties have agreed to form a coalition for the first time in a deal that will also put the Green Party at the centre of policymaking and end a political stalemate triggered by an inconclusive February election.

The deal, which must be ratified by members of the three parties, is expected to make Fianna Fail leader Micheál Martin prime minister in the first half of the government’s five-year term before Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar returns in 2022.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will urge the European Union on Monday to commit to renewed energy to reach an agreement on the future relationship by the end of the summer, his spokesman said on Monday.

Johnson holds discussions with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and the heads of the European Council and European Parliament later on Monday at a meeting that is not expected to produce a dramatic moment in the ongoing talks.

WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish barrister and two judges have filed complaints against Poland alleging a lack of independence in the country’s Supreme Court, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said on Monday.

Poland, the largest post-communist state in the European Union, has been in a long-running dispute with the bloc over judicial reforms which critics say limit the independence of the courts.

Poland’s ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party says its judicial reforms are needed to rid the system of the residue of communism.

LONDON (Reuters) - Three Greece-based shipping firms said they have halted trade with Venezuela after the United States imposed sanctions on vessels under their management, as Washington ramps up commercial heat on Caracas.

The U.S. government is seeking to choke Venezuelan oil exports to starve the government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro of its main source of revenue. Existing sanctions have cut Venezuelan exports sharply, but Maduro has held on.

Washington may tighten sanctions by adding dozens more tankers to an existing blacklist, sources told Reuters.