The leaders of Germany and France are jointly proposing a 500-million-euro (USD 543-million) recovery fund for European economies hit by pandemic.
In a joint statement Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Maron said the proposed fund would see European Union budget expenditure used to help sectors and regions that are particularly affected by the outbreak.

Germany, France propose EU economic recovery fund

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The Greek Super League is waiting on government approval to return from its coronavirus-enforced suspension on June 6 after the league's board voted unanimously on Monday to complete the 2019/2020 campaign.
A positive decision to Monday's request is expected from the state health authorities this week.
An important step towards resumption was made with clubs being allowed to begin training in larger groups in line with health protocols.
The play-offs to determine the title and European spots is expected to be completed by July 19 with the Greek Cup semi-finals between PAOK and Olympiakos and AEK and Aris to follow.
Government health authorities said last week that should league action resume and a player is found to be affected by COVID-19, he would be placed in quarantine at home and the rest of the team will be isolated for five days.
Up to now, no player has been found with the virus during regular checks at training sessions.
The government had given the okay for teams to train in 

Greek Super League hoping for June 6 return

UEFA has postponed a potentially key meeting of its Executive Committee until June 17, European football's governing body said on Monday.
The meeting was initially due to be held on May 27 but has been put back due to concerns surrounding some of the venues for the next European Championship.
UEFA cited "some remaining open points regarding a small number of proposed venues for the rearranged UEFA Euro 2020 next year."
The Euro was pushed back by a year to June and July 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was due to be staged in 12 cities across 12 different European nations, but that format could be modified.
"The idea is that we stay in the same cities," UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said in an interview with broadcaster beIN Sports last week.
"We have had conversations with nine cities and everything is set. With three cities, we have some issues.
"So we will discuss further, and in principle, we will do it in 12 cities. But if not, we are ready to do it in 10, nine or 

UEFA pushes back key meeting to June due to Euro venue concerns

Moscow health officials say 77 people died of coronavirus in the city in the past 24 hours, the highest daily number for the Russian capital so far.
With a total of over 146,000 confirmed infections and 1,580 deaths, Russia's capital currently accounts for more than half of the country's virus cases and 58% of all reported deaths.
Russia's caseload surpassed 290,000 on Monday, with the death toll exceeding 2,700. The country's comparatively low death rate has raised questions in the West, with experts suggesting Russia may be under-reporting deaths.
Russian officials vehemently deny these allegations and attribute the relatively low number of COVID-19 deaths to measures the country has taken to curb the spread of the virus.

Moscow reports 77 deaths from COVID-19

Chelsea and England winger Callum Hudson-Odoi was arrested at the weekend after police responded to a report of an "unwell woman", British media reported on Monday.
Police officers and an ambulance attended Hudson-Odoi's London home in the early hours of Sunday.
The 19-year-old was arrested and taken into custody before being released and bailed.
"Police and London ambulance service were called at 03:53hrs on Sunday, 17 May to a report of an unwell woman," a police spokesman said, adding that the woman was taken to hospital.
The reports said Hudson-Odoi was in breach of coronavirus lockdown guidelines.  Chelsea have declined to comment, according to the reports.
Hudson-Odoi made a full recovery after becoming the first Premier League player to test positive for COVID-19 in March.

Chelsea's Hudson-Odoi arrested and bailed: reports

A top Tibetan official is being investigated for alleged corruption, the Chinese Communist Party graft watchdog said Monday, as Beijing cracks its whip on officials not toeing the line.
Tashi Gyatso, deputy secretary general of the regional government in Tibet, is under investigation for "suspected severe violations of discipline and law", the Tibet Discipline Inspection and Supervision Network said in a brief statement Monday without providing further details.
"Violations of discipline" is a common euphemism used by Beijing when an official is being investigated for taking bribes or abusing his position.  Gyatso was also a member of Tibet's leading Communist Party members' group -- an elite regional policy-making body in charge of security, poverty alleviation and other areas of government.
Born in Sichuan province, which borders Tibet, Gyatso joined the Communist Party in 1995 and rose through its ranks.
His previous positions included working in Tibet's propaganda department and ...

