Europe

MOSCOW, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree suspending Russia's compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with immediate effect, the Kremlin said Monday.

Putin ordered to suspend the implementation of the Treaty "until the United States eliminates the violations of obligations under the treaty or until its expiration," according to the text of the decree published on the Kremlin website.

The decree instructs the Russian Foreign Ministry to inform the United States about the suspension of the treaty by Russia.

THE HAGUE; 03 Mar 2019; AA: A mosque in the Netherlands was attacked by members of the Islamophobic German group Pegida, who defaced the building with racist banners, according to a mosque official on Sunday. 

At the entrance of the As Soennah mosque, frequented by Moroccan worshippers, the attackers hung banners and figurines including insults to the Prophet Muhammad.

SIMFEROPOL, March 4. /TASS/. A fire on the tanker Maestro in the Black Sea has stopped after about 1.5 months, the press service of the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport told TASS on Monday.

The Turkish tankers Maestro and Candy started to burn in the Kerch Strait area beyond Russia’s territorial waters on January 21. According to earlier reports, the fire on the Candy tanker stopped on February 28.

"The last spot [of fire] was out on Sunday at 18:50 Moscow time. The ship Spasatel Demidov is keeping the watch on the site," a press service official said.

DOHA, March 4. /TASS/. The statement made by US National Security Advisor John Bolton that Russia is allegedly not supplying drugs to Venezuela is wrong, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday at a joint news conference with Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

03 Mar 2019; DW: Estonia's opposition Reform Party won the country's parliamentary election on Sunday, pulling off a surprising upset over center-left Prime Minister Juri Ratas's Center Party.

The economically liberal Reform Party secured 28.8 percent of the vote, according to final results posted online by the State Electoral Office.

04 Mar 2019; DW: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said individuals calling for his party to be expelled from the center-right group in the European Parliament were "useful idiots" for the left.

The populist leader and his Fidesz Party have come under fire for a poster campaign that accuses European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Junker of working with Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros to promote illegal migration into Hungary.

MOSCOW, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry is planning to use the Angara-A5 heavy-class carrier rockets to launch its satellites from the Vostochny space center in Russia's Far East, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported on Monday.

Angara A5 is Russia's newest heavy-class rocket, developed by the Moscow-based Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. It is the first orbit-capable rocket developed by Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, intended to replace older Proton-M rockets.

Rome, Mar 4 (AFP) French President Emmanuel Macron has launched a call for reconciliation with Italy following a diplomatic spat between the neighbours that saw Paris briefly recall its ambassador.

Relations between the two countries have fractured due to repeated clashes between centrist Macron and Italy's populist coalition government.

In February, Paris recalled ambassador Christian Masset for a week in protest at "unfounded attacks and outlandish claims" by the Italian government.

LONDON (AP) — British air accident authorities are investigating the aborted takeoff of a Laudamotion flight from London’s Stansted Airport to Vienna that left eight people injured.

Passengers reported hearing a bang on the side of the aircraft Friday evening before it skidded to a stop. Images posted on social media showed evacuation slides deployed.

The airline tweeted that the crew “decided to abort the take off due to engine issues and to disembark the passengers on the runway as a precautionary measure.”

02 Mar 2019; DW: Germany's car industry association says billions will be spent on electromobility over the next three years to cement the future of the auto sector. Domestic car production is, however, expected to fall this year.

Germany's automotive industry is planning an aggressive investment in electric and autonomous cars, along with digitization, the president of the Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA) car industry association said on Saturday.