Europe

PARIS, June 18 (Xinhua) -- France will apply taxes on digital giants this year "whatever happens," Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Thursday.

He called the U.S. decision "a provocation" to withdraw from the talks for a global deal on international taxation at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

18 June 2020; MEMO: An official from the French Defence Ministry told Reuters yesterday that Turkish frigates carried out an “extremely aggressive” intervention against a French navy vessel said to be taking part in a NATO mission in the Mediterranean and denounced Turkish manoeuvres as “very dangerous”.

18 June 2020; MEMO: The family of Egypt’s former President Mohamed Morsi founded a pro-democracy organisation in London in his honour, launching it yesterday, one year after he died in an Egyptian court.

18 June 2020; MEMO: Key figures at the centre of the anti-Semitism row which rocked the Labour Party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn have suffered an embarrassing legal defeat.

Amsterdam, Jun 18 (PTI) A statue of Mahatma Gandhi has been vandalised here in the capital of Netherlands by unknown miscreants with graffiti and spray painting, amid a wave of attacks on controversial figures following the protests around the world after the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd, according to media reports.

GENEVA, June 18 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Human Right Council on Wednesday began an urgent debate on current racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and violence against peaceful protests, in the follow-up to the killing of George Floyd in the United States.

In her opening remarks, Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, President of the UN Human Rights Council, said that the debate was being held at the request of Burkina Faso on behalf of the African Group.

MOSCOW, June 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia has finished clearing fuel from the surface of a river hit by a massive diesel spill in the Arctic region, but the full clean-up could take years, officials said.

After more than 700 people were deployed to clear the pollution, officials said the operation had removed the main spill from the surface of the most-polluted waterway, the River Ambarnaya.

The Marine Rescue Service told RIA Novosti news agency: “We have completed the active phase of collecting petroleum products.”

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the U.N. refugee agency says he is “very worried” about the impact of the coronavirus in Latin America, where millions of Venezuelans have fled upheaval at home and could face hardship abroad among lockdowns and other restrictive measures to fight the pandemic.

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England is set to unveil another big stimulus for the U.K. economy on Thursday as it tries to limit the scale of the coronavirus recession.

The central bank is expected to join its counterparts around the world, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, in bolstering support measures following the initial radical responses to the economic threat of the pandemic.

BERLIN (AP) — The Group of Seven leading economies is calling on China to reconsider plans to impose a national security law in Hong Kong, according to a joint statement issued Wednesday.

The national security legislation is aimed at curbing secessionist activities that Beijing says fueled monthslong anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.