Europe

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree on restrictions related to the coronavirus spread has mitigated the threat of an upsurge in the number of confirmed cases, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Channel One’s Bolshaya Igra (Great Game) show, adding that the decisive measures of regional authorities to tackle the pandemic have also played a positive role.

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/: The Russian side feels sorry for the US and hopes that the country will cope with the coronavirus crisis, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Channel One’s Bolshaya Igra (Great Game) show.

"We all feel very sorry for the Americans due to the ongoing situation and hope that the Americans will have enough strength and energy to cope with the current crisis," he said.

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/: Zarubezhneft plans to boost crude oil production more than three-fold by 2030 to 15 mln tonnes, according to the company’s in-house publication.

"The strategic goal is to bring production to 15 mln tonnes by 2030 in five regional centers (Russia, Southeast Asia, Middle East, CIS, Latin America) with a balanced projects portfolio," the publication said.

In 2019, the group’s output exceeded the planned volumes by 5.6% and amounted to 4.77 mln tonnes of oil equivalent.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: OPEC+ may increase or decrease the timeframe of the new two-year agreement on cutting oil output, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told Rossiya-24 television channel on Friday.

"We will have an opportunity to extend this timeframe. If the situation on the market improves faster, we will be able to decide to cease activities on restoring the market in shorter time," Novak said.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed the question of cutting oil output with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud in a telephone conversation, the Kremlin press service reported on Friday.

"The questions were discussed connected with talks in the OPEC+ framework regarding cutting oil output," the press service said.

The sides also agreed to continue Russian-Saudi contacts on this issue.

OPEC+ countries have agreed to cut oil output by 10 million barrels per day in May-June.

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health is excellent despite more work, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Channel One’s Bolshaya Igra (Great Game) show.

"Excellent," he said when asked about President’s health. "You can see that by the work schedule. Though all contacts are held as videoconferences, the number of events has even increased compared with the usual level," he said, adding that Putin also holds face-to-face meetings.

Most staffers of the presidential administration regularly pass coronavirus tests, Peskov noted.

11 April 2020; AFP: Prime Minister Boris Johnson was making "very good progress" on Saturday in his recovery in hospital from coronavirus, officials said, as the number of deaths in Britain from the disease approached the grim milestone of 10,000.

The 55-year-old leader was spending his second full day out of intensive care at London's St Thomas' Hospital, where he has been able to take short walks between periods of rest, according to Downing Street.

GENEVA/ROME, Apr 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) – As some European countries, hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, are starting to see signs of slowing in infections, the World Health Organisation (WHO) sounded a stern warning, against lifting restrictions too soon, saying, it could lead to a deadly resurgence of COVID-19.

“In the past week, we’ve seen a welcome slowing in some of the hardest-hit countries in Europe, like Spain, Italy, Germany and France,” WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said.

(Reuters) - The European Commission has imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on some stainless steel products from China, Indonesia and Taiwan, according to the official EU journal, nearly eight months after launching a probe into low-price imports.

The duties on hot-rolled stainless steel sheets and coils include a rate of 17% on shipments from two Indonesian subsidiaries of Chinese stainless steel maker Tsingshan Holding Group, whose rapid expansion and low production costs in the southeast Asian country have left EU producers fretting over market share.

LONDON (Reuters) - Doctors and nurses treating patients with COVID-19 in Britain are putting their lives at risk because of a lack of protective kit for frontline staff, their unions have warned.

The British government has faced repeated criticism from National Health Service (NHS) staff that doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers were facing shortages of masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment (PPE).