Europe

BRUSSELS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that she had proposed a temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the European Union (EU), as a measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

After a teleconference with leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries, von der Leyen said, together with the President of the European Council Charles Michel, that "we informed today our G7 partners that we propose to introduce a temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the European Union."

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/: No shelling attacks by Turkey-controlled armed groups were reported in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone in the past day while militants staged six shelling attacks, Oleg Zhuravlev, chief of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria, told reporters on Sunday.

"No shelling attacks by Turkey-controlled illegal armed groups were reported throughout the day," he said, adding that six shelling attacks by Jabhat al-Nusra (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) militants were reported from the Idlib and Latakia governorates.

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/: US sanctions against Iran limit Tehran's capacities of fighting against the novel coronavirus, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali wrote on his official Twitter account on Sunday.

"At my recent talks with Russian officials, I said that the international community should understand and put an end to cynical, illegal and cruel US sanctions which represent a crime against humanity. Sanctions limit Iran's financial sources and capacities of fighting against the coronavirus," Jalali said.

SEVASTOPOL, March 16. /TASS/: There is no use to apply electronic warfare systems against NATO ships in the Black Sea, because this would make foreign intelligence services’ work easier, says Vladimir Solovyov, the executive director of Sevastopol’s Institute of CIS Studies, counter-admiral in retirement.

Earlier, the media reported that NATO ships that approach Russian waters in the Black Sea are effectively unable to conduct reconnaissance because of Russian coastal radio electronic counteraction.

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/: The Russian authorities will openly inform society of the situation regarding the spread of the novel coronavirus and the measures taken in view of that, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Monday.

Speaking at a meeting with the deputy prime ministers, he noted that the government had so far taken only initial steps, adding that citizens would be informed about subsequent actions in detail later.

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/: Russia and Europe both have endured losses as a result of the sanctions standoff, but the losses that Europe has encountered are far more serious in some respects, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted.

"The fact is our partners also lose approximately the same. Europe has lost roughly the same, according to their estimates. Actually, they’ve been losing even more sensitive things," he told TASS in an interview for the special project "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin".

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/: Russia has lost about $50 billion as a result of foreign sanctions, but it has managed to offset the losses by various means, including import substitution, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"To hell with those sanctions," Putin told TASS in an interview for the project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin". "According to various estimates, we have lost 50 billion but we have earned the same amount."

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/: There are no grounds for introducing a state of emergency in Russia over the spread of the novel coronavirus, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

"There been neither ideas nor grounds for this [introducing a state of emergency - TASS] nor decisions," Peskov said.

PARIS (Reuters) - France’s competition watchdog on Monday fined iPhone maker Apple 1.1 billion euros for anti-competitive behaviour in its distribution network and an abuse of economic dependence on its resellers.

Two of Apple’s wholesalers, Tech Data and Ingram Micro, were fined 63 million euros and 76 million euros respectiely, for unlawfully agreeing on prices, the authority said.

LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Monday they had charged another man as part of their investigation into the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found dead in the back of a truck near London last year.

Valentin Calota, 37, will appear at Basildon Magistrates’ Court near London on Monday charged with facilitating illegal immigration between May 2018 and Oct 2019.

The victims, who included two 15-year-old boys, were discovered in October in the truck container on an industrial estate in Grays in Essex, about 20 miles (32 km) east of London.