Europe

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: Qatar will take part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) scheduled for 2021 as a guest country, the event’s organizer, the Roscongress Foundation, said on Friday.

"Qatar will be a guest country of SPIEF in 2021. Moreover, the effort that we have launched on arranging the forum continues and we will use the opportunity to prepare our joint program in detail," Roscongress said, citing Qatar’s ambassador to Russia Fahad bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah.

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: Bailing out Russia’s banking sector was necessary in order to prevent millions of clients from sustaining losses. The Bank of Russia is going to reintroduce the assets in question into the market after their financial recovery, Russian President Vladimir Putin told TASS in an interview for the project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin."

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly opposes attempts to build a cult of personality around him, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"What Vladimir Putin cannot accept is Vladimir Putin’s personality cult. He clarified his attitude to personality cults long ago. Definitely, he does not like it and cannot accept it," Peskov said in response to a question.

ST.PETERSBURG, March 13. /TASS/: Authorities in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, have banned all mass events to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the city’s government press service said on Friday.

Under a decree, signed by Governor Alexander Beglov, starting from March 16 and until April 30, 2020 a ban will be introduced on holding theater and entertainment, cultural and educational, sports and other mass events "with more than 1,000 participants."

13 Mar 2020; MEMO: Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone to his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, the Kremlin said in a statement, saying both men agreed with satisfaction that tensions in Syria’s Idlib were now significantly lower, Reuters reports.

Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in Syria’s war, last week agreed on a ceasefire to halt an escalation of violence in Idlib that displaced nearly a million people and brought the two countries close to direct confrontation.

13 Mar 2020; MEMO: Employees of Greece’s asylum agency are on strike due to “terrible” conditions in the country’s Moria refugee camp on Lesbos Island, Anadolu Agency reports.

Speaking exclusively to Anadolu Agency, Irini Zanni, one of the employees, said the Moria camp was in “terrible” condition and called for more “humane” treatment of the refugees and asylum seekers held there.

Zanni said that the refugees and asylum seekers were living under “unbelievable” dire conditions on the island.

LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin plummeted on Thursday amid wild volatility in cryptocurrency markets, with traders citing a sell-off across assets as fears of the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic take hold.

The biggest cryptocurrency slumped as much as 25% during morning trading before clawing back some of its losses. It was last down 22% at $6,206, heading for its biggest daily loss in five years.

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/: Russia’s top brass has received the first regiment set of S-400 ‘Triumf’ anti-aircraft missile systems this year from Almaz-Antey defense manufacturer, the Company’s press office reported on Thursday.

The official handover ceremony took place at the Kapustin Yar proving ground in the southern Astrakhan Region.

"We have delivered the first regiment set of S-400 ‘Triumf’ systems this year to the state customer ahead of schedule. The delivery/acceptance tests have passed successfully," the press office quoted Almaz-Antey CEO Yan Novikov as saying.

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/: The complex global situation is one of the reasons why Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted State Duma member Valentina Tereshkova’s arguments in favor of removing limits on presidential terms, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

12 Mar 2020; MEMO: The European Union on Wednesday has called on the Greek authorities to investigate the Greek security forces’ use of violence and illegal practices against asylum seekers and migrants trying to pass into Europe.

European Commission spokesperson, Adalbert Jahnz told reporters in Brussels that the Greek authorities face an exceptional situation and fulfill a difficult task; however, he added that “they have to do this by conforming to basic rights and moderately.”