Europe

MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/: The Stril Explorer ship is performing Nord Stream 2 route surveys for Nord Stream 2 AG, press service of the gas pipeline operator told TASS on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump on December 20, 2019 signed the US defense budget providing for sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 and companies that participate in the project.

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/: Moscow has not altered its policy on the situation in Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.

"As for the alleged change in the policy on the situation in Ukraine, this has nothing to do with reality and reflects only a personal viewpoint of the person who speaks about that," Peskov said.

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/: Moscow views the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Bulgaria as an unfriendly and a provocative step and warns the Bulgarian authorities about tit-for-tat measures, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"We qualify this step by official Sofia as an outright unfriendly and provocative step that runs counter to the constructive and traditionally mutually respectful nature of Russian-Bulgarian relations. We reserve the right to take tit-for-tat measures," the statement says.

(Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is mulling to use the threat of high tariffs to raise pressure on the European Union, the United States and other nations to strike trade deals with Britain, The Times newspaper reported on Saturday.

Johnson and his cabinet ministers discussed using tariffs as “leverage” in an effort to accelerate trade talks at a meeting this week which could result in taxes of 30% on some types of French cheese and 10% on German cars, the newspaper reported.

BRUSSELS, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Heads of the European Council and the European Commission on Friday signed on Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) later this month.

“.@eucopresident Charles Michel and I have just signed the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU, opening the way for its ratification by the European Parliament,” President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter.

SKOPJE, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- President of the European Council Charles Michel said here on Friday that the future of North Macedonia is in the European Union (EU) and that he will develop strategy for opening the accession negotiations process.

"The message I want to send with this visit is that there is great interest for including the EU in the processes, that the future of North Macedonia is European and that we have to continue with the dialogue in order to reach decision," Michel said at a joint press conference after meeting President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski.

LONDON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Britain on Friday labelled the U.S. refusal to send a diplomat's wife back to Britain for trial a "denial of justice" over the death of 19-year-old Briton in a car crash.

In a statement, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the government is disappointed about the U.S. decision not to extradite the car crash suspect Anne Sacoolas to Britain.

BRUSSELS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Friday that the participants involved in the Iran nuclear deal have reconfirmed their determination to preserve the agreement.

Borrell made the statement ten days after the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered a dispute resolution mechanism within the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Joint Commission.

BERLIN, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Six people were killed and two were seriously injured after a shooting on Friday in southwestern German town of Rot am See.

A 26-year-old gunman fired several shots in a building near the local train station and surrendered to police, according a local police spokesperson.

The victims were said to be related to the gunmen, his 65-year-old father, 56-year-old mother, two men aged 36 and 69, two women aged 36 and 62. In addition, a man and a woman were heavily injured by gun fire.

Davos, Jan 24 (PTI) The World Economic Forum on Friday announced the first global consortium focused on designing a framework for the governance of digital currencies, including stablecoins.

The Global Consortium for Digital Currency Governance will aim to increase access to the financial system through innovative policy solutions that are inclusive and interoperable.