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Four months into the corona crisis and one month into the social and economic shutdown, it seems the big geopolitical loser of the pandemic is likely going to be Europe.

Four months into the corona crisis and one month into the social and economic shutdown, it seems the big geopolitical loser of the pandemic is likely going to be Europe.

Social distancing was not on the minds of the 2,000 seasonal workers tightly packed into airports in Romania en route to Germany last week.

Ports in Italy and Malta closed amid claims they are no longer safe because of the pandemic. The move means NGO rescue vessels are in limbo. The European Commission says it cannot pass any judgement on the closures.

The International Monetary Fund issued a warning on Tuesday about economic damage from the coronavirus, saying that the global economy faces its worst downturn since the Great Depression as shuttered factories, quarantines and national lockdowns cause economic output around the world to collapse. It projected that global growth will contract by 3 percent in 2020, contrasting an earlier forecast of a 3.3 percent growth.

The leaders of Ireland's rival Fianna Fail and Fine Gael parties signed off on a broad agreement struck by their negotiating teams aimed at attracting enough additional support to form a new government, Reuters writes. The centre-right parties, who have swapped power throughout the nation's history but have never formed a coalition together, need the support of at least one smaller party or eight independent lawmakers to reach a majority.

"Some of our large immigrant groups unfortunately have a high risk of becoming very ill from Covid-19", Swedish state epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, said on Tuesday based on figures from Sweden's Public Health Agency. "Among the Somalis the risk is almost five times higher than compared to people born in Sweden," he said, pointing to lack of early information as one possible reason. Swedish Covid-19 linked deaths passed 1,000 on Tuesday.

Fraudsters almost stole a €2.4m downpayment for €15m of face masks from German buyers after hijacking the websites of genuine mask suppliers in Ireland and the Netherlands, Interpol has said. But joint action by British, Dutch, and Irish police arrested the perpetrators and recovered the funds, some of which were headed to Nigeria. "They were simply experienced fraudsters who saw an opportunity with the outbreak," Interpol head Jürgen Stock said.

The EU commission plans to channel more EU money from the bloc's cohesion funds to countries worst hit by the coronavirus, Reuters reports. The commission is drawing up a revised seven-year budget by the end of the month. According to Reuters, these additional funds for worst hit countries, would not come from funding originally destined for other countries, but from extra funding for the overall cohesion funds.

The confirmed global death toll from coronavirus passed 119,483, and at least 1.9m people have been infected, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the Guardian writes. The tallies are likely to be underestimates. The number of deaths Italy passed 20,000, while in Spain the number reached a total of 17,489 last night.

France's president, Emmanuel Macron, announced that the country will remain in coronavirus lockdown for another month, the Guardian reports. In a national address on Monday evening, he said that only by respecting the confinement rules would the battle against Covid-19 be won. Macron said France would start returning to normal life on 11 May, if citizens were "civic, responsible and respected the rules" - and the numbers continued to drop.

The top German scientific academy recommended Monday that the country could begin to reduce restrictions on public life in place to slow the spread of coronavirus, Deutsche Welle reports. Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Sciences, said the government could begin to safely reopen some schools while still observing hygiene rules. Stores and restaurants could also be reopened, if social distancing regulations were strictly enforced.

European politicians, CEOs, lawmakers, and activists called on Tuesday for green investment to restart growth after the coronavirus pandemic, saying fighting climate change and promoting biodiversity would rebuild stronger economies, Reuters reports. "After the crisis, the time will come to rebuild," said a joint letter signed by 180 political decision-makers, business leaders, trade unions, NGOs and think tanks urging a green stimulus for growth.

President of Belarus, Alexander Loukachencko, has been in power for 25 years. He has not only pretended to ignore the coronavirus, he's also been dismissing the victims.

The response of EU countries to the coronavirus outbreak has prompted unprecedented levels of surveillance, data exploitation, and misinformation. Privacy campaigners, and MEPs, have warned of future adverse side-effects.

With tourism brought to a halt by Covid-19, landlords and property managers seemed to be moving their apartments from paralysed tourist rental platforms to the long-term market.

While EU leaders are meeting the week after to deal with the economic consequences of the pandemic, the commission is expected to roll out a roadmap for exit strategies from lockdowns.

From Iran, to Egypt, to Saudi Arabia, to Algeria, to Turkey, to Thailand, and even within the EU bloc with Hungary, the coronavirus pandemic is providing cover for authoritarian leaders to dispense with democracy - and even eliminate opponents.

The plight of 280 migrants trapped on a boat in Tripoli harbour due to shelling has shown that EU states and other regional powers needed "a comprehensive approach to the situation in the central Mediterranean," the International Organisation for Migration, a UN agency, has said. The Libyan coast guard intercepted the migrants en route to Europe, but port authorities refused to let them disembark due to the intensity of fighting.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, an EU agency, was meant to highlight threats from infectious diseases, but it painted a rosy picture of Covid-19.