Europe

MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/: Rescuers have determined the presumed crash site of the Su-27 fighter jet, which went missing above the Black Sea on Wednesday, the search and rescue mission continues, a source in Russia’s maritime operations services told TASS.

"Search in the crash zone continues. The aircraft fell into the sea, the crew is yet to be found," the source said.

According to earlier reports, the aircraft was performing a scheduled mission when it went off radar screens at about 20:10 Moscow time on Wednesday, some 50 km away from the Crimean city of Feodosia.

MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/: The integral parts of Russia’s next-generation S-500 Triumphant-M anti-aircraft missile system are at the final stage of their trials, CEO of the Design Bureau of Special Machine-Building (part of Almaz-Antey defense manufacturer) Vladimir Dolbenkov said in an interview with the National Defense magazine on Thursday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders will on Thursday back plans to defend healthcare, infrastructure and other firms seen as having strategic role from hostile foreign takeovers, draft EU summit conclusions show.

Listed companies worldwide have become easier targets as share prices have crashed during the coronavirus crisis, with vaccine makers and other firms that have emerged as crucial players in the fight against the virus attracting attention.

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has lost 1.33 trillion Norwegian crowns ($124 billion) so far this year as stock markets have plunged due to the coronavirus pandemic, it said on Thursday.

The fund is now worth $930 billion, down from more than $1 trillion at the end of last year. Its investment portfolio dropped 16.2%, all but erasing the 20% gains made last year, while its stock market portfolio - its main asset class - has lost 22.8% of its value, it added.

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar fell further on Thursday ahead of key U.S. data that is expected to show a surge in unemployment benefit claims as companies lay off workers due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Investors welcomed the passage of a $2 trillion U.S. stimulus package to offset the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are already indications that some American states will need more money for medical supplies.

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain registered 655 fatalities from the coronavirus over the past 24 hours - down from over 700 on Wednesday, the health ministry reported on Thursday as the total death toll from the epidemic in the country rose to over 4,000.

The overall number of coronavirus cases soared to 56,188 from 47,610 on Wednesday. The number of reported deaths from the virus rose to 4,089 from 3,434 on Wednesday, the ministry said.

PARIS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Declaring a war against "an invisible enemy," President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced an army operation "Resilience" to back the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and support the population.

"We are at war and faced with the peak of the epidemic which is before us, I decided to launch the operation Resilience," Macron said on the sidelines of a visit to a military field hospital in Mulhouse, eastern France, the worst-hit region.

GENEVA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Calling it "a second window of opportunity", the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday urged countries to use this critical window now to suppress and stop transmission of COVID-19.

This window of opportunity was created by those countries and regions which introduced unprecedented "lockdown" measures to contain COVID-19 pandemic, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted at a daily briefing, reminding that these measures will not extinguish epidemics on their own.

MADRID, March 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Spain’s death toll from the coronavirus has surpassed the official figure from China, becoming the second highest in the world.

The number of deaths rose by 738 in 24 hours – a daily record – to 3,434, higher than the 683 announced in Italy.

By comparison, China has officially reported 3,285 deaths, while Italy – the worst affected country – has 6,820.

Spain’s rate of infection has increased by a fifth and almost 27,000 people are being treated in hospital.

ROME, March 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 680 people have died from coronavirus in Italy in the last 24 hours, the Civil Protection Agency said, as concerns grew that the disease was spreading more towards the south of the country.

The death toll increased by 683 on Wednesday. That was lower than a spike of 743 on Tuesday but more than the totals of the previous two days and the third highest daily tally since the outbreak emerged in northern regions on Feb 21.