MOSCOW (Reuters) – A small independent Russian teachers’ union is urging members not to be coerced into accepting shots of the “Sputnik V” coronavirus vaccine which is to be mandatory for military personnel. Moscow clinics last week began receiving supplies of... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Secret-spilling website WikiLeaks, a pivotal player in the email leaks that buffeted the 2016 U.S. presidential election, suffered a brief outage on Monday. Visitors to the site were met with an error message saying the security certific... More »
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – The management of Hungary’s prestigious University of Theatre and Film Arts resigned on Monday in protest over the imposition of a government-appointed board which they say will undermine the school’s autonomy. Prime Minister Viktor Orban’... More »
MINSK (Reuters) – Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Monday she was ready to lead Belarus and called for the creation of a legal mechanism to ensure that a new fair presidential election could be held. Speaking in a video address... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia reported 4,892 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, pushing its tally so far to 927,745, the fourth largest in the world. Authorities said 55 people had died across the country in the last 24 hours, increasing Russia’s offici... More »
(Reuters) – World number two Simona Halep said she will announce on Monday whether she will play at the U.S. Open. Speaking after her victory over Elise Mertens in the Prague Open final, the 28-year-old Romanian said “she just needed her time” to make a decisi... More »
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – The Sarajevo Film Festival will be launched entirely online on Friday after a spike in coronavirus cases forced organisers to cancel plans to stage Europe’s first in-person movie fair since the outbreak of the pandemic. Just ten days ago a... More »
MINSK (Reuters) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko won a landslide re-election victory, the central election commission said on Monday, after bloody clashes between riot police and thousands of protesters who said the poll was rigged. Figures from the... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian authorities confirmed 5,118 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, pushing the national case tally to 892,654, the fourth largest in the world. The official death toll rose to 15,001 after authorities said in their daily coron... More »
KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that it was a matter of Ukraine’s national security to stay out of U.S. internal politics, particularly its election. “#Ukraine did not and will not allow itself to interfere in the elec... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has signed deals to supply South Africa and seven Latin American countries with an anti-viral drug Russian authorities have approved to treat COVID-19, its sovereign wealth fund said on Monday. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s finance ministry said on Monday it would scrap an agreement with Cyprus aimed at avoiding double taxation after talks to modify the deal failed, and that legal changes would make it more profitable for people to transfer money back ... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian oil and gas condensate output increased to 9.8 million barrels per day (bpd) on Aug. 1-2 from 9.37 million bpd in July as the country eases production curbs under an OPEC+ deal, a source familiar with data said on Monday. The Energy ... More »
KYIV (Reuters) – A full and comprehensive ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists has entered into force in eastern Ukraine, opening the prospect of an end to military and civilian casualties, the two sides said on Monday. Ukr... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Signs emerged that leaders of northern European Union countries were willing to compromise on a 1.8 trillion euro ($2 trillion) coronavirus stimulus plan on Monday as talks in Brussels extended to a fourth day. Divided and slow to respond ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – EU leaders reported some progress on Monday after three days of haggling over a coronavirus stimulus plan, sending the euro to a four-month high and Italy’s borrowing costs to lows not seen since March. An attempt to reach a compromise faile... More »
GDANSK/WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s industrial output PLIPY=ECI rose by 0.5% in June, better than the 6.9% decline forecast by analysts, who said the statistic office data suggest the economy may overcome the coronavirus crisis faster than initially expected. T... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia charged former military journalist Ivan Safronov with state treason on Monday, his lawyer said, accusations that have sent a chill through Russia’s media community which has protested over what it says is his unfair treatment. Securit... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s official coronavirus case tally, the fourth largest in the world, rose to 687,862 on Monday after officials reported 6,611 new infections in the last 24 hours. Authorities also said 135 people had died overnight, bringing Russia’s o... More »
LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) – Sixteen banks from Germany, France and three other euro zone countries on Thursday said a “truly European” payments system was expected to be up and running in 2022 to fully digitalise a region where half of all retail payments are sti... More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday he expects the country’s economy to recover quickly from the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “We have a chance for a V-shaped recovery,” Morawiecki told a conference. Poles... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian prosecutors asked a court in Moscow on Monday to sentence prominent film and theatre director Kirill Serebrennikov to six years in jail on embezzlement charges, the RIA news agency reported. The prosecution of Serebrennikov, an award... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin has asked some Russian companies to mount internal information campaigns to boost turnout in a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms that could allow President Vladimir Putin to keep power until 2036, documents seen by Reuter... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – CSKA Sofia’s Australian striker Tomi Juric has tested positive for COVID-19, the 31-times Bulgarian champions said in a statement late on Sunday. The 28-year-old forward, who has played 41 times for his country, has been isolated. Other CSKA ... More »
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungarian artist Jozsef Szurcsik lost four of his friends in a matter of weeks to COVID-19 and the tremendous pain and grief he feels has transformed his art. Szurcsik, who teaches at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts and is one of the... More »
LJUBLJANA (Reuters) – China’s household appliances maker Hisense (000921.SZ) plans to start producing TV sets in Slovenia in January 2021, creating about 350 jobs in the country, Hisense said on Monday. Production would be approximately 1.5 million TV sets in ... More »
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary is ready to give financial support to Audi (NSUG.DE) to help its manufacturing plant in the country run at full operating capacity, Prime Minister Viktor Orban was reported as saying on Monday as he visited the site. Orban said Aud... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Three Russian cities on Monday joined a growing list of places that are cancelling June 24 military parades over coronavirus fears despite a decision by President Vladimir Putin to press ahead with the main event in Moscow. Penza, Pyatigorsk... More »
POSTOJNA, Slovenia (Reuters) – Three rare aquatic creatures known as baby dragons are going on display in an aquarium at Slovenia’s Postojna Cave, one of the country’s biggest tourist attractions. The cave-dwelling animals, officially called proteus or olms, h... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Americans should show more respect for Russia’s space program after relying on it for nine years as the only way to send U.S. astronauts into orbit, the head of Russia’s space agency said. The United States launched the first astronauts from... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian restaurant owners stripped of their income by the coronavirus lockdown are campaigning for their businesses to be allowed to reopen by posting pictures of themselves naked on social media. Hundreds of bar, restaurant and cafe employe... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced a Jehovah’s Witness to six and a half years in prison after finding him guilty of organising the activities of a banned extremist organisation, his lawyer said. The ruling at the Pskov City Court, handed ... More »
GRADISKA, Bosnia (Reuters) – Kobe Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who died in a helicopter crash in January, has been honored with a giant mural commissioned by sports enthusiasts and painted on the side of an elementary school building in northern Bosnia. “K... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Residents of Moscow began to resume their normal routines on Tuesday as a lockdown designed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus was lifted after more than two months despite the Russian capital still reporting over a thousand daily c... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is back at work after being diagnosed with the new coronavirus, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree cancelling a temporary transfer of Mi... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A consortium of British aerospace, automotive and medical companies said they were ramping up ventilator production to make sure there were enough available should there be a second spike in the novel coronavirus outbreak. “We are continuing... More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech car production fell 31.1% year-on-year in the January-April period to 337,497 cars, the Automotive Industry Association said on Tuesday. In April alone, when the country ground to a standstill due to measures aimed to curb the coronavi... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Tuesday that 9,263 new cases of the novel coronavirus had been reported in the last 24 hours, pushing its nationwide tally to 299,941. The daily rise in cases was below 10,000, a threshold that it has been above for much of Ma... More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) – The number of new coronavirus cases in the Czech Republic showed its biggest daily rise in four weeks and climbed above 100 for the first time this month, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry said 111 new cases had been recorded... More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – Lovers of Frederic Chopin’s music who usually flock to a central Warsaw park on Sundays for open-air concerts will have to go online this season to hear the weekly performances because of restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the corona... