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EU, UK cancel face-to-face trade talks because of coronavirus
European Union negotiators cancelled next week’s visit to London for a second round of post-Brexit trade talks with the UK due to coronavirus concerns.
The...
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UK launches €34 bln coronavirus mitigation package
UK chancellor Rishi Sunak on Wednesday unveiled a £30 billion package of public spending and tax cuts to mitigate the economic impact of the...
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Head of Polish public television dismissed
Poland’s National Media Council has announced it recalled Jacek Kurski from the post of president of Telewizja Polska SA (TVP), the country’s public television.
Shortly...
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Italy tightens lockdown measures
Italy further tightened its coronavirus quarantine, ordering bars, restaurants and beauty salons to be closed 24/7.
Prime minister Giuseppe Conte said all shops would be...
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan bans all public events due to coronavirus
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan - In response to the coronavirus, Kazakhstan has imposed a ban on all public events, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on 12...
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Czech Republic declares 30-day state of emergency over Coronavirus
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš declared a 30-day state of emergency in the country and closed the borders to 13 countries, to stem spread...
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EU Commission New Industrial Strategy to accelerate use of renewables
The European Commission presented this week its “New Industrial Strategy for Europe” and “New Circular Economy Action Plan” as part of the European Green...
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Iran agrees to give PS752 black boxes to Ukraine more than two months after shoot down
The civil aviation organisation for the Islamic Republic of Iran has agreed to send the black boxes from Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752, which was...
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13 Slovak judges arrested for links to man charged with journalist’s murder
Thirteen judges in Slovakia and five other people have been detained and charged with corruption and obstruction of justice in the slain journalist case,...
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EU supports clean energy projects in Poland
The European Union is facilitating the construction of a new wind farm that will provide clean energy to 75,000 Polish households in Poland, the...
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WindEurope calls on Germany to deliver on wind farm permitting promises
The German Government must deliver on its promises to streamline wind farm permitting, WindEurope said on 11 March, noting that the German wind energy...
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EU helps to avoid almost empty ‘ghost flights’, reduce CO2 emissions
In order to ease the economic and environmental impact of the COVID-19 outbreak outbreak, the European Commission decided on 10 March to put forward...
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Dutch prosecutors claim Moscow is trying to thwart MH17 investigation
Dutch prosecutor Thijs Berger said Tuesday that there are “strong indications” Russia wants to undermine investigations in the MH17 case.
He explained that there was...
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UK lawmakers challenge government over Huawei
The Conservative UK government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson narrowly defeated an attempt led by some of its own lawmakers to ban Chinese tech...
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EU calls on Belarus to abolish death penalty
After another death was recorded in Belarus, this time of Viktar Skrundzik, who was sentenced to death by the Minsk Regional Court, the EU...
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Russian Duma passes president-for-life bill allowing Putin to stay on past 2024
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday supported a constitutional amendment that would allow him to seek reelection in 2024 by restarting the term count.
If...
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Merkel meets Haftar to discuss Libya crisis
Libya’s commander Khalifa Haftar met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Tuesday, a day after he met with French president Emmanuel Macron...
Energy
Kazakhstan calls for consensus on OPEC+ deal
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Nurlan Nogayev on 11 March called for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led...
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Erdogan says border will stay open until EU meets his demands
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Wednesday he would keep the border open for migrants until the European Union had met all his demands.
“Until...
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US will offer Patriot missiles to Turkey if Russian-made S400 is mothballed
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the United States has offered to sell his country its Patriot missile defense system if it promises...
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Russia’s Gazprom and Austria’s OMV introduce asset sale deal amendments
Gazprom Chairman CEO Alexey Miller and OMV Chairman Rainer Seele signed on 6 March in St Petersburg the contract on the amendments to the...
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EU accepts Transgaz’s commitments to facilitate natural gas exports from Romania
Transgaz has committed to make available to the market significant firm capacities for natural gas exports from Romania to neighbouring Member States, in particular...
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Turkey issues new arrest warrant for jailed activist Kavala
A Turkish court issued a new arrest warrant against Turkish rights activist Osman Kavala, who was re-arrested last month, a day after being acquitted...
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TCS Group founder Tinkov claims he's fighting leukaemia amid US tax charges
Oleg Tinkov, the founder of TCS group which includes Russia’s popular retail bank Tinkoff, is currently facing extradition to the United States after being...
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Macron meets Haftar in bid to secure Libya ceasefire
French president Emmanuel Macron met Monday with Libya’s military commander Khalifa Haftar, who promised he would commit to a ceasefire with the country’s rival...
