Europe

GENEVA, March 29. /TASS/: A total of 571,678 coronavirus cases and 26,494 deaths have been confirmed globally as of 10 a.m. Geneva time on March 28, according to a new bulletin released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday.

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/: The Russian government has approved a 23-point list of non-food essential goods, whose sale will continue during the novel coronavirus outbreak in Russia regardless of epidemiological situation.

The decree, published by the Russian government on Saturday, says that commercial organizations that trade in at least one group of those goods will be allowed to continue their operations during quarantine. Those organizations will also be allowed to sell non-essential goods, if they are sold alongside the essential ones.

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/: Russian military rescuers continue the search of a pilot whose Su-27 fighter jet fell into the Black Sea in March 25, the Southern Military District’s press service said.

"Personnel and equipment of the Southern Military District’s rescue units continue the search for the pilot of the Su-27 fighter jet, whose plane crashed on March 25," the press service said.

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/: More than 182,000 people remain under medical supervision in Russia over the suspected coronavirus infection, the sanitary watchdog said on Sunday.

"There were 273,426 people under medical supervision in Russia in general over the past period in 2020, and as of March 28, 182,702 people remain under control," the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing said.

LONDON (Reuters) - Sovereign wealth funds from oil-producing countries mainly in the Middle East and Africa are on course to dump up to $225 billion in equities, a senior banker estimates, as plummeting oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic hit state finances.

The rapid spread of the virus has ravaged the global economy, sending markets into a tailspin and costing both oil and non-oil based sovereign wealth funds around $1 trillion in equity losses, according to JPMorgan strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou.

PARIS (Reuters) - How the European Union responds to the coronavirus outbreak will determine its credibility and utility, a French minister said on Sunday, after the bloc failed to agree last week on measures to cushion the economic blow from the pandemic.

“If Europe is just a single market when times are good, then it has no sense,” European Affairs minister Amelie de Montchalin told France Inter radio.

She said Europe’s populist parties would be the winners if EU leaders failed to act together during a major crisis.

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson is warning Britons in a letter to 30 million households that things will get worse before they get better, as he himself self-isolates in Downing Street to recover from the coronavirus.

Britain has reported 17,089 confirmed cases of the disease and 1,019 deaths and the peak of the epidemic in the country is expected to come in a few weeks.

VIENNA (Reuters) - The Swiss death toll from coronavirus has reached 257, the country’s public health agency said on Sunday, up from 235 people the previous day.

The number of confirmed cases also increased to 14,336 from 13,213 on Saturday, it said.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday backed a call by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a global ceasefire so the world can focus on fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at his weekly blessing, Francis appealed to everyone to “stop every form of bellicose hostility and to favor the creation of corridors for humanitarian help, diplomatic efforts and attention to those who find themselves in situations of great vulnerability”.

Guterres made the appeal on Monday.

MOSCOW, Mar 29 (NNN-TASS) – Russia is going to suspend border crossings via automobile, railway, pedestrian and other border checkpoints from tomorrow (Monday), in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Russian government said in a statement, Saturday.