Europe

MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/: The United States demonstrates a non-pragmatic approach when it refuses to ease sanctions against Iran amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/: The obligatory self-isolation for all residents has been declared in 84 out of 85 Russian administrative entities as of Tuesday, with the Central Russian region of Tver being the only exception, according to regional legislative acts.

So far, the region stays on high alert, but its government has stopped short of declaring obligatory self-isolation for everyone. Earlier, Tver officials said only eight cases of the novel coronavirus infection had been registered there so far.

BERLIN, April 7. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has reached 99,225, and 1,607 patients have died, according to the Berlin-based Robert Koch Institute.

A total of 3,843 cases were identified in the country in the past 24 hours.

The region of Bavaria remains the epicenter of the outbreak in Germany with 26,163 confirmed cases, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Wurttemberg (20,220 and 20,141 cases, respectively).

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland’s government on Tuesday extended and tightened border controls restricting travel to and from the country until May 13 in order to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Finland has followed with mounting concern neighbouring Sweden’s liberal pandemic strategy, fearing cross-border commuters could speed up the spread of the virus in northern parts of Finland with an ageing population and limited intensive care resources.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, speaking just a few hours after Australia’s highest court acquitted Cardinal George Pell of sexually assaulting two choirboys, on Tuesday offered his morning Mass for those who suffer from unjust sentences.

The court quashed convictions that Pell sexually assaulted the two teenagers in the 1990s and allowed the 78-year-old former Vatican economy minister to walk free from jail, ending the most high profile case of alleged historical sex abuse to rock the Roman Catholic Church.

LISBON, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Monday called for national unity to overcome the ongoing public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which he described as the biggest challenge in the past 100 years.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, attending a debate program on the national television RTP via a video conference, said that the crisis caused by the pandemic of the new coronavirus "is the biggest challenge in the field of life and health in the last 100 years."

BERLIN, April 6 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) is facing the "biggest test since its foundation" due to the coronavirus pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday.

The pandemic has produced a "symmetrical shock" and all countries are "equally affected," Merkel said at a press conference at the Chancellery. There is a common interest in making certain that Europe "emerges strongly from this test," she said.

LONDON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is not on a ventilator but has had some oxygen support, said Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove on Tuesday.

"He's not on a ventilator no ... The prime minister has received some oxygen support and he is kept under, of course, close supervision," Gove told the London-based LBC radio, adding that if Johnson's condition changes the government will make an official statement.

Johnson was taken to intensive care on Monday night after his coronavirus symptoms worsened, Downing Street said.

06 April 2020; MEMO: The UAE has waived rental and maintenance fees worth millions of dollars for the use of its giant London Excel centre which has been converted into a 4,000-bed emergency hospital amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

As much as $3.68 million a month was initially demanded for the use of the centre owned by Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Co. (adnec). The state-owned company, however, has done a U-turn and is now offering the mass site for free to the NHS.

MADRID, Apr 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The number of new cases of COVID-19 infection and new deaths continued to fall in Spain, according to the daily data published by the Spanish Ministry for Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services on Sunday.

A total of 6,023 new infections were registered between Saturday and Sunday, fewer than the 7,026 new cases in the previous 24 hours and 7,472 between Thursday and Friday, bringing the country’s total infection cases to 130,759.