Europe

PARIS (AP) — With France confined to fight the virus, a video circulated online in April showing a young man lying on the bloody ground next to two police officers — and quickly set off protests in struggling neighborhoods around the Paris region.

LONDON (AP) — It’s an issue that’s been argued about for months, both by experts and by people strolling through parks all over the world: Can people who don’t feel sick spread the coronavirus, and if so should we all be wearing masks to stop it?

Even the World Health Organization can’t seem to get it straight. On Tuesday the U.N. health agency scrambled to explain seemingly contradictory comments it has made in recent days about the two related issues.

The confusion and mixed messages only makes controlling the pandemic that much more difficult, experts say.

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/: US epidemiologists analyzed the structure of over 10,000 coronavirus specimens from various regions of the world and concluded that currently there are six SARS-CoV-2 varieties spreading across the globe. The research is published on the bioRxiv website.

"The genomic epidemiology of the 10,422 SARS-CoV-2 isolates studied here show six predominant clonal complexes (CCs) circulated/circulating globally," the researchers say.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, June 9. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the work of the Russian financial system, as well and major financial institutions.

KIEV, June 9. /TASS/: Kiev’s involvement of Donbass "representatives" for talks within the political sub-group of the Trilateral Contact Group will not facilitate the peace process, says Andrei Portnov, Ukrainian lawyer and former Deputy Chief of Staff of Ukraine’s fourth President Viktor Yanukovich.

"They are not bearers of the ideology of peaceful resolution," Portnov wrote in his Telegram channel, commenting on the new delegates, announced by the Ukrainian President’s Office.

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin and US Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan discussed over the phone on Tuesday bilateral cooperation and interaction in ironing out regional conflicts.

"During the conversation major focus was made on the issues of bilateral cooperation at international venues as well as coordinating efforts of our countries in contributing to settling regional conflicts," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The phone conversation was held at the US side’s initiative.

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/: Israel’s plans to annex parts of occupied Palestinian territories will shut the door on the two-state solution and may provoke another round of violence in the region, Russian Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov said in an interview for Egypt-based Al-Ahram newspaper, also published on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website Tuesday.

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/: The claims that members of the Wagner Group private military company are present in Libya are based on fabricated data, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said in an interview with Egypt’s Al-Ahram daily.

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/: About 1 mln people will return to work in Moscow this week after the self-isolation measures in the Russian capital have been lifted, Moscow Deputy Mayor Vladimir Yefimov told TASS.

Earlier, Russian Mayor Sergei Sobyanin informed that starting June 9, the self-isolation regime in Moscow would be cancelled, along with the permit system and the schedule for walks around the city. Beauty parlors, hairdressers and other enterprises will begin work on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/: Moscow identified 1,572 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, this is the lowest number since April 16, the national anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters Tuesday.

The daily increase rate dropped to 0.8% in Russia’s capital. Yesterday, 2,001 new infections were identified in Moscow.

Overall, Moscow has 198,590 cases of the virus.