France

PARIS, April 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The new coronavirus has claimed at least 200,736 lives since its outbreak in China in December, according to official sources at 1900 GMT on Saturday.

More than 2,864,070 cases were registered in 193 countries and territories. Of these cases, at least 772,900 are now considered recovered.

The tallies, using data collected from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

PARIS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) economic growth is on course to shrink by 7.5 percent for the whole year of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic has hardly hit economic activities across the bloc, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton said on Friday.

"Today, in the European Union, we are roughly heading for 5 percent to 10 percent (of contraction), that is to say, around 7.5 percent (on average). If things don't get better and there is a second peak of (coronavirus outbreak), things can get worse," Breton told France 2 television.

PARIS (AP) — The French and Dutch governments announced at least 9 billion euros ($9.7 billion) in bailout money Friday to rescue Air France and KLM, which are fighting for survival as most of their planes are grounded by virus lockdowns around the world.

PARIS/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A $4.2 billion deal for Boeing (BA.N) to buy the civil jetmaking arm of Brazil’s Embraer (EMBR3.SA) has hit a roadblock over implementation, leaving its fate uncertain unless a breakthrough can be found quickly, people familiar with the talks said.

The companies have been in discussions to assess whether various contractual conditions have been met for the tie-up, including the way a new venture 80%-owned by Boeing would be set up and funded, and have the rest of Friday to resolve the issue.

PARIS, April 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The worldwide death toll from the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to 186,462 on Thursday, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1900 GMT.

The global death toll rose by 4,576 over the past 24 hours and a total number of cases increased by 68,017 worldwide.

More than 2,675,050 declared cases have been registered in 193 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December.

Of these cases, at least 708,400 are now considered recovered.

23 April 2020; AFP: Nicotine could protect people from contracting the coronavirus, according to new research in France, where further trials are planned to test whether the substance could be used to prevent or treat the deadly illness.

The findings come after researchers at a top Paris hospital examined 343 coronavirus patients along with 139 people infected with the illness with milder symptoms.

They found that a low number of them smoked, compared to smoking rates of around 35 percent in France's general population.

PARIS (Reuters) - Youths clashed with police in suburbs around Paris early on Wednesday, the fourth consecutive night of trouble as strict lockdown rules to tackle the coronavirus have heightened social tensions.

In Villeneuve-La-Garenne north of the capital, riot police ran into a housing estate complex to quell unrest after rubbish and debris had been set on fire.

Police used shields to protect themselves from broken glass hurled at them while other residents looked on from their windows as the police shone torchlights onto the high-rise blocks.

PARIS (Reuters) - The collapse of crude oil prices threatens the global economy as it is already struggling to cope with the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday.

“The oil price collapse is a danger for the global economy,” Le Maire told the French Senate as he a presented a budget update to take account of the impact of the outbreak.

He said African countries highly dependent on oil revenues were particularly exposed to the drop in prices.

PARIS, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France’s nearly two-month-long coronavirus lockdown is expected to cost the country some €120 billion in lost revenue while “forced savings” are estimated to reach €55 billion, the state-funded French Economic Observatory said.

“During the lockdown, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was cut by 32 percent, corresponding to five points of GDP for the whole of 2020,” the state-funded French Economic Observatory (OFCE) wrote.

PARIS, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Coronavirus pandemic keeps taking its toll across Europe, one of the worst-hit regions in the world, as the total number of lives lost has crossed the grim threshold of 80,000.

Although Italy and Spain have suffered the most, a slowing of new cases and deaths brings hope.

The two countries are discussing a gradual return to normal. For example, Spain is planning to reopen schools at the end of May.