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Former Turkish minister Babacan to launch new political party
Ali Babacan, a former close ally of Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has applied on Monday to register a new political party, saying the...
Energy
Coronavirus negatively impacts Kazakhstan’s economy
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan - Kazakhstan in February received less than 2.1 billion tenge ($5.49 million) of customs duties and taxes from importing goods from China,...
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Italy begins nationwide lockdown
Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte put his entire country of some 60 million people on lockdown Monday to combat the coronavirus. Under the extreme...
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European Parliament’s President Sassoli in quarantine
David Sassoli, EU Parliament’s President has decided to put himself into quarantine, following the Italian government's emergency measures to place entire Italy on lockdown...
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Oil price war
Crude prices plunged to record lows on 9 March as an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia commenced after the latter refused...
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Portuguese president to enter preemptive isolation amid fears of COVID-19 exposure
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will be quarantined for the next two weeks after hosting students from school affected by the COVID-19 (coronavirus)...
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Poland's president OKs €448 mil for public broadcasters amid reelection campaign
Poland’s president Andrzej Duda has signed on Friday a 2 billion zlotys ($510 million) bill to fund public television and radio for his reelection...
China
Kazakhstan adopts new foreign policy concept
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed on 9 March a decree identifying new priorities in the country’s foreign policy for the next...
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UK will leave EU's aviation safety regulator by the end of 2020
The UK’s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed that the UK will leave the European aviation safety regulator (EASA) after the Brexit transition period that...
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MH17 trial begins
The first court hearing in the MH17 case has begun in the Netherlands.
Hendrik Steenhuis, the presiding judge, opened the case on Monday at a...
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Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan arrest women's rights activists on International Women's Day
Police officers detained an activist during a rally held to support women's rights and to protest against violence towards women in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.
Activists...
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Most of Northern Italy under quarantine in latest effort to halt coronavirus
Italy has placed up to 16 million people under quarantine, in the government’s effort to contain the spread of coronavirus across the country.
Prime minister...
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EU's top diplomat says Brussels needs to improve its relations with Russia and Turkey
Amid growing tensions with Turkey over the humanitarian crisis caused by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to flood the Greek-Turkish border with migrants who...
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First female duo wins world's top architecture prize
Two Irish women, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, are the winners of the 2020 Pritzker Architecture Prize, which is regarded as the Nobel Prize...
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Brexit planning cost the UK £4.4bn, watchdog says
The UK’s national spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, said that the UK government has spent 70% of the allocated budget for Brexit preparations.
The...
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EU to establish a legally binding 2050 climate-neutrality objective
The European Commission presented on 4 March the European Climate Law, striving to make the EU the world’s first climate neutral economic bloc by...
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Ukraine’s prosecutor dismissed in parliament no-confidence vote
The Ukrainian parliament on Thursday dismissed Ruslan Ryaboshapka as the country’s prosecutor general, a day after a government reshuffle ordered by president Volodymyr Zelensky,...
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WHO director-general criticises countries for lack of commitment to stop COVID-19 outbreak
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned the efforts made by some countries in dealing with the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak.
Tedros showed concerns over the actions...
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Barnier signals ‘serious divergences’ on post-Brexit deal negotiations with the UK
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michael Barnier, has hinted at serious differences between the EU and the UK after the first round of negotiations...
Kazakhstan
Russia, Kazakhstan discuss security cooperation, coronavirus
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, who is visiting Nur Sultan on 6...
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Hungary broke EU rules with education law, court says
Hungary’s conservative government is breaking EU law with rules that led to the closure of a liberal university founded by billionaire George Soros, an...
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Journalists' Federation urges EU27 to create safe environment for reporting in Greece
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is asking from the EU and member states to create a safe environment for journalists reporting in Greece,...
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France says Huawei’s investments will not influence its 5G position
French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said that investments by the Chinese tech giant Huawei will not influence France’s 5G expansion plans.
Last week, Huawei...
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Clashes between migrants, police erupt on Greek-Turkish border
Clashes have erupted on the Greek-Turkish border, with Greek security forces using tear gas and a water cannon to hold back the thousands of...
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EU clears acquisition of CleverShuttle Düsseldorf by SWD and GHT
The European Commission has said the acquisition of joint control over CleverShuttle Düsseldorf by Stadtwerke Düsseldorf (SWD) and GHT Mobility (GHT), all of Germany,...
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