Europe

19 Feb 2020; MEMO: Italian dock workers have refused to load electricity generators onto a notorious Saudi cargo ship suspected of carrying arms to be used in the war in Yemen.

London, Feb 19 (PTI) Home Secretary Priti Patel on Wednesday announced the launch of the UK's new points-based visa system, aimed at attracting the "brightest and the best" from the world, including from India, and cutting down numbers of cheap, low-skilled workers coming to the country.

The new system will come into force from January 1 2021 at the end of the transition period after the UK's exit from the European Union (EU) last month, which will formally end free movement of people within the economic bloc for the UK as a non-member.

London, Feb 19 (PTI) Indian universities had a good performance year within the emerging economies of the world as a record 11 made it to the top 100 Times Higher Education's (THE) Emerging Economies University Rankings 2020.

Only China has more universities than India in the top 100 at 30 from a total of 47 countries and territories included in the analysis released in London on Tuesday evening.

MADRID, Feb 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Spanish government approved the introduction of the so-called “Google tax” on digital companies, during its weekly meeting held on Tuesday.

The bill for a digital service tax proposes taxing the revenues of large web companies, such as Google, Amazon and Facebook, obtained through publicity from advertising and the sale of data and intermediary services, at a rate of three percent, Spain’s Minister of Finance, Maria Jesus Montero, confirmed.

LONDON, Feb 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Storm Dennis killed at least five in the country since Saturday, and there is further wet and windy weather to come this week, Britain’s national weather service, the Met Office warned.

Body of a 55-year-old women, who was swept away in Worcestershire, was found Monday. One body was found in a south Wales river, while another was found dead in Scotland mountain track. The other two were found dead in Kent on Sunday, The Times newspaper reported.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Twice as many companies set up operations in the Netherlands in 2019 compared to a year earlier as Britain’s departure from the European Union neared, a Dutch government agency said on Wednesday.

Last year, 78 businesses chose to open offices or move operations to the Benelux country, taking the total number since the British referendum in 2016 to 140, the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency said.

“The trend has been a doubling each year of the number of companies coming to the Netherlands,” said Jeroen Nijland, commissioner at NFIA.

GENEVA, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) announced Tuesday the resumption of the intra-Libyan Joint Military Commission (JMC) talks in Geneva, saying that the participants came with the sense of responsibility and the serious and constructive spirit.

"We hope that this spirit is carried into the fully inclusive Libyan Political Forum scheduled to start on 26 February and urge all parties to seize the opportunity to respond positively," the UNSMIL said in an announcement.

LISBON, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said Tuesday that his government will not accept the European Union (EU)'s budget proposal.

"After the unanimous rejection yesterday by the social partners, today in the debate in Parliament, all political parties also refused the President of the EU Council's proposal for the EU budget 2021-2027," Costa said in his tweet.

ATHENS, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Public services in Greece were paralyzed on Tuesday as the umbrella Civil Servants Trade Union (ADEDY) staged a 24-hour nationwide strike against social security reforms proposed by the government.

Hundreds of thousands of commuters were left stranded as public transport services were disrupted, from buses and the metro to ferries, which remained docked at ports as seamen's unions joined the strike.

ZAGREB, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic was sworn in here on Tuesday as the fifth Croatian president at the President's Office.

"I will invest everything I know and everything I have to build a presidential term that will benefit Croatia and all its citizens," Milanovic said in his inaugural speech after reading the oath before Constitutional Court President Miroslav Separovic.

Milanovic said he believes that the scientific community, the judiciary system and the media must improve the mechanisms for combating dishonesty and corruption.