Europe

KASTANIES, Greece (AP) — A child died when a boat full of migrants heading to a Greek island capsized Monday, part of a wave of thousands trying to push through Greece’s land and sea borders.

The child’s death was the first since neighboring Turkey announced Thursday it was easing restrictions on those wishing to cross to Europe, and thousands of migrants began massing at the frontiers with Greece.

MURMANSK, March 2. /TASS/: The large amphibious assault ship Alexander Otrakovsky held a mine-laying exercise at the Northern Fleet’s naval training ranges in the Motovskiy Bay of the Barents Sea, the Fleet’s press office reported on Monday.

"The mine-laying exercise has passed successfully. After accomplishing the combat training assignments for laying mines in the water area, the ship’s crew held anti-saboteur underwater defense during the anchorage in an unsafe roadstead and practiced ship damage control skills," the press office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that neither Russia nor Iran are his country’s targets in Syria.

"Turkey does not take aim at either Russia or Iran in Syria. We are only destroying the elements of the [Assad] regime," he said on Monday. Erdogan’s remarks were broadcast by NTV television.

The Turkish leader noted though that he "expects [other countries] to show respect" for Ankara’s stance, adding that the participation in combat operations in Syria was the will of the people rather than the leadership’s personal choice.

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/: Russia’s main medical commission has approved the basic and back-up crews of the next expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), the Cosmonaut Training Center said in a statement posted on its website on Monday.

"Following the commission’s meeting, Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner (the basic crew of the ISS expedition 63) and also Sergei Ryzhikov and Andrei Babkin (the back-up crew) have been recognized as fit for a space flight based on their health condition," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/: Consequences from the coronavirus spread will be temporary and the Russian economy will eventually achieve the planned cycle, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov told reporters on Monday.

"Any consequences of the coronavirus spread will be temporary by nature and whatever the situation and moods evolve, it should be understood that we will ultimately nevertheless achieve the anticipated economic cycle," Reshetnikov said.

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/: No instructions have been issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin to resume the probe into the murder of journalist Vladislav Listyev, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"So far, there have been no instructions or requests on that matter from the head of state," he told reporters.

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/: The Union of European Football Associations is closely monitoring the developments regarding the novel coronavirus global spread, the UEFA’s press service announced in a statement to TASS on Monday.

British tabloid The Sun reported earlier that the UEFA Executive Committee was set to discuss at its session this week the ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus and its possible threat to the organization of the 220 UEFA Euro Cup matches this summer.

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/: Construction of the lunar orbital station would reduce the risks for expeditions and would allow lunar surface missions of up to 30 days, says Energia Rocket and Space Corporation CEO Nikolay Sevastyanov.

Today, the scientific community looks into two types of lunar missions, he said. In the first one, spacemen would arrive to a low near-Moon orbit of only about 200 km, and then land on the Moon in a special landing module. According to Sevastyanov, this method would allow only for short-term missions to the lunar surface - "no more than 3 days."

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/: Beside super-heavy rockets, medium-and heavy-class launch vehicles would be used to deliver cargo to the Moon, says Energia Rocket and Space Corporation CEO Nikolay Sevastyanov.

According to the CEO, the Oryol crewed spacecraft would be launched using super-heavy rockets. The lunar takeoff and landing complex and lunar orbital station modules would also require super-heavy launch vehicles.

"Other cargo, such as scientific equipment and fuel, could be delivered by middle-and heavy-class rockets with lower carrying capacity," Sevastyanov said.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union ministers will discuss possible responses to the coronavirus outbreak in extraordinary meetings this week, a sign of growing concern over the epidemic’s spread to most EU countries.

The spread of the virus raises questions over the EU economy and management of the European open-border Schengen area as well as causing health concerns.

Such a degree of activity in the EU has not been seen Europe’s 2015-16 migration crisis and the 2009-12 financial turmoil in which several EU states were bailed out.