Europe

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/: Russian scientists came to the conclusion that the polar bears’ population in the Arctic is growing, the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution’s Director Vyacheslav Rozhnov told reporters.

"We see that it [the population] is not only stable, it even grows," he said. "This is what experts say: we can see bears more often, and thus we suppose the population is growing."

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/: Russia is interested in normalizing relation with Ukraine and is ready for dialogue with it, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house Valentina Matviyenko said on Thursday.

"We are interested in and are ready for dialogue, including between the parliaments, but it should be a serious and meaningful dialogue on the basis of mutual respect. We will not accept any conditions for the beginning of such dialogue," she said.

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/: Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky Court has satisfied a motion filed by Russian blogger Alexei Navalny’s lawyer to unblock his accounts and securities that had been frozen during the investigation into the Yves Rocher case, TASS reported from the courtroom.

"The court satisfies the motion to unblock the funds and securities that had been frozen by Moscow’s Basmanny Court in 2013 filed by Alexei Navalny’s counsel," Judge Natalya Cheprasova announced the verdict.

MILAN (AP) — A banner emblazoned with the words “Honor to Mussolini,” unfurled just steps from the Milan piazza where the fascist dictator’s body was hung upside down after his 1945 execution. One-armed salutes and fascist slogans shouted at protests. Italy’s right-wing interior minister skipping commemorations for the 74th anniversary of the country’s liberation from Nazi occupation.

BERLIN (AP) — A senior German diplomat headed Thursday to Tehran to press Iran to continue to respect the landmark nuclear deal, despite the unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. and increasing pressure from Washington.

Tensions have soared in the Mideast recently as the White House earlier this month sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the region over a still-unexplained threat it perceived from Iran.

23 May 2019; AFP: The British government on Thursday postponed a crucial Brexit vote scheduled for the first week of June, following an outcry from hardline Brexiteers over concessions made by Prime Minister Theresa May.

The beleaguered premier is in the last throes of a tumultuous period in power focused all-but exclusively on guiding her fractured country out of the European Union.

23 May 2019; DW: The penalty may be significantly less than the ones handed out to Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche, but auto parts supplier Bosch has become the latest big-name casualty of the "Dieselgate" scandal.

German auto parts supplier Bosch was on Thursday ordered by prosecutors to pay a fine of €90 million ($100 million) over its role supplying components in the "dieselgate" emissions cheating scandal. 

23 May 2019; DW: The German government is to send a high-level diplomat to Tehran as tensions between the US and Iran intensify, threatening a prolonged conflict.

The policy director of Germany's Foreign Ministry, Jens Plötner, is heading to Iran on Thursday, according to report in German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ).

23 May 2019; DW: The Leader of the UK House of Commons Angela Leadsom said she can no longer support Theresa May's Brexit deal. The move comes amidst growing calls for the embattled prime minister to step down.

Commons Leader and prominent Brexit supporter Andrea Leadsom resigned from Theresa May's Cabinet on Wednesday, saying she no longer believes that May's approach would deliver on Brexit.

23 May 2019; DW: Four days of voting in European Parliament elections are underway in a poll that will decide the EU's future course: a return to nationalism or more integration to increase its global strength? Bernd Riegert reports.