Europe

PARIS, March 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The number of coronavirus cases worldwide passed 150,000 on Saturday driven by a spike in infections in Italy.

Italy announced 3,497 new cases on Saturday, bringing the global total to 151,797, with 5,764 deaths across 137 countries and territories.

Italy, the worst-hit country outside of China where the outbreak began in December, has now registered a total of 21,157 cases and 1,441 deaths.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania’s centrist Prime Minister Ludovic Orban won a parliamentary vote of confidence by a large margin as expected on Saturday, with all parties seeking to end a political stalemate and focus on reining in the spread of coronavirus.

On Saturday, President Klaus Iohannis declared a state of emergency from Monday, opening the door to more government aid to combat the disease.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has formally asked the country’s constitutional court if it is legal for him to change the constitution, the Kremlin said on Saturday, a move that could allow him to remain in power until 2036.

Putin in January unveiled a major shake-up of Russian politics and a constitutional overhaul, which the Kremlin billed as a redistribution of power from the presidency to parliament.

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s main opposition leader Pablo Casado on Saturday said the government was too slow to react to limit the impact and contain the spread of the coronavirus.

His comments came minutes after Prime Minister Pedro said the government would put its 47 million inhabitants under partial lockdown as part of a 15-day state of emergency to combat the coronavirus epidemic.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain locked down its 46 million citizens and France ordered the closing of just about everything the rest of the world loves about it — the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the cafes and restaurants — as governments took increasingly desperate measures to put more space between people and contain the coronavirus.

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: The crews of Su-34 multirole fighter-bombers from the Leningrad Air Force and Air Defense Army held drills for breaching a notional enemy’s air defenses and struck ground targets with air bombs, the press office of Russia’s Western Military District reported on Friday.

At the first stage of the drills, the pilots made a flight from the Voronezh Region in Russia’s south to the Tver Region in central Russia.

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/: Rossiya Airlines (Part of Aeroflot Group) cancels flights from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport and St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport on March 14 and will only operate return flights because of the spread of the novel coronavirus, the company said on its website on Saturday.

BRUSSELS, March 13. /TASS/: The EU has officially prolonged individual sanctions against Russian citizens for another six months, a statement by the European Council published on Friday informs. The sanctions were set to expire on March 15.

"The Council today decided that current sanctions in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine should be extended for a further six months until 15 September 2020," the statement says.

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/: Russia will provide funding for government spending commitments, including social sphere for six year at current oil process, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a meeting of the Federation Council.

"I want to say that even at current energy prices, we will have enough resources for a period of about 6 years with our current obligations. We have no reason to say today that we will reduce the obligations stipulated in the three-year plan or reduce those budget parameters," Siluanov said.

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/: The Russian government is preparing proposals to mitigate the negative effects of coronavirus, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a plenary meeting of the Federation Council.

"The Russian Government is now considering and preparing a set of proposals to neutralize the effects of this negative factor [coronavirus]," Siluanov said.

He previously stated that the consequences of the spread of coronavirus in the world affect the Russian economy, as it is part of the global scene.