Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - The bosses of some of Britain’s biggest companies have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, urging him to embed the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in its COVID-19 recovery plan.

Britain has already said it wants to ensure its economic recovery plan is ‘green,’ mirroring similar plans in the European Union and elsewhere, but it needed to make the sustainable goals central to those plans, the letter said.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece and Italy signed an agreement on maritime boundaries on Tuesday, establishing an exclusive economic zone between the two countries and resolving longstanding issues over fishing rights in the Ionian Sea.

The deal, signed during a visit by Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio, follows months of tension over natural resources in the Eastern Mediterranean region, where Turkey, Greece and Cyprus have been caught in a complex diplomatic standoff.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan confirmed on Tuesday that he was considering a bid to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization, a post that will become vacant at start of September.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania’s state of alert in place since May 15 to fight the new coronavirus must be extended by another 30 days until the middle of July, President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday.

Iohannis ordered a strict lockdown in early March to rein in the outbreak and replaced the state of emergency with a softer state of alert mode last month. “We see the number of new infections have not dropped significantly, so we need this mode extended to fight the virus (further),” he said.

PARIS (Reuters) - France launched what it billed a 15-billion-euro ($17 billion) support plan for its aerospace industry on Tuesday, accelerating research on a green jetliner and warning 100,000 French jobs could be lost due to the coronavirus crisis.

The plans - which include 7 billion euros of aid already awarded to Air France (AIRF.PA) and bring forward some defence spending - involve a joint effort by government and industry to keep French jobs and prepare the next generation of civil jets.

LONDON (Reuters) - There is no point having an 11th-hour Brexit free trade deal, so the format and pace of negotiations with the European Union needs to change, a junior minister said on Tuesday.

“There is no point in us arriving at an agreement at the 11th hour: we have to arrive at agreement to enable it to be implemented, ratified but also for our citizens and businesses to prepare,” Paymaster General Penny Mordaunt told parliament.

Berlin, Jun 9 (AP) German exports plunged by nearly a quarter in April compared with the previous month as coronavirus shutdowns dragged down demand, official data showed Tuesday.

The figures from the Federal Statistical Office followed data showing big drops in factory orders and industrial production in Europe's biggest economy in April, underlining expectations of a sharp economic contraction in the second quarter.

MOSCOW, June 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia announced it would lift a range of COVID-19 restrictions including a strict lockdown on Moscow, despite still recording thousands of new infections every day.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the capital’s general lockdown and pass system would end on Tuesday, allowing residents to travel freely for the first time since late March.

“Moscow is returning to the usual rhythm of life,” he said in a video message on Facebook, adding that the elderly and those with chronic diseases will be allowed to leave their homes.

PARIS, June 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France’s police watchdog said it had received almost 1,500 complaints against officers last year, as the country reels from protests against perceived racism and brutality.

About half of the complaints were for alleged violence against civilians, according to a report of the IGPN watchdog, with President Emmanuel Macron urging government to “accelerate” steps to improve police ethics amid widespread public anger over alleged abuses.

YEREVAN, June 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his family have recovered from the coronavirus, the leader of the ex-Soviet country badly hit by the pandemic said.

“We have just received the results of our repeat tests,” Pashinyan, 45, said on Facebook. All of his tests and those of his family were negative, he added.

The Armenian leader announced on his birthday, June 1, that he and his family had tested positive for the virus and he would be working from home.