Europe

KIEV, March 30. /TASS/: Ukrainian tourists who were brought home from Bali have staged a protest at Kiev’s international airport, refusing to leave planes and demanding permission to undergo mandatory quarantine at home instead of a designated hotel. According to the Obozrevatel news outlet, some tourists agreed to be placed under quarantine in Kazatsky hotel in downtown Kiev but about 100 people refused, citing poor accommodation conditions.

According to those who agreed to stay at the hotel, there is no central heating and rusty water runs from taps.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, March 30. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on his envoys to the country’s federal districts to show their best skills and take reasonable measures to combat the coronavirus.

"I urge you and authorities at all levels to take reasonable and professional actions. This approach has allowed us to gain time and prevent a rapid spread of the coronavirus infection in the past weeks," the president said at a meeting.

Putin called for wisely using the time the country had gained.

HAGUE, March 30. /TASS/: Almost 12,000 people contracted the coronavirus in the Netherlands, the National Institute of Health and Environment reported Monday, adding that more than 800 new cases were registered in the past 24 hours.

According to the latest Dutch statistical data, the coronavirus was confirmed in 11,750 people; of those, 4,000 people receive treatment in hospitals; 864 people succumbed to the disease, including 93, who died in the past 24 hours.

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/: An anonymous bomb threat against Moscow’s Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery was sent by an anonymous person, emergency services disclosed Monday.

"An anonymous email with a bomb threat against the Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery was received. The information is being checked, emergency services and K9 units work at the site," the source said, adding that the Institute was not evacuated.

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/: Russia’s Ruselectronics Group has completed the trials of the latest Orion-C system for communications of the Flight Control Center with the International Space Station (ISS) and spacecraft, the Group’s press office told TASS on Monday.

"A prototype of the Orion-C ground-based receiving and transmitting digital television system has been created and tested. The tests have passed successfully. The R&D work is over and the enterprise is ready for deliveries," the press office said.

BELGRADE, March 30. /TASS/: China has provided much more assistance to Serbia in countering the coronavirus pandemic than the European Union even though Belgrade is moving towards EU integration, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview with TV Prva on Sunday.

30 March 2020; AFP: Hungary's parliament was expected to endorse a bill on Monday giving nationalist premier Viktor Orban sweeping new powers he says he needs to fight the new coronavirus pandemic.

Critics at home and abroad have condemned the "anti-coronavirus defence law", saying it gives Orban unnecessary and unlimited power in a ruse to cement his leadership rather than battle the virus.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission authorized on Monday France’s scheme to support small companies and self-employed people affected by the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the scheme, Paris has pledged a total of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in subsidies to firms with a maximum of 10 employees and an annual turnover not exceeding 1 million euros.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Air pollution has decreased in urban areas across Europe during lockdowns to combat the coronavirus, new satellite images showed on Monday, but campaigners warned city-dwellers were still more vulnerable to the epidemic.

Cities including Brussels, Paris, Madrid, Milan and Frankfurt showed a reduction in average levels of noxious nitrogen dioxide over March 5-25, compared with the same period last year, according to the Sentinel-5 satellite images.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union expects Britain to seek an extension of its post-Brexit transition period beyond the end of the year, diplomats and officials said on Monday, as negotiations on trade have ground to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Europe has gone into a deep lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of the disease, with more than 330,000 infections reported on the continent and nearly 21,000 deaths.