Europe

22 Jan 2019; DW: Speaking with DW in Davos, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has called a new vote "the sensible thing in this situation." He said a "no-deal Brexit would be catastrophic for everyone."

Speaking with DW at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair again made the case for holding a second referendum on Brexit. Blair said of the current parliamentary impasse, "The process is a mess," adding, "The sensible thing in this situation is to go back to the people."

22 Jan 2019; DW: The EU has fined Mastercard €570 million for limiting competition between banks offering cheaper payment fees. The European Commission said Mastercard's actions harmed consumers and retailers in the bloc.

The European Commission on Tuesday fined Mastercard €570 million ($648 million) for preventing retailers from looking for better card payment terms at banks around Europe.

Davos, Jan 21; PTI: Indian billionaires saw their fortunes swell by Rs 2,200 crore a day last year, with the top one per cent of the country's richest getting richer by 39 per cent as against just three per cent increase in wealth for the bottom-half of the population, an Oxfam study said on Monday.

MOSCOW, January 21. /TASS/. Russia is considering all possible options of further developing its ties with the Council of Europe, including leaving this organization unless discrimination against Russia’s delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly ends, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said in an interview with TASS.

MOSCOW, January 21. /TASS/. Moscow reserves the right to a tit-for-tat response to the European Union’s decision to include several Russian citizens on the sanctions list in relation to the Skripal case, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated on Monday.

"The accusations against Russia and our citizens with regards to the Skripal case do not withstand criticism," the ministry stressed. "We reserve the right to retaliatory measures in response to this unfriendly act."

KRASNODAR, January 22. /TASS/. Eight out of twelve sailors rescued after fire onboard two vessels in the Black Sea are Turkish nationals, the Turkish consulate general in Russia’s Novorossiysk told TASS on Tuesday.

Earlier reports said there were a total of 31 people onboard the two vessels, twelve sailors have been rescued and ten have been found dead.

"We know that eight Turkish nationals have been rescued. <...> The bodies [of those killed] have not been yet identified," a spokesperson said.

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Moscow on Tuesday. The Japanese prime minister is currently in Russia on a working visit.

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. US national Paul Whelan, suspected of espionage in Russia, had documents containing state secrets at the time of his detention, lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov told TASS.

"I can confirm that at the time of his detention, Whelan had some documents containing state secrets, but I cannot go into details," the lawyer said.

In this regard, Zherebenkov cited the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statements. "I am not allowed to comment on the case files but since this information was mentioned in the Foreign Ministry’s statements, I can confirm it," he said.

LONDON, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday that she would not back a no-deal Brexit or delay the country's departure from the European Union (EU).

May made the remarks while addressing lawmakers in the House of Commons to outline her latest proposals for Britain's departure from EU.

It follows last week's overwhelming defeat in the British parliament for her Brexit deal.

The defeat of her deal, by more than 200 votes, was the biggest in the country's political history.

21 Jan 2019; DW: Two vessels, one of them an oil tanker, caught on fire after the deadly explosion in the Kerch Strait. Several sailors remain missing. The narrow waterway is a source of particular tension between Russia and Ukraine.

At least 10 sailors were killed and 14 had to be rescued after two ships went up in flames near the Crimean Peninsula on Monday, Russian officials said. Another 10 people remain missing, according to a Russian naval official quoted by the Interfax news agency.