Europe

MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/: Since 2008, the US enforced apprehension of 53 Russian nationals in third countries, says Russian Foreign Ministry report on human rights, published Friday. According to the report, those apprehended face prejudice and suffer psychological abuse.

"Since 2008, a total of 53 Russian nationals have been apprehended in third countries on American orders. The Russian nationals extradited to the US usually face prejudice from American investigators and judges," the ministry says. "They suffer psychological abuse.

CHISINAU, February 7. /TASS/: The Moldovan government has restored relations with the Russian cabinet, the country’s Prime Minister Ion Chicu told NTV Moldova on Friday.

"I held talks with Russia’s former prime minister and with the current one," he pointed out. According to Chicu, the resumption of dialogue has made it possible to expand the list of Moldova’s export goods that are not subject to customs duties and issue additional permits to Moldovan transportation companies to deliver cargo to Russia.

MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/: Russia’s Foreign Ministry has thanked the rescue services of Estonia and Finland for prompt assistance extended to Russian sailors, who suffered a shipwreck off Estonia last night.

MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/: Defense of Israeli national Naama Issachar, sentenced in Russia for drug smuggling and pardoned by the president, is going to file an appeal against the sentence and turn to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the defense said in a statement.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices edged down on Friday as Russia said it would need more time before committing to output cuts along with OPEC and other producers amid falling demand for crude as China battles the coronavirus epidemic.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell 20 cents, or 0.4%, to $54.73 a barrel by 1140 GMT, and were heading for a fifth weekly loss due to lingering fears over the impact of the virus.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures were down 29 cents, or 0.6%, at $50.66 a barrel, also heading for a fifth consecutive week of losses.

PARIS (Reuters) - Europe as a whole needs to have a strategic view regarding 5G telecoms networks, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday at a meeting with French finance minister Bruno Le Maire.

On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General William Barr stressed the threat posed by Huawei Technologies and said the United States and its allies should consider investing in Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson to counter the Chinese company’s dominance in next generation 5G telecoms technology.

PARIS (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that France wanted to open a strategic dialogue with its European partners about the role of French nuclear deterrence policy in European security.

The overture to Europeans chimes with Macron’s insistence that Europe should reinforce its strategic autonomy in the face of growing global threats and stop relying solely on the United States and the transatlantic alliance for its defense.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The world is facing a chronic shortage of gowns, masks, gloves and other protective equipment in the fight against a spreading coronavirus epidemic, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday.

As of 6 a.m. Geneva time (0500 GMT) there were 31,211 confirmed cases in China and 637 deaths, he said.

“For the last two days there had been fewer reported infections in China, which is good news, but we caution against reading too much into that. The numbers could go up again,” he told the WHO Executive Board in Geneva.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has named career diplomat Karen Pierce as its new ambassador to the United States, the first woman to hold the U.S. post, with the task of shoring up relations with London’s closest ally after Brexit.

Pierce, 60, a former ambassador to Afghanistan, replaces Kim Darroch who resigned last July after U.S. President Donald Trump labeled him “stupid” and “wacky” following the release of confidential memos in which he had branded the U.S. president’s administration inept.

BRUSSELS, 07 Feb 2020; AA: Turks living in Europe filed a criminal complaint against a Greek member of the European Parliament for ripping apart a Turkish flag, their union said on Thursday.

In a statement, the Union of International Democrats (UID) said it has demanded an investigation from prosecutors in Brussels over Ioannis Lagos’ provocation at the European Parliament.

The statement said the act violated the Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.