Europe

LONDON, Jan 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain’s finance ministry said it had added Lebanon’s entire Hezbollah movement to its list of terrorist groups subject to asset freezing.

The ministry previously only targeted the Shiite organisation’s military wing but has now listed the whole group after the government designated it a terrorist organisation last March.

The change requires any individual or institution in Britain with accounts or financial services connected to Hezbollah to suspend them or face prosecution.

KIEV, Jan 18, (NNN-CGTN) – Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelensky said, he wanted to give his Prime Minister, Oleksiy Honcharuk, a “second chance” and refused to accept his resignation, after a recording emerged of the premier questioning the head of state’s grasp of economics.

“I have decided to give you and your government a second chance,” Zelensky said, during a meeting with Honcharuk in a video, released by the presidency.

ATHENS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Greece is ready to help Libya going forward once a solution is found to the conflict there, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told the press here on Friday following his meeting with Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA).

The Libyan commander arrived in Athens on Thursday evening for talks with the Greek government before departing for Berlin to participate in a conference this weekend aimed at bringing to an end the long-standing conflict in the northern African country.

17 Jan 2019; MEMO: The Dutch government has criticised the conduct of pro-Israel advocacy group NGO Monitor, singling out the unreliability of their accusations against human rights defenders.

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/: Representatives of the US and the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) are discussing the details of a joint agreement, Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated on Friday on Twitter.

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/: The crews of MiG-31 interceptor-fighters and Su-24 bombers from the composite air regiment of the Northern Fleet’s Air Force and Air Defense Army performed training flights in adverse weather conditions, the press office of the Western Military District reported on Friday.

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/: Russia’s new super-heavy carrier rocket Yenisei will be cheaper than the US Space Launch System (SLS), Head of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin wrote on his Twitter on Friday.

"Our super-heavy rocket will cost considerably less than the American SLS but it is necessary to lay groundwork already today for the solutions that will make the Yenisei even more competitive," he said.

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/: Aggressive steps taken by a number of western states, primarily the United States, are playing a major destabilizing role in the world, Russian acting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference outlining results of Russian diplomatic efforts in 2019.

According to him, the world "continues to be in turmoil." Aggressive polic

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/: UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen will visit Russia next week, Acting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday during a news conference on the outcomes of Russian diplomacy in 2019.

"Next week, we expect a visit from UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, who also plans to visit Damascus. I expect that these talks and his upcoming trips and contacts with the Syrian leadership will help us determine the further schedule of the [Syrian] Constitutional Committee," he said.

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/: In November 2019, Russia increased the volume of investments in US government securities compared to October by $794 mln to $11.491 bln, the US Treasury said on Friday.

Long-term bonds accounted for $ 2.979 bln, short-term - $ 8.512 bln.

The volume of investments by Russia in US government bonds has been increasing for the fourth month in a row.

In the spring of 2018, Russia began to sharply reduce investment in the US public debt. Thus, in April 2018 it decreased from $96 bln to $48.7 bln, and in May - to $14.9 bln.