Europe

VIENNA, Mar 7 (NNN-XINHUA) – No “production” or “accumulation” of high enriched uranium has been found, by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) inspectors, in Iran, said Rafael Grossi, the agency’s director general, yesterday.

Grossi made the statement on the sidelines of an IAEA Board of Governors meeting, following a report by Bloomberg on Feb 19, claiming that the IAEA inspectors in Iran had detected particles of uranium enriched to levels “just below that needed for a nuclear weapon.”

LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) - Global shares were broadly steady and the dollar nudged higher on Tuesday, ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony that could offer a steer on the outlook for U.S. rates, while soft Chinese trade data dented oil.

Data showed China's exports and imports both fell sharply in January-February, reflecting a slowdown in the global economy and weak domestic demand, knocking Chinese blue chips <.CSI300>, while the offshore yuan edged up against the dollar.

MOSCOW, March 7 (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday that the United States was driving the war in Ukraine, saying China's foreign minister was joking when he said an "invisible hand" was to blame.

In effusive comments on China's stature in world affairs, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said Moscow was paying close attention to a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine that Beijing published last month.

KYIV, March 7 (Reuters) - Ukrainian troops will keep defending the eastern city of Bakhmut and reinforcements will be sent in, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, apparently prolonging the war's bloodiest battle in a bid to break Moscow's assault force.

Moscow has sent thousands of troops in human wave attacks over recent weeks to try to capture Bakhmut and secure its first battlefield victory in more than half a year. Ukrainian forces have dug trenches further west and in recent days had seemed to be preparing to withdraw.

6 Mar 2023; MEMO: Charities have criticised the government's new plans to clamp down on refugees crossing the English Channel.

The legislation will mean the home secretary will remove as soon as possible anyone arriving on a small boat and send them to Rwanda or another third country.

BERLIN, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Despite their own heavy losses, European countries -- especially Germany -- have unanimously kept silent over the blasts that destroyed the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines last September and subsequent investigations.

Since veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh exposed the U.S. Navy's involvement in the explosions on the U.S. portal Substack last month, more and more experts have questioned Europe's atypical, collective silence.

7 Mar 2023; MEMO: Greek authorities have stolen more than €2 million ($2.1 million) in cash or valuables from irregular migrants or refugees whom they had returned to Turkiye between 2017 to 2022, according to an investigation by Spanish daily El Pais.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Belarus on Monday sentenced exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to 15 years in prison after a trial in absentia on charges including conspiring to overthrow the government, the latest move in a months-long effort by the Belarusian government to suppress dissent.

MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/: The further strengthening of relations with the countries of the Islamic world is among the priority areas of Russia’s foreign policy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

"Russia, the biggest Eurasian power, a state, a civilization, maintains good, fair, mutually respectful relations with all countries of the Islamic world," he said at a meeting of the Russia - Islamic World Strategic Vision Group. "Their (the relations - TASS) further development is among the continuing priorities of Russia’s foreign policy."

MINSK, March 6. /TASS/: The Minsk City Court has sentenced in absentia former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya to 15 years in a general penal colony, TASS reports from the courtroom.

Tikhanovskaya was "sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment with a fine of 800 base amounts to the tune of 29,600 [Belarusian] rubles (about 787,000 rubles, $10,407) to be served in a general penal colony ," judge Pyotr Orlov read out the verdict.