Europe

PARIS (Reuters) - Youths clashed with police in suburbs around Paris early on Wednesday, the fourth consecutive night of trouble as strict lockdown rules to tackle the coronavirus have heightened social tensions.

In Villeneuve-La-Garenne north of the capital, riot police ran into a housing estate complex to quell unrest after rubbish and debris had been set on fire.

Police used shields to protect themselves from broken glass hurled at them while other residents looked on from their windows as the police shone torchlights onto the high-rise blocks.

HELSINKI (Reuters) - European Central Bank policymaker Olli Rehn called on Wednesday for member states to enhance pan-European cooperation and for governments to take measures to support the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The difficulties caused by (the virus) are not due to any single country’s reckless management of finances. It is therefore necessary to support the most severely hit countries,” Rehn, who is Finland’s central bank chief, told a news conference.

LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose against the Saudi riyal in the forwards market on Wednesday after oil prices slumped, with Brent crude futures dropping to their lowest in more than two decades as the coronavirus pandemic caused demand to collapse.

One-year dollar/riyal forwards rose as high as 264.3 points, their highest since November 2018, Refinitiv data showed.

The Saudi riyal is pegged at 3.75 to the dollar in the spot market, so banks often use the forwards market to hedge against risks.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have resumed their investigation into Boeing’s (BA.N) bid to buy the jetmaking arm of Embraer (EMBR3.SA), with a decision due by Aug. 7, a European Commission filing showed on Wednesday.

The EU executive halted its probe on Feb. 24 while waiting for the companies to provide information it had requested. The so-called stop the clock ended on April 7, according to the filing. Sources said millions of documents have been provided in recent months.

ZAGREB (Reuters) - The earthquake that struck the Croatian capital Zagreb a month ago caused around 42 billion kuna ($6.03 billion) of damage and country will be seeking outside help to pay for the reconstruction work, the government said on Wednesday.

One person was killed and 27 others were injured in the 5.3 magnitude earthquake on March 22, while many people had to leave their homes due to the damage to buildings

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/: Serious illness, caused by the novel coronavirus infection, might damage cardiac muscle, but the medics do not know yet how exactly it might affect the heart in the future, says Sergey Boitsov, the CEO of the National Cardiology Medical Research Center and the chief non-resident cardiologist of the Russian Healthcare Ministry.

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a telephone conversation with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin press service said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The parties discussed pressing issues related to Russian-Turkish cooperation, focusing on trade and economic ties, including nuclear energy projects and plans to boost agricultural and transport cooperation," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/: Specialists of the Energomash Research and Production Association have launched active work to adapt the RD-180 liquid-propellant rocket engine for the new Soyuz-6 carrier rocket, Energomash CEO Igor Arbuzov said on Tuesday.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, April 21. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for equipping more hospital beds for receiving coronavirus patients even if such beds may not be needed, for which he said he hopes.

"We understand that it [extra beds and equipment] may not be needed, I hope to God, but we must have that all the same," he said on Tuesday at an online meeting with governor of the Far Eastern Primorsky Territory.

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/: The Kremlin has no information if media rumors about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s health have anything to do with the reality, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Tuesday.

"We’ve seen the media reports. We have no idea to what extent these reports agree with the reality. We are waiting for official information," Peskov said.