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia on Tuesday reported 10,899 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total past that of Britain to 232,243, the third highest total worldwide. The country’s coronavirus response centre said the d... More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech carmaker Skoda Auto, part of the Volkswagen Group (VOWG_p.DE), reported a 25% drop in first-quarter operating profit on Monday, but said the biggest hit from the coronavirus outbreak would come in the second quarter. Skoda, the Czech R... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump intends to nominate Keith Dayton to be the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, the White House said on Friday, a year after Trump removed the previous envoy. Dayton, a retired Army lieutenant general, currently serves as t... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A grandiose mosaic depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking officials will not be put on display in a new military church after objections from the Kremlin leader, a church official said on Friday. Russia is building... More »
(Reuters) – Rafa Nadal has said he is very pessimistic about the possibility of tennis returning to normal any time soon because of the new coronavirus pandemic that shut down the sport last month. Professional tennis has been suspended until the end of July, ... More »
(Reuters) – A historic rout in oil markets sent U.S. crude prices plummeting to as much as minus $40 a barrel as traders rushed to get rid of unwanted stocks with storage capacity already overflowing amid a coronavirus-induced demand collapse. U.S. West Texas ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The oil price will stay low for some time as supply exceeds demand and the current situation on global oil markets is reminiscent of the 1980s oil glut, former BP boss John Browne said on Tuesday. “The prices will be very low and I think the... More »
ZHELEZNOVODSK, Russia (Reuters) – When an art gallery in southern Russia closed its doors to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, one artist asked to self-isolate there rather than leave his place of work. Sergei Pronin had only just started work as an adm... More »
ALMATY (Reuters) – NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir will take an unusual – and more exhausting – route home after safely landing in the Kazakh steppe on Friday, a Russian healthcare official said, because of lockdowns caused by the novel coronavi... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian brothers Nikita and Egor Zigura work on their sculpture of a giant fingerprint as art enthusiasts look on via a live-streaming internet link and make bids for the developing work. The online auction is part of a new “Stay Art Home” s... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia on Monday reported 2,558 new cases of the novel coronavirus, a record daily rise, bringing its overall nationwide tally to 18,328. Russia’s coronavirus crisis response centre said that 148 people diagnosed with the virus have died so ... More »
BAKU/DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC and allies led by Russia agreed on Sunday to a record cut in output to prop up oil prices amid the coronavirus pandemic in an unprecedented deal with fellow oil nations, including the United States, that could curb global oil... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian ballet dancers on partial lockdown have begun giving performances at home to keep fans engaged online after theatres across the country closed their doors due to the coronavirus. Seven dancers from the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Pet... More »
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Bosnia’s most popular band, Dubioza Kolektiv, invites its audience to “stay connected and disinfected” during a weekly “Quarantine Show” online to cheer up fans locked in their homes due to the coronavirus. Bosnia, like most states in Euro... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers hope to agree on Tuesday on half a trillion euros worth of economic aid to finance recovery from the coronavirus, a discussion that has sown divisions as the bloc struggles with the outbreak. If they do agree, t... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, accused Donald Trump on Tuesday of creating a basis to take over other planets by signing an executive order outlining U.S. policy on commercial mining in space. The executive order, which Roscosmos said ... More »
GLAND, Switzerland (Reuters) – Street artist David Perez has found his own way to pay tribute in Switzerland to the people he regards as the unsung heroes of the coronavirus crisis. Perez, 35, has adorned a pedestrian underpass in the town of Gland with a port... More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech Republic reported its slowest daily percentage rise in confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, as the country entered fourth week of restrictions on business and movement. The country had 4,591 cases as of Sunday midnight, up 2.6% f... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s coronavirus case tally has risen to 6,343 in the past 24 hours, a record daily increase of 954, the country’s crisis response centre said on Monday. Cases have been recorded widely, but Moscow remains the epicentre of the outbreak w... More »
