Europe

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: Joint participation in projects related to exploration of the Moon could be a serious factor for expanding cooperation between Russia and the United States, Deputy Director General for International Cooperation at Roscosmos Sergey Saveliev said on Saturday.

"Ambitious projects related to exploration of the Moon could become a serious factor in cooperation of the two countries in difficult times," Saveliev said, according to Roscosmos statement.

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/: Vietnam plans to continue providing aid to Russia in tackling the coronavirus infection spread by supplying medical masks, a source in the embassy of the republic told TASS on Saturday.

"Due to the complicated situation with the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, Vietnamese departments, agencies and organizations plan to continue supplies of medical products to the Russian people," the source said.

GENEVA, May 17. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases globally increased by 89,269 over the past 24 hours to more than 4.43 mln, while the death toll rose by 5,037 people to over 302,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Saturday.

As of May 16, there have been 4,434,653 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 302,169 deaths, reported to WHO.

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: The Russian Ministry of Transport hopes for resumption of international air service in July this year, domestic transportation can begin gradual recovery in mid-June, Minister of Transport Yevgeny Dietrich told reporters on Saturday.

LONDON, May 17. /TASS/: Russia’s businessman Alisher Usmanov has gained one notch to take the seventh spot in Britain’s Rich List 2020 top ten rating released by the Sunday Times newspaper on Saturday.

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/: The Moscow Region will comply with three criteria necessary for partially launching economic sectors by Monday, Governor of the Moscow Region Andrey Vorobyov told a program Nedelya v Gorode (Week in the City) on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/: The number of COVID-19 cases in Russia has risen by 9,709 over the past day, and this is the second day in a row when the growth in cases is less than 10,000 since May 1, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

The total number of coronavirus cases in all Russian regions now stands at 281,752, the center reported. The daily growth is 3.6% against 3.5% a day earlier.

17 May 2020; AFP: Italy will reopen to European tourists from early June and scrap a 14-day mandatory quarantine period, the government said on Saturday, as it quickened the exit from the coronavirus lockdown.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also said on Saturday that gyms and cinemas would soon be able to welcome the public again, as the government seeks to restart economic activity while treading cautiously amid the lingering, though waning, coronavirus.

17 May 2020; AFP: Spraying disinfectant on the streets, as practiced in some countries, does not eliminate the new coronavirus and even poses a health risk, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Saturday.

In a document on cleaning and disinfecting surfaces as part of the response to the virus, the WHO says spraying can be ineffective.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted on Sunday that there was public frustration with his government’s measures to ease the coronavirus lockdown following widespread criticism of the new rules, which he admitted were more complex.

As a poll for the Observer newspaper indicated growing dissatisfaction with Johnson’s handling of the crisis, he wrote in the Mail on Sunday paper: “I understand that people will feel frustrated with some of the new rules.”