Europe

MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to submit a report by April 30 on the plan of developing coronavirus vaccines, the Kremlin press office reported on Tuesday.

This order is on the list of instructions issued by the president after his meeting with the medical community, the Kremlin press office said.

MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/: The court battle over the ownership of the Alexander Metochion (the Alexander Courtyard) in the Old City of Jerusalem will not affect relations between Israel and Russia, because they are stronger than such challenges, Israeli Charge d’Affaires in Moscow Eli Belotserkovsky said at an online briefing organized by the Unified Information Center of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia.

MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer discussed over the phone practical steps aimed at overcoming the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Tuesday.

"[The parties] discussed interaction in the fight against the spread of coronavirus and practical measures to overcome the humanitarian aftermath of the pandemic," the Foreign Ministry said.

MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/: Issues of peaceful settlement in Syria, the current coronavirus situation and repatriation of nationals were in focus of a telephone conversation between Russian and Turkish Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/: Russia Vepr (K-157), a Project 971 Schuka-B class nuclear-powered attack submarine, has completed trials after overhaul and modernization, and will return to service with the Russian Navy in June, a defense industry source told TASS on Tuesday.

"The Vepr nuclear sub has fully completed the program of trials. The submarine returned to the Nerpa ship-repair plant for minor fixes. This work will continue for about a month," the source said. "After a short period in the dry dock, it will be handed over to the fleet in early July."

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is not yet at the point of wanting to change its strict guidelines on social distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19, with the government focusing on reviewing the measures by May 7, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said on Tuesday.

“It is important that they remain in place for now. We need to pass five tests before we can think about moving on to the next phase in the coronavirus response. We are not there yet,” the spokesman told reporters.

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish voters should boycott a presidential election set for May 10 out of “basic human decency” because of the new coronavirus pandemic, Donald Tusk, leader of the centre-right European People’s Party and a former prime minister, said on Tuesday.

Tusk said a government plan to hold the vote via a postal ballot was insufficient to mitigate safety concerns in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, and accused the ruling nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) of subverting the constitution.

LONDON (Reuters) - Banks should rein in bonuses to boost their capacity to help businesses and households hit by the coronavirus crisis, the European Union’s executive said on Tuesday.

The European Commission set out a package of temporary “quick fixes” offering capital relief that would support extra lending potentially worth up to 450 billion euros ($490 billion)to companies struggling as a deep recession looms.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is preparing a change to its foreign trade regulations that would require the government to be informed of purchases by countries outside the European Union of stakes in key healthcare companies, the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday.

The draft, which the ministry has submitted to other government departments and business associations for review and which must still be approved by the cabinet, would apply to acquisitions from non-EU states, or so-called ‘third countries’, of company stakes of 10% of more.

LONDON (Reuters) - British retailers suffered their biggest fall in sales since the 2008 financial crisis in the first half of April as the coronavirus kept shoppers at home and forced store closures, the Confederation of British Industry said on Tuesday.

Together with official figures for March and an earlier survey from the British Retail Consortium, Tuesday’s numbers showed the sector was on track for a historic decline, as an earlier boost from the stockpiling of food fades.