Europe

BERLIN (Reuters) - Export expectations in Germany’s car sector have fallen to their lowest level since March 2009, when Europe’s largest economy was in the throes of the global financial crisis, Germany’s Ifo institute said on Monday.

“The prospects for the German car sector have significantly worsened due to the coronavirus crisis,” Ifo said.

It said business expectations in the sector for the coming months had dropped to -33.7 from -19.7 in February.

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to lead the government, housing minister Robert Jenrick said on Monday after the British leader spent the night in hospital for tests because he was still suffering symptoms of the coronavirus.

“He’s been working extremely hard, leading the government and being constantly updated, that’s going to continue,” Jenrick told BBC TV.

“Obviously today, he’s in hospital having the test but he’ll continue to be kept informed as to what’s happening and to be in charge of the government.”

BERLIN (Reuters) - Orders for German-made goods dropped 1.4% in February, data showed on Monday, as a sharp fall in orders from abroad hinted at the likely impact of the coronavirus on the exporting powerhouse’s economic prospects.

The figures published by the Statistics Office relate to the period before lockdown measures began to affect the German economy in earnest: domestic orders climbed by 1.7%, while orders from abroad shrank by 3.6%.

The overall fall was less than the 2.4% drop expected by analysts polled for Reuters.

LONDON, April 5 (Xinhua) -- British Queen Elizabeth II, in a rare broadcast Sunday night, spoke about the coronavirus pandemic and her hope that people will take pride in how they responded to the crisis.

She said better days will return and Britain will succeed in the fight against coronavirus.

In the short speech meant to lift the nation's spirits, the 93-year-old monarch said: "I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time."

ROME, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Italy registered 525 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, the lowest one-day total since March 19, health officials said Sunday.

The country registered its one-day high of 969 fatalities on March 27. The death toll has decreased in five of nine days since then.

Still, the coronavirus pandemic that claimed its first life in Italy on Feb. 20 has now resulted in a total of 15,887 deaths, more than in any other country based on official figures.

Police clean the ground in Rome, Italy, April 4, 2020. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)

PARIS (AP) — The high-speed train whooshing past historic World War I battle zones and through the chateau-speckled Loire Valley carried a delicate cargo: 20 critically ill COVID-19 patients and the machines helping keep them alive.

The TGV-turned-mobile-intensive-care-unit is just one piece of France’s nationwide mobilization of trains, helicopters, jets and even a warship, deployed to relieve congested hospitals and shuffle hundreds of patients and hundreds more medical personnel in and out of coronavirus hotspots.

MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/: Russia has been managing to deter the spread of the novel coronavirus infection and prevent an exponential growth in the infection cases, Anna Popova, chief of Russia’s sanitary watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said on Sunday.

"So far, we have been managing to cope with that. We are managing not to plunge into the exponential growth," she said in an interview with the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on the Rossiya-1 television channel.

MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/: Coordination of anti-crisis measures by many states will be needed to overcome an economic crisis provoked by the coronavirus pandemic among other causes that will be felt further on, Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/: Russia is set for constructive negotiations aimed at stabilizing global energy market, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" TV program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Russia did not back the termination of OPEC+ deal. President [Vladimir] Putin and the Russian side in general are determined for a constructive negotiating process, and there is no alternative to it in terms of stabilizing international energy market," Peskov said.

MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to continue working remotely for at least one more week, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" TV program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"A week has passed and I dare suggest that for at least a week or even more [the president will be working remotely]," Peskov said.