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Summary of latest updates
- Renault to cut 15,000 jobs, including 4,600 in France
- The UK to taper its wage support scheme for workers placed on temporary leave during lockdown and stop it by the end of October.
- UK lockdown to ease from Monday allowing groups of up to six to meet outside
- Further easing of lockdown measures in France from June 2
- Coronavirus statistics: Latest numbers on COVID-19 cases and deaths
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Turkey eases lockdown on mosques
Worshipers in Turkey have held their first communal Friday prayers in 74 days after the government reopened some mosques under an easing of pandemic restrictions.
Friday prayers were held in the courtyards of selected mosques across the country, to minimize the risk of infection. Authorities distributed masks at the entrance, sprayed hand sanitizers, and checked temperatures. Worshipers were asked to bring their own prayer rugs, but some mosques offered disposable paper rugs placed 1.5 meters (5 feet) apart.
The move follows a slowdown in confirmed COVID-19 infections and deaths.
Champions League final may be moved from Istanbul due to COVID-19
UEFA is planning to move the Champions League final away from Istanbul and is considering other locations as planning and scheduling is shaken up by the coronavirus pandemic.
The UEFA executive committee will meet on June 17 to examine the findings of a working group that has been assessing how to complete competitions that were suspended in March and are likely to finish without any fans in stadiums.
UEFA is aiming to complete its elite club competition in August after the delayed domestic leagues of the remaining sides have managed to conclude. The Champions League round of 16 has yet to be fully completed.
The Champions League final was due to be staged this Saturday — May 30 — at Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.
French football league could re-start in August
French clubs can play friendlies in July with a view to starting the new soccer season in August, the league said on Friday.
The remaining men’s and women’s matches this season were canceled in April due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But Germany restarted the Bundesliga two weeks ago and the leagues in England, Spain and Italy are set to resume in June.
The French league said in a statement it expects the new season “will be able to start as anticipated in August with friendly games to prepare in July.”
The league added it was working on how to allow fans back into stadiums when the season starts.
Trump: China 'ignored' reporting obligations over COVID-19
German workers fly back to China
The German Chamber of Commerce in China together with the German Diplomatic Missions in China and Lufthansa Group have teamed up to operate two repatriation flights from Germany to China.
Both flights will fly from Frankfurt and go to Tianjin and Shanghai.
These flights plan to return some 400 managers, employees of German companies and their families to China, where they operate subsidiaries of multinational companies as well as Germany's prestigious SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises).
Both flights, each with about 200 passengers on board, will be the first repatriation flights from Europe to China.
Russia updates COVID-19 deaths after criticism
The Russian government has presented updated coronavirus statistics to include deaths of those who tested positive for the virus but died of other causes.
Friday’s announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova followed criticism from some Russian and Western experts who alleged that Russian authorities were under-reporting COVID-19 deaths for political reasons.
Golikova said 1,675 people died of COVID-19 in April. Of that number, 1,136 deaths were directly caused by COVID-19, while the remaining 539 people tested negative but had symptoms indicating they most likely died of the virus. In addition, Golikova said 1,038 others tested positive for the virus but died of other causes.
If all those deaths are attributed to COVID-19, the nation’s total toll for April would be 2,713 or nearly 60% more than the previously announced number.
Golikova said Russia was closely following the World Health Organization’s guidance on registering coronavirus deaths.
Portugal re-opens cinemas, malls and gyms
Portugal is reopening movie theatres, shopping malls, gymnasiums and kindergartens after a gradual lifting of lockdown restrictions over the past four weeks produced no spike in new coronavirus infections.
Also reopening in coming days are places of worship, courtrooms and large stores.
The limit of 50% of seating capacity at restaurants will also be scrapped as long as eateries place impermeable barriers between tables.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa said in the Lisbon metropolitan area, where in some places officials have detected an increase in cases, some of those changes will come into force only after a review at the end of next week.
From Thursday to Friday, Portugal officially recorded 350 new cases of COVID-19 — 323 of them in the greater Lisbon area.
Portugal has officially recorded almost 32,000 cases of COVID-19 and almost 1,400 deaths.
Bosnia arrests three senior figures over useless COVID-19 ventilators
Bosnia's authorities have detained two ranking state officials and the owner of a company which imported a hundred ventilators from China that have been found to be useless for COVID-19 patients.
Bosnia's media quoted state prosecutors as saying on Friday that the arrested men include the prime minister of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation, a top state civil protection official and the private company owner that was granted about 5 million euros (5.5 million US dollars) by the government to get the equipment amid the pandemic.
The three are being investigated for money laundering, fraud, embezzlement of state funds and other crimes, the prosecutors were quoted as saying.
Fadil Novalic, federal prime minister, Fahrudin Solak head of civil protection and businessman Fikret Hodzic have been brought to detention center of the prosecutors office in Sarajevo.
UK: Flexible furlough will be introduced from July 1
Chinese flights 'outnumbered U.S.' flights for first time in May
WHO reiterates COVID-19 treatments must be 'global public good'
Poland to reopen stadiums to football fans on June 19
Greece reopens airports to flights from 29 countries
French, Germans and Italians divided on pace of lockdown easing says Euronews poll
While 45 per cent of Italians surveyed say lockdown measures are being eased at the right pace, 42 per cent of Germans think things are moving too fast. In contrast, the prevailing view in France is that the pace is too slow.
The question of social distancing is also divisive. It's not only difficult to maintain in urban settings, it's alien to cultures where shaking hands and greeting others with kisses are a reflex.
Just over half of Italians are eager for social distancing measures to end (54 per cent), a feeling shared by 63 per cent of the French. Germans seem more concerned, with most (54 per cent) wanting to keep their distance for now.
Spain minimum income: Socialist government backs benefit for 850,000 vulnerable families
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, from the ruling Socialist Party, described it as "historic measure", adding: "a country does not prosper if it leaves out part of its population".
He said that it will "protect those who are having the worst time, fight poverty and contribute to the economic recovery of the country".
Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias, from the left-wing Podemos Party, which has championed such a scheme for over a year, said that the implementation of the measure has been accelerated due to the economic crisis ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In total, 2.3 million people are expected to receive it which is forecast to cost the state €3 billion annually.
Denmark reopens borders with Germany, Norway and Iceland
South Africa has backlog of nearly 100,000 tests
Pandemic 'perfect excuse' to switch to four-day working week
Dentists to reopen in the UK on 8 June
Eiffel Tower, Louvres and Versailles won't open on June 2
Spain approves Minimum Vital Income
Third Dutch meatpacking plant closed
Business confidence at “record low” - Lloyds Bank
Polling Europe: Public divided on easing of lockdowns
France plans to reopen borders for EU from 15 June
Lockdowns easing in Europe
- France is reopening its restaurants, bars, and cafes starting next week as the country eases most restrictions amid the new coronavirus crisis.
- The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has called for debt relief to be offered to all developing and middle-income countries as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
- UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said outdoor gatherings of six people from different households will be allowed from next week as part of another easing of the coronavirus lockdown in England.