Europe

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/: Most of coronavirus patients have blood type A, while those having blood type AB are the fewest, chief of Russia’s Federal Medical Biological Agency Veronika Skvortsova said on Friday.

"An interesting fact that was noted by foreign specialists and has been verified by the Agency’s centers. The overwhelming majority of those infected have blood type A," she said at an online news conference organized by TASS. "Next are types O and B. And, indeed, the rarest is type AB."

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/: Doctors at Russian hospitals are not trying to conceal data on COVID-19 cases and are instead interested in high performance in battling the infection for financial reasons, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told Vesti Nedeli program on Rossiya-1 TV channel on Sunday.

"One should not even think that our doctors are trying to somehow conceal [the disease caused by] COVID. This is not about our doctors and I can definitely say that," Golikova stressed.

MOSCOW, May 18. /TASS/: Russia’s Baltic Fleet will carry out over ten long-distance missions in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea in 2020, the Fleet’s Commander Admiral Alexander Nosatov told the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper on Monday.

18 May 2020; AFP: The World Health Organization will on Monday kick off its first ever virtual assembly, but fears abound that US-China tensions could derail the strong action needed to address the COVID-19 crisis.

The World Health Assembly, which has been trimmed from the usual three weeks to just two days, Monday and Tuesday, is expected to focus almost solely on COVID-19, which in a matter of months has killed more than 310,000 globally, and infected nearly 4.7 million.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The coronavirus-hit euro zone economy probably will not return to its pre-pandemic levels until next year at the earliest, the European Central Bank’s chief economist told El Pais newspaper, adding that the ECB was prepared to tweak its tools if needed.

“From today’s perspective, it looks in any case unlikely that economic activity will return to its pre-crisis level before 2021, if not later,” Philip Lane said in the interview published on the ECB’s website.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 342 to 174,697, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday.

The tally showed deaths rose by 21 to 7,935.

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe’s top oil and gas companies have diverted a larger share of their cash to green energy projects since the coronavirus outbreak in a bet the global health crisis will leave a long-term dent in fossil fuel demand, according to a Reuters review of company statements and interviews with executives.

LONDON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Nigel Adams, Britain's minister of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development, said it is important for Britain and China to cooperate closely in the battle against COVID-19 pandemic.

Adams made the remarks during a telephone conversation with Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming on Friday. The two exchanged views on China-Britain relationship and joint response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ROME, May 17 (Xinhua) -- On Monday, Italy will take its biggest step yet toward reopening its economy after nearly ten weeks of national lockdown.

Starting Monday, shops, restaurants, bars, barbershops, beauty salons, museums, and beachfront operators will all be allowed to reopen as long as they respect rules for social distancing and disinfecting facilities. Italians will also be allowed to move within the region they live in. But schools will remain closed. The current plan is for them to reopen only in September.

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/: The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has confirmed that Eurovision Song Contest 2021 will be held in Rotterdam (the Netherlands). The host city for the 65th contest was announced on Saturday, on the night the Grand Final of Eurovision 2020 was supposed to be held, during the 'Europe Shine a Light' show.