(Reuters) – The IBF’s mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev said he will donate half of his purse from the world heavyweight title fight against Briton Anthony Joshua to help medical workers fight the “devilish” coronavirus. The 38-year-old Bulgarian is expected t... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s government on Friday imposed a series of new restrictions designed to prevent the coronavirus outbreak spreading widely but said it hoped to soften the measures again in late April. Ukraine reported 138 new cases of the coronavirus o... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will send 11 military planes carrying medical equipment to Serbia to help it fight the coronavirus outbreak, the defence ministry in Moscow said on Friday. The announcement came a day after the Kremlin said Serbian President Aleksanda... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ventilators delivered by Russia to the United States to help treat patients of the new coronavirus were manufactured by a Russian company that is under U.S. sanctions, Russia’s RBC business daily reported on Friday. A Russian military plane ... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday it would be impractical to restrict economic activity all over the country due to the coronavirus, given that each region is facing different challenges. “It is clear that limiting economic act... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian national boxing team coach has tested positive for the coronavirus after returning home from Olympic qualifiers cut short in London last month. Anton Kadushin, who works with Gleb Bakshi, the 2019 world champion in the middleweight... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – With the euro zone economy in need of help from the coronavirus pandemic, officials have until April 9 to design a package that satisfies members with completely opposing views: those calling for joint debt issuance and those fiercely agai... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Twenty Gazprom workers, who were airlifted to hospital following a coronavirus scare last week, have been discharged after the tests came back negative, a Gazprom spokesman said on Monday. The workers were quarantined at Bovanenkovo gas fiel... More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – The main Polish opposition candidate running for president called on Sunday for a boycott of the country’s May election due to the coronavirus and completely suspended her campaign, adding to doubts about whether the vote will go ahead as pl... More »
WARSAW/KRAKOW (Reuters) – Poland’s Krzysztof Penderecki, one of the world’s most celebrated composers, died on Sunday at the age of 86, his family said. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Moscow’s famed Bolshoi Theater has begun streaming some of its most notable past performances online after being forced to shut its doors to the public as a result of tough new restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. The... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee is stepping up its “scenario planning” for the Tokyo 2020 Games — including a possible postponement — as the coronavirus pandemic spreads, it said after an emergency meeting on Sunday. The IOC will hold di... More »
VIENNA (Reuters) – If the European Central Bank sees the need for further stimulus in the area of government bonds to help countries tackle the coronavirus impact, it is ready to do so, European Central Bank policymaker Robert Holzmann said on Monday. “If ther... More »
HAMBURG (Reuters) – A case of H5N8 bird flu has been confirmed in a poultry farm in the eastern German state of Saxony, German authorities said on Monday. The social affairs and protection ministry in the state of Saxony said the case involved bird flu of type... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Valentina Tereshkova was hailed as a hero when she became the first woman in space in 1963. Now 83, she has became a hate figure for some Russians after this week putting forward a constitutional amendment that could allow President Vladimir... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) said on Monday that it was suspending flights to China until April 24 and to Tehran until April 30 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Lufthansa said it was also adjusting its flights to northern Italy. It said Austrian Airl... More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s government appointed a new director of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews on Thursday, as the ruling nationalists face accusations of politicizing museums to reflect their view of history. POLIN, which opened its main ex... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgarian prosecutors have pressed new charges including unlawful possession of antiques of historical value against fugitive gambling tycoon Vasil Bozhkov, one of the country’s richest men, officials said on Thursday. Bozhkov, owner of sever... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – The 29th edition of the Varna International Ballet Competition, the oldest ballet competition in the world, has been postponed due to insufficient financial support, organisers said on Thursday. A new date for the outdoor event, known in the ... More »
