Europe

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/: New talks with the United States and NATO on Russia’s proposed security guarantees may be desirable again, but it is highly unlikely to hold them in the previous format, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"Of course, the negotiations may be desirable again, because the situation has drastically changed. New details and emphasis emerged," Peskov told a news briefing in response to a question whether talks on Russia’s security guarantees should be closed or resumed.

BRUSSELS, March 15. /TASS/: The European Union officially approved the fourth package of sanctions against Russia, which includes economic and personal restrictive measures, the EU Council announced on Tuesday.

PARIS, March 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UN biodiversity negotiations began in Geneva on Monday to hammer out a global deal to better protect nature that is due for approval later this year.

Almost 200 countries are due to adopt a global framework this year to safeguard nature by mid-century from the destruction wrought by humanity, with a key milestone of 30 per cent protected by 2030.

“The world is clearly eager for urgent action to protect nature,” said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in a press release.

PARIS, March 15 (Reuters) - The Eiffel Tower grew 6 metres (19.69 ft) on Tuesday after a new digital radio antenna was attached to the top of the Paris monument.

The tower, built by Gustave Eiffel in the late 19th century, now measures 330 metres after the DAB+ (digital audio) antenna was airlifted onto its peak by helicopter under a leaden sky.

LVIV, Ukraine, March 15 (Reuters) - The northern Ukrainian region of Chernihiv issued a warning of country-wide air attacks on Tuesday, urging citizens to head to shelters.

It was not immediately clear whether other regions had issued similar warnings of new air strikes by Russian forces that invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 .

"Attention. Air raid ALL UKRAINE! Take shelter!," said the warning, shared in an online post.

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has had her British passport returned, British lawmaker Tulip Siddiq said on Tuesday.

"I am very pleased to say that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been given her British passport back," Siddiq, who is the member of parliament for where Zaghari-Ratcliffe used to live in London, said on Twitter.

"She is still at her family home in Tehran. I also understand that there is a British negotiating team in Tehran right now."

LVIV, Ukraine, March 15 (Reuters) - Three European prime ministers were travelling to Kyiv on Tuesday, the first foreign leaders to visit the Ukrainian capital since Russia launched its invasion in a striking symbol of Ukraine's success so far in fending off Russia's assault.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Poland's Mateusz Morawiecki announced plans for the visit, saying they and Slovenia's Janez Jansa would meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy's office confirmed the plans.

LJUBLJANA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The Slovenian government set the maximum retail price of gasoline from Tuesday in order to curb large price hikes, the government said on its website on Monday.

The maximum price of 95-octane gasoline was set at 1.503 euros(about 1.6491 U.S. dollars) per liter and that of diesel at 1.541 euros (about 1.6908 U.S. dollars) per liter. The set prices will be valid for 30 days. The set maximum prices are by 4 to 8 percent lower than those on Monday. Until now the prices were set freely by fuel retailers.

LONDON, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the United States hard, "sparing no region, race or ethnicity," but some groups have suffered more than others in the country, The Guardian has reported.

The United States "is a large and diverse country. Its rifts and inequities were laid bare and worsened by the virus," the British newspaper said Sunday.

BERLIN (AP) — Air travel was disrupted across Germany on Tuesday as security personnel at several airports in the country staged walkouts to demand higher wages.