Europe

17 Feb 2019; DW: The number of refugees using visa-free travel rights to enter the EU, especially from Latin America, is on the rise. Over the entire bloc, the number of new refugees has fallen to pre-2014 levels.

An increased number of refugees are coming into the European Union via regular channels, utilizing their right to visa-free travel to enter the bloc and apply for asylum, according to a report by the EU asylum agency (EASO) cited by the German publisher Funke Mediengruppe on Sunday.

18 Feb 2019; DW:  Authorities in Paris have opened an investigation into anti-Semitic insults by French "yellow vests" against Jewish philosopher and writer Alain Finkielkraut. Anti-Jewish incidents have been on the rise across France.

Paris prosecutors on Sunday announced an investigation over the anti-Jewish insults against Finkielkraut on the sidelines of a yellow vest demonstration in Paris.

18 Feb 2019; DW: Poland has downgraded its delegation to the Visegrad Group summit in Israel after premier Benjamin Netanyahu suggested "Poles cooperated with the Nazis." The four-state group is a key element in Israel's diplomacy.

A dispute between Israel and Poland about alleged Polish collaboration with the Nazis in World War II is threatening to overshadow a two-day meeting of central European countries in Jerusalem.

MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/. Moscow will consider retaliatory measures in response to new US anti-Russian sanctions, depending on the manner of those restrictive measures, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov said on Sunday.

Speaking in the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin television program, Ushakov said that no prospects for better relations with Washington could be seen.

"In my opinion, things are bad enough and prospects [for better relations] cannot be expected. Let us see what the sanctions will be like and then we will decide how to respond," he said.

LONDON, February 18. /TASS/. The Russian Embassy in London has expressed its concern over the fate of Russian citizens under control of British intelligence agencies, a spokesperson of the embassy stated on Sunday evening, commenting on the publication in the Sunday Times daily on the deteriorating health of former GRU officer Sergei Skripal.

MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/. Russia’s Economic Development Ministry develops macroeconomic institutions to prevent sudden and deep economic crises, Russian Economic Development Minister Maksim Oreshkin said on Rossiya’24 television channel on Sunday.

Oreshkin added that there are no systemic prerequisites for an economic crisis in the Russian economy.

LONDON, February 17. /TASS/. The health of former Russian GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal, who London says was poisoned in an attempted murder last March, has deteriorated, the Sunday Times said.

Citing "a well-informed intelligence source," the daily reported that his condition "has taken a downturn, even though it is not deemed critical" and that Skripal had been receiving medical care at his home.

LONDON, February 18. /TASS/. Russia’s embassy in London labels as a provocation the appearance of a Russian flag on the Salisbury Cathedral, the embassy’s spokesperson said.

"We have no official information on that. Should it be true that a Russian flag was flown on the cathedral, we believe it looks like a well-thought-out provocation," the diplomat said.

LONDON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday urged her conservative fellow MPs to unite and back the Brexit deal she agreed with the European Union (EU) amid the current deadlock.

In a letter to the 317 Conservative MPs, May asked them to put aside "personal preferences", saying that "history will judge us all" over the handling of Brexit.

MOSCOW, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday that the upcoming new round of U.S. sanctions against Russia will be senseless like previous ones.

"I did not warn. I just said that this is senseless. Nothing else. I said that the goal of this move is unclear. If they did not understand that the sanctions are not working, I feel sorry for them," Lavrov said in an interview with the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin." that aired on state TV channel Rossiya-1, when answering a question if Russia can counter new U.S. sanctions.