Top Tibetan official caught in China's graft net

Belgium is taking the next step in its relaxation of the coronavirus lockdown on Monday and is also telling people: get up! Schools are opening up to more students, markets are setting up again and museums are the reopening their doors.
And the snip of a barber's scissors fills the air again.
Schools went through a dry run on Friday, but primary and secondary classes are resuming for real on Monday, though with a limited number of pupils to make sure that social distancing can be fully respected. In many cases, though, distance learning through laptops remains the order of the day.
It is a bit weird feeling, but it is ok, I can see that the school is well-organised, well-equipped for the safety of our children, said Eliana Luboko, mother of 12-year-old Diego at the Les Magnolias primary school in Brussels.
Across the country, kids were gingerly taking steps in school playgrounds, running around even as teachers sought to ensure social distancing.
That is the kind of activity that the .

"Get Out! Move!" Belgium relaxes lockdown for lazier nation

In a significant development towards developing a vaccine for the coronavirus, an American biotechnology company on Monday said its initial vaccine tests in people have shown promising results and can stimulate an immune response against the virus.
Moderna said that the first coronavirus vaccine to be tested in people appeared to be safe, according to a report in The New York Times.
It said the findings are based on results from the first eight healthy volunteers who each received two doses of the vaccine, starting in March.
The people who received the doses made antibodies that were then tested in human cells in the lab, and were able to stop the virus from replicating  the key requirement for an effective vaccine.
Further, the levels of those so-called neutralising antibodies matched the levels found in patients who had recovered after contracting the virus in the community.
Moderna has said it is proceeding on an accelerated timetable, with the second phase involving 600 people to .

COVID-19: US company reports promising result vaccine development

The Supreme Court is allowing a bigger award of money to victims of the 1998 bombings by al-Qaida of the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Despite the court's ruling, however, it's unlikely the victims will ever collect the full amount.
The nearly simultaneous truck bombings at the embassies killed 224 people and injured thousands. They were the first major attacks on US targets by al-Qaida.
The case the Supreme Court ruled in involves lawsuits filed by victims and their families against Sudan that accused the country of causing the bombings by aiding al-Qaida and leader Osama bin Laden, who lived in Sudan in the 1990s.
The more than 500 people involved in the case are mostly foreign citizens, either US government employees or contractors injured in the bombings or relatives of those who died.
A court initially awarded the group more than $10 billion, but an appeals court threw out $4 billion of the award that was punitive damages. The Supreme Court ...

US Supreme Court allows bigger award in 1998 embassy bombing case

Parental comedy series "Breeders" is getting a second season at FX, the network has announced.
Starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard as a couple struggling with parenthood, the first season of the show, produced by Avalon and FX Productions for FX and Sky Originals, debuted in March to critical acclaim.
The renewal announcement was made by the cabler's president of original programming Nick Grad, reported Variety.
"We are proud of everything the creative team and talent on 'Breeders' achieved in the first season and look forward to seeing where they take it in season two. 'Breeders' has really resonated with viewers, who've come to appreciate its honest and humorous take on the challenges of modern parenting," Grad said.
Freeman said he is "pleased" to get another go at the show.
"I reckon the next one will be even better. It's such a pleasure working with this team... We'll see you all soon. Well, not soon. But at some point, honest," the "Sherlock" star said.
Producer Simon ...

'Breeders' renewed for season two

A man shot and killed three members of his family and then killed himself after an argument in their South Carolina home, authorities said.
Two children escaped from the home in St Matthews during the shooting around 7 pm on Sunday, Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers said.
A 37-year-old man killed a woman and two teenagers before killing himself, Summers said. The coroner's office has not released the names of the dead.
One of the two children who escaped was shot in the arm and treated at the hospital.
The shooting happened after an argument, Summers said in a statement that didn't include additional details on the dispute.
Summers called the violence senseless and unimaginable in his county of around 15,000 people about 40 miles (64 kilometres) southeast of Columbia.

