Europe

MOSCOW, Feb 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian leader Vladimir Putin ordered the closure of pharmacies accused of hiking prices of face masks, as demand soars over fears that the deadly coronavirus could spread.

Speaking at a government meeting, Putin said profiteering from the brisk sales of masks was wrong and pharmacies that engage in price gouging should be punished.

“They should be stripped of their licences to carry out their work, that’s all,” said the 67-year-old leader.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN Security Council’s EU member states called for Myanmar to bring to justice those who have carried out human rights violations against Rohingya Muslims.

France, Estonia, Germany and Belgium urged Myanmar to comply with measures meant to prevent genocide set forth by the International Court of Justice, in a joint statement issued following a closed-door Security Council meeting.

LONDON, Feb 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UK based The Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation are committing millions of dollars to help African countries battle the novel coronavirus, if and when it should come to the continent.

In a statement, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it will commit up to $100 million for the global response to the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) just a few days after the Wellcome Trust announced $13 million.

MOSCOW, Feb 7 (NNN-XINHUA) — Russia will continue close coordination with Turkey and Iran to achieve lasting stability and security in Syria’s Idlib, where violence has surged dangerously, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“We reaffirm our commitment to the agreements and mutual understandings reached within the Astana format, providing for the need to fight terrorist groups in Syria with respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country,” it said in a statement.

ATHENS, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission supports the launch of a discussion regarding the reduction of Greece's primary surplus targets, provided that the country will keep the momentum of reforms, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni said on Thursday during a visit to Athens.

Gentiloni is on a two-day visit to the Greek capital as part of his tour across European capitals in the context of the EU's regular schedule of coordination among member states on economic policy.

MOSCOW (AP) — NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who spent nearly 11 months in orbit to set a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman, landed safely Thursday in Kazakhstan along with two International Space Station crewmates.

The Soyuz capsule carrying Koch, station Commander Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, touched down southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 3:12 p.m. (0912 GMT).

06 Feb 2020; MEMO: The Greek government announced on Tuesday that it will send Patriot defence missiles to Saudi Arabia to help it protect its oil installations.

Greek government spokesman, Stelios Petsas, said that Athens will deploy the missiles at Saudi Arabia’s expense to protect the kingdom’s energy sector, installations and infrastructure.

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/: Kremlin hopes that the United States stops demonizing Russia using it in its domestic political battles and it will provide for the normalization of bilateral relations between the countries, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Thursday.

Asked at a news conference to comment on the US Senate refusal to declare impeachment to President Donald Trump, Peskov replied that Russia "has traditionally held the stance of having no right for interfering in the US domestic affairs."

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/: Russia has not yet received responses from the United States and the United Kingdom to its proposal to hold a summit of the UN founding countries this year, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"There has been no response from Washington and London yet," he said.

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/: Increasing terrorist activities in Syria have led to the death of Russian and Turkish military experts, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.