Europe

BERLIN (AP) — People have taken to the streets of Berlin, London, Paris and other cities around the world to demonstrate in support of Black Lives Matter protesters in the United States and to vent anger over President Donald Trump’s response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.

But at the top, the leaders of traditional allies of the United States have taken pains to avoid criticizing Trump directly, walking a fine line to reconcile international diplomacy with domestic outrage.

London, Jun 12 (AP/PTI) Official figures show that the British economy shrank by a colossal 20.4% in April, the first full month that the country was in its coronavirus lockdown.

The Office for National Statistics said Friday that all areas of the economy were hit, in particular pubs, education, health and car sales.

Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics, said April's fall is the biggest the U.K. has ever seen, and almost 10 times larger than the steepest pre-COVID-19 fall. April's decline follows a 5.8% contraction in March.

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: The discussion of extending the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) should be revived, Spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told a briefing Thursday.

"The issue of extending the effect of the INF Treaty as the only still operational bilateral instrument of nuclear arms control is becoming more and more pressing," she said. "Considering the importance of the INF Treaty, we are coming from the premise that the bilateral dialogue on this issue should be revived soon."

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: The World Health Organization’s Representative to Russia, Melita Vujnovic, has said that the WHO has no questions about Russia’s COVID-19 mortality rates.

"The WHO by no means has any questions about Russia’s coronavirus-related mortality statistics. WHO Emergencies Program Executive Director Michael Ryan voiced a very general idea. He is not a statistics specialist and has no experience in this field. He merely expressed an opinion. But the WHO is of the opinion there can be no questions," Vujnovic said on the Business FM radio station.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: A second wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic in Russia is possible if new cases of the virus are imported in the country from abroad, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Thursday in an interview with the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Statistical data shows that repeat import [of the virus] is possible," he said. Besides, there are climate factors that could affect the epidemiological situation, the minister added.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: The United States Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan congratulated Russian citizens on behalf of US President Donald Trump and the American people on Russia Day, confirming Washington’s readiness to cooperate.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: Keeping quiet about crimes committed by the Western coalition in Iraq is impermissible and those responsible must be brought to justice, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: The Dutch prosecutor’s office in its statements concerning the investigation of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 disaster over Donbass tries to divert suspicion from the Ukrainian armed forces, while investigators ignore discrepancies in testimonies made by the Ukrainian side, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday.

In particular, she pointed to conflicting statements by prosecutors concerning the Ukrainian air defense systems Buk, which were in the zone of the tragedy.

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: The Kremlin is hoping that the new anti-Russian sanctions proposed by the Republicans in the US House of Representatives will not be imposed. Moreover, such impulses do not improve bilateral relations, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov is certain.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 8,987 in the past day, reaching 511,423, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Friday.

According to the crisis center, the daily growth was 1.8% like a day earlier.

New 1,714 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Moscow, 730 in the Moscow Region, 320 in the Sverdlovsk Region, 274 in St. Petersburg and 227 in the Voronezh Region.

Currently, 235,338 COVID-19 patients are receiving treatment in Russia.