Deputies: Man kills 3 in South Carolina, then himself

Premier League clubs will return to training in small groups from Tuesday after the latest stage of "Project Restart" was approved on Monday.
Clubs unanimously voted to allow players to start socially distanced training in a bid to meet the Premier League's mid-June date to resume the season.
Contact training is not permitted at this stage and corner flags, balls, cones, goalposts, playing surfaces and other equipment will be disinfected after each session.
Testing for the coronavirus has taken place at Premier League clubs over the last few days and will continue throughout the training period.
"Strict medical protocols of the highest standard will ensure everyone returns to training in the safest environment possible," a Premier League statement said.
"The health and well-being of all participants is the Premier League's priority, and the safe return to training is a step-by-step process.
"Full consultation will now continue with players, managers, clubs, the PFA and LMA as ...

Premier League clubs agree group training return from Tuesday

The Bundesliga drew bumper global audiences for its restart at the weekend behind closed doors, but a top league official said the players will be reminded to maintain social distancing even during goal celebrations.
Germany's top-flight became the first top European league to resume after a two-month hiatus, behind closed doors and surrounded by draconian hygiene measures.
But despite the restrictions, the weekend's matches passed off without problems.  Players and staff were regularly tested for the COVID-19 virus in the weeks before the games, while the small number of accredited officials and media members had their temperatures checked before being allowed into stadiums.
Police fears that fans would gather outside the grounds did not materialise.
"There was a big sense of relief," the CEO of the international arm of the Bundesliga, Robert Klein, told AFP and other media Monday.
"We want to finish the season, but are aware there is a big responsibility that we do this ...

German league restart draws global audiences - but players reminded to keep distance

The FBI has found a link between the gunman in a deadly attack at a military base last December and an al-Qaida operative, a US official said on Monday.
Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Chris Wray were set to hold a news conference to announce developments in the shooting late last year at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, in which a Saudi Air Force officer killed three US sailors and injured eight other people.
The FBI declined to comment ahead of the news conference.
The contacts between the shooter, Mohammed Alshamrani, and the al-Qaida operative were discovered on the shooter's phone, according to the official, who was not authorised to discuss the case by name and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Justice Department had previously asked Apple to help extract data from two iPhones that belonged to the gunman, including one that authorities say Alshamrani damaged with a bullet after being confronted by law enforcement.
It was not immediately clear how the FBI ...

Official: FBI finds link between Pensacola gunman, al-Qaida

The second season of the superhero series "The Umbrella Academy" is set to arrive on July 31, Netflix has announced.
According to Variety, the cast of the comic-based superhero franchise shared the update in a quarantine video conference.
The show, an adaptation of a comic book series of the same name from Dark Horse Comics, is about a dysfunctional family of adopted sibling superheroes who reunite to solve the mystery of their father's death, and the threat of an impending apocalypse.
Steve Blackman, best known for writing episodes of "Fargo" and "Altered Carbon", will return as the showrunner of "The Umbrella Academy".
Actors Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, David Castaneda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, and Justin Min will reprise their respective roles in the show's sophomore run.
Ritu Arya, Yusuf Gatewood and Marin Ireland are new entrants in season two.

Netflix sets premiere date for 'The Umbrella Academy' season two

Finland's national airline, a major carrier between Europe and China, said Monday it will add more flights and routes beginning in July if governments ease their lockdowns enough for travel to resume.
The outlook for flying overall, however, remains uncertain, with companies forecasting a slow recovery even next year due to public health restrictions and concerns.
Finnair, which had been forced to temporarily cancel flights to mainland China and other Asian destinations because of the coronavirus, said it will restart in phases, with a strong focus on Asia, which is strategically important for the state-controlled airline.
The Helsinki-based company said it will fly to Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, adding it was pending government approval, but also to Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo Narita in Japan; and to Singapore, Seoul and Bangkok.
We expect aviation to recover gradually, starting in July, Finnair Chief Commercial Officer Ole Orver said in a statement.
"Our intention is to operate ...

