News archive of April 2020

The UN's special rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Fabian Salvioli, said on Wednesday that measures to protect against COVID-19 in overcrowded jails should not lead to amnesties or pardons being granted to people convicted of serious violations of human rights, crimes against humanity, genocide or war crimes.

The Olympia Group, founded by Panos Germanos, has donated medical and technological equipment valued at two million euros to the ministries of education and health, to assist in the fight against Covid-19.

The donation will be made through the Group's subsidiaries, Public- MediaMarkt and Sunlight.

Serbian Orthodox Church Metropolitan bishop of Montenegro, Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovic) leads a protest rally in Podgorica, Montenegro. Photo:PA-EFE/BORIS PEJOVIC

"Metropolitan Amfilohije denied that he violated the ban by the national coordination body for infectious diseases on public gatherings," Milanovic told the daily newspaper Pobjeda.

Turkey is at the peak point of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on April 29. 

"I can say that we are at the peak period, but we are seeing a fall," in the number of cases, he said at a press conference, adding that risk of a new wave is possible if the current measures are not followed. "But such a thing cannot happen with these measures."

The hotel owners on the Romanian seaside are preparing for the start of the season, regardless if it will take place on June 1, June 15 or later, and have already taken into consideration the implementation of a set of measures to protect the health of tourists, but also of the employees, the Mamaia Constanta Owners' Association (OPMCTA) says.

The pandemic triggered by the new coronavirus has claimed the lives of at least 217,439 people worldwide according to a census of France-based official sources.

Greek Health Ministry representative Sotiris Tsiodras on Tuesday announced 10 new cases of coronavirus infections in the country, bringing the total nationwide to 2,576.

Just one infected patient died in the past 24 hours, Tsiodras said, pushing the death toll  to139.

Some 291,000 people in Bulgaria are registered as unemployed, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Denitsa Sacheva, said on TV on Wednesday.

The number has risen as various businesses and industries struggle with economic decline because of the pandemic lockdown and the state of emergency, which is expected to expire on May 13.

Greece's Council of State issued two rulings that temporarily suspend the construction of buildings in central Athens that would obstruct the view of the Acropolis Hill.

Women are already suffering the deadly impact of lockdowns and quarantines. These restrictions are essential - but they increase the risk of violence towards women trapped with abusive partners. Recent weeks have seen an alarming global surge in domestic violence; the largest support organization in the UK reported a 700 percent increase in calls.