News in Brief

Date: 17 March 2020 - 22:22

News ID: ۷۷۲۱۸

MOSCOW (Reuters) -- A Russian firm accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election said on Tuesday it planned to file a $50 billion lawsuit against the United States after a U.S. federal judge dismissed the criminal case against it. Concord Management and Consulting LLC was accused of funding a propaganda operation to tilt the 2016 vote in favor of President Donald Trump. The case was set to be tried next month, but the case was dismissed on Monday at the request of U.S. prosecutors. Prosecutors questioned the merit of holding the trial, saying Concord had tried to use case evidence to discredit the investigation, refused to cooperate and that there were also challenges raised by some evidence being classified as secret. The firm’s executive, Evgeny Prigozhin, a businessman with ties to President Vladimir Putin and who was also charged in the case, was not expected to attend the trial in the United States. On Tuesday, Concord hailed the dismissal of the case as a victory and said it was proof the case had been based on lies aimed at blaming Russia for the United States’s own domestic problems. "A $50 billion Concord vs U.S. lawsuit for unlawful prosecution and sanctions is currently being drawn up,” it said in a statement.

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LONDON (Reuters) -- British cases of coronavirus rose 26% to 1,950 from 1,543 the day before, the health ministry said. Britain reported its first confirmed coronavirus case on Jan. 31. There have so far been 56 reported deaths. "As of 9am on 17 March 2020, 50,442 people have been tested in the UK, of which 48,492 were confirmed negative and 1,950 were confirmed as positive,” the government said.  British foreign minister Dominic Raab advised British nationals on Tuesday to stop all non-essential travel globally for the next 30 days, the latest stringent measure taken by the government to try to stem a growing coronavirus outbreak. "With immediate effect, I have taken the decision to advise British nationals against non-essential travel globally, for an initial period of 30 days and of course subject to ongoing review,” Raab told parliament.

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RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -- Hundreds of prisoners broke out of four Brazilian jails on Monday, the day before their day-release privileges were due to be suspended over the coronavirus outbreak, Sao Paulo state prison authorities and local media reported. The Sao Paulo state prison authority said it could not say how many inmates had escaped as it was "still tallying the exact number of fugitives.” Local media reported that as many as 1,000 had fled from four jails - Mongaguá, Tremembé, Porto Feliz and Mirandópolis - ahead of the lockdown. A video on social media showed a long stream of prisoners purportedly fleeing a prison. Reuters was unable to verify the veracity or location of the video. The Sao Paulo state prison authority said "acts of insubordination” had taken place at the jails ahead of the suspension of the day-release program. Sao Paulo state is home to the First Capital Command, Brazil’s most powerful prison gang, which is expanding quickly across the country and in neighboring nations. It traffics guns, drugs and other contraband. Brazil’s overstuffed prisons often see deadly prison riots between rival gangs.

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MUMBAI/KARACHI (Reuters) - India closed the Taj Mahal, its principal tourist site, and the financial hub of Mumbai ordered offices providing non-essential services to keep half their staff at home in ramped up measures to curb the coronavirus in South Asia. Mumbai, a densely populated metropolis of 18 million people, also authorized hospital and airport authorities to stamp wrists of those ordered to self-isolate with indelible ink reading "Home Quarantined” and displaying the date the quarantine ends. The moves, announced late on Monday, come just days after the city shut down schools, cinemas, malls and gyms, and also banned mass gatherings. India’s western state of Maharashtra, home to Mumbai, has been the hardest hit with 39 confirmed coronavirus cases, or roughly a quarter of the 126 cases in the country. A patient in the state died after contracting the virus on Tuesday, Praveen Pardeshi, who heads Mumbai’s civic body, told Reuters: the third death in India. Pakistan reported the number of confirmed cases had more than doubled for a second consecutive day, reaching 187.

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YEREVAN (Reuters) -- Armenia declared a state of emergency until April 14 to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, and postponed a referendum on changes to the Constitutional Court until after the emergency. Armenia, a country of 3 million people, had reported 52 coronavirus cases as of the end of Monday, the highest number among countries in the South Caucasus region. All educational institutions will remain shut until the end of the emergency, and the borders with neighboring Georgia and Iran will be closed, the government said. Foreigners from countries with a high incidence of coronavirus will be barred from entering, while Armenian citizens will be able to leave only by air. The transportation of goods will continue.