Europe

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/: The UN Security Council permanent members (Russia, the UK, China, the US, France) summit dedicated to a wide range of global stability issues may take place this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Bolshaya Igra ("Big Game") program on Russia’s Channel One.

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/: Six people have been injured in the crash landing of the Mi-26 helicopter on the Yamal Peninsula on Saturday, the press service of the Ural Transport Directorate of the Russian Investigative Committee informed TASS.

"According to preliminary data, six people have been injured," the press service stated.

Earlier, a source in the emergency services informed TASS that the crash could have taken place due to unfavorable weather conditions.

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/: Russia has documented 5,966 cases of COVID-19, a disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in the past 24 hours, with the total number of people infected reaching 74,588, the anti-coronavirus crisis center informed reporters on Saturday.

The growth rate does not surpass 10% for the fourth day running.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Italy and the EU’s top diplomat made a joint call on Saturday for a humanitarian truce in Libya, saying all sides must resume peace talks.

“We want to unite our voices to those of the U.N. Secretary-General (Antonio) Guterres and his Acting Special Representative for Libya, Stephanie Turco Williams, in their call for a humanitarian truce in Libya,” the statement said.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States will not take part in the launching of a global initiative on Friday to speed the development, production and distribution of drugs and vaccines against COVID-19, a spokesman for the U.S. mission in Geneva told Reuters.

“There will be no U.S. official participation”, he said in an email reply to a query. “We look forward to learning more about this initiative in support of international cooperation to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 as soon as possible.”

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain passed the grim milestone of over 20,000 COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, as the daily toll rose 813 to 20,319 people who tested positive for the illness and died in hospital.

Back in mid-March the government’s chief scientific adviser said that keeping the death toll below 20,000 would be a “good outcome”.

The government is facing growing criticism over its response to the new coronavirus pandemic as the death toll rises. Britain was slower to impose a lockdown than European peers and is struggling to raise its testing capacity.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that there was currently “no evidence” that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second coronavirus infection.

In a scientific brief, the United Nations agency warned governments against issuing “immunity passports” or “risk-free certificates” to people who have been infected as their accuracy could not be guaranteed.

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia sent four planes carrying medical equipment including gloves, masks and protective suits to Italy on Saturday as a donation to help the EU member state tackle the spread of coronavirus.

Another four equipment-laden planes will be sent in the next two days, also donated by the Serbian government, President Aleksandar Vucic said.

“We will win together, be brave Italy, Serbia is with you,” Vucic wrote on one of the boxes of equipment before it was loaded on to a plane.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank has declined a request by prominent U.S. senators to provide information about the German lender’s recent business dealings with President Donald Trump and his family, according to a letter this week seen by Reuters.

Four Democratic senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, earlier this month demanded details from Deutsche’s chief executive, Christian Sewing, about the bank’s interaction this year with Trump and his family’s companies.

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy must be “pragmatic” in talks with the EU over aid tools, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Saturday, denying that an earlier comment in a newspaper interview referred to the use of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund.

Di Maio’s remark in the La Stampa daily appeared to signal a shift in the position of his ruling 5-Star Movement, which has threatened to bring down the government if it opts to seek financing from the ESM.