Europe

MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/: The fire at a hospice for elderly people in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, which killed ten, had been caused by faulty wiring, the Investigative Committee’s Main Investigation Department in the Moscow Region told TASS.

"According to preliminary data, the fire was caused by faulty wiring," the investigators said.

The hospice was located in a private house. The investigators launched a criminal investigation into providing services, which fail to meet safety requirements, resulting in the death of two or more people by negligence.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank’s German board member said on Monday that only the European Court of Justice has jurisdiction over the central bank, serving a rebuke to her country’s highest court.

Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled last week that the ECB had overstepped its mandate with 2 trillion euros worth of sovereign bond purchases since 2015 and ordered Germany’s central bank to exit the scheme unless then ECB can prove the its legality within the next three months.

LONDON (Reuters) - The British government said non-essential retailers would not go back to work until June at the earliest while other sectors will not go back to work until July at the earliest, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday.

“There’s the other changes for things like non essential retail and people going back to school, particularly primary school, which won’t start until the earliest on the first of June, subject to conditions,” Raab said.

PARIS (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday that he would hold new meetings this week with representatives of the country’s automotive industry, which has been hit hard by the impact of the coronavirus.

Le Maire also told BFM Business radio that he regretted a decision by the CGT trade union to prevent a reopening of a Renault plant at Sandouville, just as the French government tries to get the country back to work as lockdown measures start to ease.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain and the European Union start their penultimate scheduled round of trade talks on Monday with little progress on major sticking points before a June deadline to agree on any extension of negotiations.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly refused to prolong the current transition period beyond the end of the year to grant more time for the two sides to agree the scale and scope of their new relationship.

MOSCOW, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Russia has accused the United States of distorting the history of the World War II and downplaying the Soviet Union's role in defeating Nazi Germany.

"We are extremely indignant at the attempt to distort the results of the defeat of Nazism and the decisive contribution of our country," Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday in a statement.

The ministry said it could not ignore the comment posted by the White House on social media, which only mentioned the United States and Britain as victors over the Nazis.

LONDON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed his government's approach to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in the next phase in his address to the nation Sunday evening.

The prime minister said that the government has a plan to ease lockdown, but "it is a conditional plan," and since "our priority is to protect the public and save lives, we cannot move forward unless we satisfy the five tests."

This is "not the time simply to end the lockdown this week," instead " we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures," said Johnson.

ROME (AP) — Wearing a surgical mask, disposable gloves and booties to guard against COVID-19, a young Italian woman returned to her homeland Sunday after 18 months as a hostage in eastern Africa.

Silvia Romano lowered her mask briefly to display a broad smile after she stepped off an Italian government plane at Rome-Ciampino International Airport. She hugged her mother and other family members, and touched elbows instead of shaking hands with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.

LISBON, May 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Portugal is to take up to 60 unaccompanied children from Greek refugee camps as concern mounts over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the vulnerable group.

The children are expected to arrive in Portugal within the next few weeks, Socialist Party lawmaker Isabel Santos said during an online conference to celebrate Europe Day. The member of the European Parliament did not specify a date.

At least 5,200 unaccompanied minors live in Greece, many of them under harsh conditions in camps on islands in the Aegean.

GENEVA, May 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 1,000 people queued up to get free food parcels in Geneva, underscoring the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the working poor and undocumented immigrants even in wealthy Switzerland.

The line of people stretched for more than 1km outside an ice rink where volunteers were handing out around 1,500 parcels to people who started queuing as early as 5am.