More European flights to resume in July but demand seen low

President Xi Jinping on Monday announced a USD two billion fund to help countries hit by the COVID-19 as he firmly backed the World Health Organisation and its leadership, amid the growing pressure faced by China over the global spread of the deadly virus and the criticism from his US counterpart Donald Trump.
"China will provide USD two billion over two years to help with COVID-19 response and with economic and social development in affected countries, especially developing countries, Xi said while addressing the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA), which is being held virtually in Geneva.
The speech by 66-year-old Xi, who is known for announcing big-ticket funding during the international conferences, came as China faced growing global pressure over the lockdowns, death toll and a huge increase in coronavirus cases that has brought the world to a standstill.
Referring to China's own battle with the COVID-19 which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year, Xi ...

President Xi announces USD 2 billion fund to fight COVID-19; Fully backs WHO

Narcotics police in Myanmar have seized a large amount of liquid fentanyl, providing the first evidence that the synthetic opioid is being produced in quantity in Southeast Asia's infamous Golden Triangle region.
The discovery during a series of drug raids in Myanmar's Shan state suggests a market for the drug has been created in the region, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said Monday.
Big international syndicates already active in the Golden Triangle are well positioned to take advantage of regional heroin demand and produce synthetic opioids alongside other drugs, the agency's regional representative, Jeremy Douglas, said in a statement.
The UN agency warned that the development suggests that Southeast Asia is poised to become a significant source of synthetic drugs for other parts of the world.
What has been unearthed through this operation is truly off the charts, and it is clear that a network of production facilities like those found would not be possible without ...

UN agency warns of fentanyl production threat in SE Asia

Acclaimed French actor Michel Piccoli, known for films "Le Mepris" ("Contempt") and "Belle De Jour", has died at the age of 94.
He passed away last week, his family confirmed to French media but no cause of death was given, reported Deadline.
With more than 200 movies to his credit, Piccoli had a prolific stage and screen career in European cinema, which began in the late 1940s. He retired only recently in 2015.
The veteran worked the likes of directors Jean-Luc Godard, Luis Bunuel, Jean Renoir, Alfred Hitchcock, Jacques Rivette and Jean-Pierre Melville.
Close to home, he worked with Godard on "Contempt" (1963) and "Passion" (1982), and starred in Spanish director Bunuel's films such as 1967's "Belle de jour", 1969's "The Milky Way" and 1972's "The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie".
Piccoli bagged the best actor award in Cannes Film Festival in 1980 for Marco Bellochio's "A Leap In The Dark".
Two years later, he went on to earn a Silver Bear at Berlinale for Pierre Granier-Deferre's .

French cinema star Michel Piccoli dies at 94

The WHO is irreplaceable and needs enhanced resources especially to provide support to the developing countries facing the devastating impact of COVID-19, UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Monday, amid criticism of the global health agency's handling of the pandemic.
The Secretary-General said the entire United Nations family stands" with thousands of its colleagues at the World Health Organisation (WHO) who are working around the world to support the member states in saving lives and protecting the vulnerable, with guidance, training and essential testing, treatment and protective equipment.
Guterres also voiced concern over the devastating impact the outbreak will have as it spreads across the developing nations.
"The WHO is irreplaceable. It needs enhanced resources, particularly to provide support to developing countries, which must be our greatest concern. We are as strong as the weakest health systems, Guterres said while addressing a virtual event of the opening of the 73rd ...

WHO is irreplaceable: UN chief

The global coronavirus pandemic has created a huge need for health care in the US, but it also is delivering a devastating financial blow to that sector.
COVID-19 worries have kept patients away from doctors' offices and forced the postponement and cancellation of non-urgent surgeries. The pandemic also has shut down large portions of the American economy, leaving many would-be patients without insurance or in a financial pinch that makes them curb spending.
All of this has forced hospitals, health systems and doctors to lay off staff, cut costs and hope a return to normal arrives soon.
You couldn't ask for a worse situation, really, said Joe Antos, an economist with the American Enterprise Institute.
Health care provided the biggest drag on the U.S. economy in the first quarter.
Spending on care fell at an annual rate of 18%, the largest drop for that sector among records going back to 1959.
Economists point to hospital systems, a key driver of the sector's performance, as a big ...

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