PLOVDIV, Bulgaria (Reuters) – Stamen Karamfilov bends low over a canvas, adding the finishing touches to a woodland landscape – no mean feat considering the Bulgarian artist is almost totally blind. He initially gave up all hope of painting again when he sudde... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Roger Federer continues his quest for a 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open on Tuesday but for his journeyman opponent Tennys Sandgren their quarter-final meeting is the latest chapter in a story of survival in professional tenni... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic inspired Serbia to victory in the inaugural ATP Cup team event in Sydney after defeating his long-term Spanish rival Rafael Nadal in singles on Sunday before playing a pivotal role in the deciding doubles match. With the final... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Slovakia has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus among backyard poultry in the western part of the country, the first such outbreak in nearly three years, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Fr... More »
BUDAPEST/WARSAW (Reuters) – Eastern Europe is a new frontier for private medical care, and insurers and tech startups are racing to steal a march on their rivals by harnessing the region’s health data. Growing numbers of people in Eastern European states, from... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgarian veterinary authorities said on Wednesday they would cull 39,656 pigs after detecting an outbreak of African swine fever at a farm in the northeast, the second industrial farm in the country to be hit by the virus in the last five da... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday for talk on climate, the EU’s long-term budget, Brexit, the euro zone and Russia sanctions, among others. Here are comments made by them on Thursday ahead of the summit.... More »
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary showed it remains the dominant force in teqball, a hybrid sport mixing football with table tennis, winning the singles and doubles world titles on Sunday. Adam Blazsovics easily won the singles title and teamed up with Csaba Banyik... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgarian Stoyanka Mutafova, one of the world’s oldest actresses performing regularly on stage, has died aged 97. Dubbed the queen of Bulgarian comedy, Mutafova began performing in 1945, when she played a maidservant in Moliere’s “Scapin the ... More »
BAKU (Reuters) – Azerbaijan’s parliament on Monday formally asked President Ilham Aliyev to dissolve it and to schedule new parliamentary elections. The next election is not due until November 2021, but the president has the right to dissolve the parliament an... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday oversaw the launch of a landmark pipeline that will transport natural gas from Siberia to northeast China, an economic and political boost to ties betwe... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Turkey’s presidential administration has said that the purchase date for more S-400 missile systems from Russia is just a technicality and that it thinks a deal will happen before too long, the RIA news agency reported on Monday. Moscow hope... More »
(Reuters) – Team by team analysis of Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix (listed in championship order): – MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 1, Valtteri Bottas 4) Hamilton’s 11th win of the season, fifth in Abu Dhabi and 84th of his career. He start... More »
(Reuters) – Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is “taking a deeper look at how we handle disputed borders” after it referred to the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula as part of Russia in its Maps and Weather apps for Russian users, a company spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Elizabeth I, one of England’s best-loved monarchs, has been revealed to be the translator behind an English version of an ancient text by Tacitus who described the high politics, treachery and debauchery of the Roman elite. A 16th Century tr... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – India has made an advance payment of $800 million for Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, the head of Russian conglomerate Rostec Sergey Chemezov told reporters on Monday. Chemezov said negotiations were underway and a contract with... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank sees some room to further cut its key rate, First Deputy Governor Ksenia Yudayeva said on Monday. “…in principle, we currently see certain room for a further reduction, but we have to follow the situation very closely, ... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Police in Vietnam have arrested eight people in connection with the discovery of 39 dead people, all believed to be Vietnamese, in a truck near London last month, state media said on Monday, bringing the total number of arrests in Vietnam to ... More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech scientists have opened a lab to experiment growing food for environments with extreme conditions and lack of water, such as Mars. The “Marsonaut” experiment by scientist Jan Lukacevic, 29, and his team at the Prague University of Life ... More »
LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian oil producer Lukoil and Hungarian energy company MOL are set to sign a settlement deal over contaminated oil during Russian President Putin’s visit to Budapest this week, four industry sources told Reuters. A high level of org... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The 27 European Union countries that will remain after Brexit hope to agree on Monday to delay Britain’s divorce until Jan.31 with an earlier departure possible should the factious UK parliament ratify their separation deal, sources said. ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British police said a man arrested in Dublin on Saturday is a person of interest in their investigation into the deaths of 39 people who were found in a truck container. “A man arrested by the Garda at Dublin Port on Saturday 26 October is a... More »
