Europe

PARIS (AP) — French authorities see the police as protectors who are ensuring that citizens can peacefully protest President Emmanuel Macron’s contentious retirement age increase. But to human rights advocates and demonstrators who were clubbed or tear-gassed, officers have overstepped their mission.

Russia’s top counterterrorism body on Monday blamed Ukrainian intelligence agencies for the bombing attack that killed a well-known Russian military blogger who fervently supported Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Russian officials said Vladlen Tatarsky, 40, was killed Sunday as he was leading a discussion at a cafe on the banks of the Neva River in the historic heart of St. Petersburg. Over 30 people were wounded by the blast, and 10 of them remain in grave condition, according to the authorities.

MINSK, April 2. /TASS/: Russian diplomats continue to work on the case of Russian national Sofia Sapega, who has been denied a pardon in Belarus, and hope to meet with her, Alexey Maskalev, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Minsk told TASS on Sunday.

"Russian diplomats are working on Sapega’s case. They maintain close contacts with her attorney and the Belarusian side. We hope to meet with the Russian national again," he said.

MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/: Russia recorded 9,591 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Sunday.

The country’s total cases have reached 22,656,126.

As many as 589 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, down from 1,164 the day before. Number of hospital admissions increased in 9 regions, decreased in 66 regions and in 10 regions the situation has not changed.

Moscow’s COVID-19 cases surged by 1,358 to 3,480,273 in the past day and St. Petersburg’s cases increased by 1,002 to 1,919,705.

MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/: The Russian budget at the end of March received additional revenues in the amount of 2.5 trillion rubles, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in the ‘Moscow. Kremlin. Putin’ program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel. Journalist Pavel Zarubin posted the fragment of the program on his Telegram channel.

MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that it is up to court to decide about the future of The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who was detained on espionage charges in Russia, the Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday after their telephone conversation.

"In light of the established evidence of the US national’s illegal activities, his future will be determined by court. The American embassy in Moscow was duly notified about his detention," the ministry said.

KYIV, April 1 (Reuters) - Russia, whose leader is accused of war crimes, assumed charge of the United Nations Security Council on Saturday causing fury in Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy calling it an absurd and destructive move.

The last time Russia held the rotating presidency of the body responsible for maintaining peace and combating acts of international aggression was in February 2022 when Moscow troops launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

HELSINKI, April 2 (Reuters) - Finland's opposition right-wing National Coalition Party (NCP) held a narrow lead in Sunday's parliamentary election, with 20.8% support from advance ballots, but the early tally is often skewed and the outcome remained a toss-up as counting continued.

The Social Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sanna Marin was second with 20.7% support, followed by the nationalist Finns Party at 18.6%, with 40.1% of the votes counted, justice ministry data showed.

April 2 (Reuters) - Well-known Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a bomb blast in a cafe in St Petersburg on Sunday, Russian news agencies reported.

They quoted the interior ministry as confirming the death of Tatarsky and saying that 16 people had been wounded.

Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had more than 560,000 followers on Telegram and was one of the most prominent of the influential military bloggers who have provided an often critical running commentary on Russia's war in Ukraine.

MOSCOW, April 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia on espionage charges.

During the phone conversation, Lavrov underscored the need to respect the decision of Russian authorities made under Russia's law and international obligations, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.