Europe

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: The weekly number of coronavirus cases in Russia has decreased to below 100,000 for the first time since June 2021, according to TASS estimates based on data from the anti-coronavirus crisis center.

The crisis center recorded a total of 99,194 cases between April 4 and April 10 in the country, a 26% drop from the previous week.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 13,056 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infected to 17,996,060, the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center reported.

PARIS, April 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — After two years of racing to vaccinate the world against Covid-19, the number of available doses now surpasses demand in many areas.

Yet a gap remains in vaccination rates between the richest and poorest countries.

On Friday, Gavi, which co-leads the Covax global distribution scheme, is holding a summit calling for more funds to address the issue of inequality in vaccine access.

April 10 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted on Sunday that he had discussed possible additional sanctions on Russia in a call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Zelenskiy has called for an embargo on imported gas and oil from Russia, but Germany so far resisted pressure to do so.

Scholz said on Friday that Germany could end Russian oil imports this year but stopping gas imports would be tougher because the country would need to build infrastructure to import gas from alternative sources.

PRAGUE, April 10 (Reuters) - Slovakia could sell Ukraine some of its Zuzana self-propelled howitzers, Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said on Sunday.

"I can confirm that we are in talks (about the sale)," Nad said in a televised debate. He did not give further details.

The Zuzana 2 howitzer, a modernised version of an older model, is using 155-mm rounds and has an effective range of 40 km to more than 50 km (30 miles) depending on ammunition type.

ATHENS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The prices of natural gas and electricity have to be decoupled to address the energy crisis fueled by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Saturday during the Delphi Economic Forum VII held in central Greece.

GENEVA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Although the numbers of new weekly cases and deaths of COVID-19 continue to decrease in Europe since the end of March, the current high level of transmission is putting strain on testing capacity and surveillance systems in many countries and caution is still needed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

PARIS (AP) — France’s presidential race involves one frontrunner, centrist incumbent Emmanuel Macron, and eleven challengers from the far left to the far right. The two top candidates in Sunday’s first round qualify for the April 24 runoff.

Here’s a look at the main contenders’ key proposals.

EMMANUEL MACRON, 44, centrist incumbent, head of the Republic on the Move party

PARIS (AP) — Polls opened across France Sunday for the first round of the country’s presidential election, where up to 48 million eligible voters will be choosing between 12 candidates. President Emmanuel Macron is seeking a second five-year term, with a strong challenge from the far right.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. Sunday and close at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) in most places and an hour later in some larger cities. France operates a manual system for elections: Voters are obliged to cast ballots in person, ones that will be hand-counted when the voting closes.

LONDON (AP) — For many in the U.K., the pandemic may as well be over.

Mask requirements have been dropped. Free mass testing is a thing of the past. And for the first time since spring 2020, people can go abroad for holidays without ordering tests or filling out lengthy forms.

That sense of freedom is widespread even as infections soared in Britain in March, driven by the milder but more transmissible omicron BA.2 variant that’s rapidly spreading around Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Days before Poland’s Independence Day in November, vandals painted the blue-and-yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag on monuments in Krakow. The vandalism, which took place as Russia massed troops near Ukraine’s border, looked as if Ukrainians were defacing memorials to Polish national heroes.

Yet some clues suggested otherwise.