Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Wednesday 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.

Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 27, was charged with an immigration offense and was due to appear later at Basildon Magistrates’ Court, east of London.

Detectives also said they wanted to speak to any other Vietnamese nationals who had entered Britain illegally via a similar route through the port of Purfleet.

BERLIN, March 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rose to 188 on Tuesday, up from 157 on Monday afternoon, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said.

Thirteen of Germany’s 16 federal states have now reported cases of the novel coronavirus, with the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia being most affected, according to the RKI.

Germany has not reported a fatal case of the virus, which emerged in the Chinese metropolis Wuhan late last year and is quickly spreading around the world,

ATHENS, March 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — Leaders of European Union (EU) expressed their support for Greece and determination for a common European response to the refugee, migrant challenge after a visit to the Greek-Turkish land border.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday that 130,000 migrants had already passed the Turkish-Greek border in the Balkans, and that they must be stopped as far south as possible.

“It won’t be enough to defend the Greek-Turkish border,” Orban told a news conference of the leaders of the Visegrad Four countries of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. “As a last resort ... we will defend Europe’s external border.”

BERLIN, March 3 (Xinhua) -- German Federal Government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said on Tuesday that the way to the European Union (EU) from Turkey is not open for refugees and migrants.

"At the moment we are experiencing an extremely worrying situation on the European Union's external borders with Turkey, on land and at sea. We are seeing refugees and migrants who are told by the Turkish side that the way to the EU is now open, and of course it is not," said Seibert, according to a report by the German Press Agency (dpa).

ATHENS, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of European Union (EU) institutions expressed on Tuesday their support for Greece and determination for a common European response to the refugee, migrant challenge after a visit to the Greek-Turkish land border.

KASTANIES, Greece (AP) — Thousands of migrants and refugees searched for ways to cross Greece’s border with Turkey on Tuesday, as Athens ramped up its diplomatic efforts for help from the European Union to seal off its eastern land and sea frontiers.

Turkey has made good on a threat to open its borders for those seeking to cross into Europe. Many hoping to enter Greece, which has made clear its border is shut, were trying their luck by wading or rowing across the Evros River that runs along most of the land frontier.

VIENNA (AP) — Iran has nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November in violation of its deal with world powers, U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Tuesday, while raising new questions about possible nuclear-related activities and undeclared nuclear material at three locations.

HELSINKI, March 3. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold a series of meetings on Tuesday in the capital of Finland, where he arrived on a working visit.

Despite the short duration of the trip, his schedule will be quite tight. Lavrov will hold detailed talks with his Finnish counterpart, Pekka Haavisto, who retained his post in the new government of Finland. In addition, Lavrov will hold a separate meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.

MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/: The non-systemic opposition has contributed a great deal to the nation’s political life and daily affairs, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

"I believe that they [non-systemic opposition members] are needed very much. I can say that they do have an impact on daily life, locally in particular, on a municipal level in major cities, and so on," Putin told TASS in an interview for the project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin".

"God bless them," he remarked.