Europe

MADRID, May 16 (Xinhua): A former leader of armed Basque separatist militant group ETA has been arrested in France, the Spanish Interior Ministry confirmed on Thursday.

Jose Antonio Urrutikoetxea Bengoetxea, also known as Josu Ternera, 69, who has spent 17 years on the run, was arrested "in the early hours of the morning in Sallanches in the French Alps," said the ministry in a communique.

It is reported that Ternera was arrested on his way to a hospital appointment, and that he is seriously ill.

16 May 2019; DW: Austria has passed a law intended to ban Muslim girls from wearing a headscarf in primary schools. The Jewish yarmulke and Sikh patka are not included in the new measure.

Paris, May 15; AFP/GANASHAKTI: The world's oil supply fell last month, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday, amid rising global tensions as US sanctions on Iran tightened and OPEC+ members produced less crude in line with their pact.

MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/: Over 310 forest fires have been extinguished in Russia over the last three days, the press service of the Aerial Forest Protection Service said on Wednesday.

"According to regional forestry departments, 316 forest fires were extinguished over the last three days. As a result of active firefighting efforts, the territory of forest fires was reduced by almost three times, from 44,556 hectares on May 12 to 16,607 hectares on May 15," the press service said.

MINSK, May 15 / TASS /: Belarus Deputy Prime Minister Igor Lyashenko will hold talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak on oil issues during a working visit to Moscow on May 16, Belarus Council of Ministers told TASS on Wednesday.

"On May 16, the Belarus Deputy Prime Minister will hold talks in Moscow with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, on oil issues," he said.

VIENNA, May 15. /TASS/: President of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen said before negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin that he will discuss with him relations between the two countries and the Iranian issue. Van der Bellen is staying in Sochi on a working visit on Wednesday.

"I am eagerly waiting for today’s negotiations with Vladimir Putin. The issues in focus will be good bilateral relations between Austria and Russia, relations between the EU and Russia and the current events concerning Iran," Van der Bellen wrote on Facebook.

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/: Russia will modernize another batch of T-72 main battle tanks for the Belarusian Army, Russia’s Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation told TASS at the 9th Milex-2019 international arms show in Minsk on Wednesday.

"The tanks modernized earlier were delivered to Minsk in November 2018. At present, the issue of modernizing another batch of tanks in the interests of the Defense Ministry of the Republic of Belarus is being considered," the federal agency said.

MOSCOW, May 15. / TASS /: The trade war between the United States and China can reduce the prices of Russian resources, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin told reporters on Wednesday.

"It is clear that this whole story will have a negative impact on the demand for Russian products. This also applies to commodities, so this scenario, of course, will mean lower prices for key resources: oil, metals, coal - what is exported from Russia," said he.

KIEV, May 15. /TASS/: Ukraine has imposed new economic sanctions against Russia banning supplies of certain groups of goods and introducing special duties, Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"Those are tit-for-tat measures - embargo and special duties on Russian goods," he said, adding that the restrictions will be applied to those goods that "are fully produced" in Ukraine or may be replaced with alternative supplies.

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/: The pilots of the Sukhoi Superjet-100 airliner that burst into flames upon its landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, killing 41 people, are to blame for the plane’s crash as they committed a series of mistakes in an emergency but quite manageable situation, former designer at the Sukhoi Design Bureau Vadim Lukashevich said on Wednesday.