Europe

01 Feb 2019; DW: More than 50 major organizations on Friday accused European Union leaders of having "allowed themselves to become complicit in the tragedy unfolding before their eyes" in the Mediterranean, saying more than 5,300 people have died over the past two years.

01 Feb 2019; DW: A free trade agreement between Japan and the EU entered into force on February 1, covering 635 million people and almost one-third of the world's economy.

Dubbed the world's largest free trade agreement, the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement removes duties on almost all agricultural and industrial products and opens up the service sector and procurement. It also moves to eliminate non-tariff barriers to trade.

MOSCOW, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Russia has no plans to evacuate citizens from Venezuela despite the risk of a large-scale armed conflict or foreign invasion, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

"We are not talking about the evacuation of either Russian diplomats, their families, Russian citizens, or employees of overseas agencies and companies. This I can confirm," Zakharova told a news briefing.

London, Feb 1 (PTI) Nearly 4.2 million people around the world die every year within 30 days after surgery, more than than those who die from HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria combined, according to a study.

The analysis, published in a research letter to The Lancet journal, found that half of the post-operative deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

ANKARA; 31 Jan 2019; AA: The European Union ended 2018 with an unemployment rate of 6.6 percent, the EU's statistical office reported on Thursday.

On a yearly basis, the unemployment rate in the EU fell 0.6 percentage points compared to 7.2 percent in December, 2017.

"Eurostat estimates that 16.3 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 12.9 million in the euro area, were unemployed in December 2018," statistical office said.

31 Jan 2019; AFP: The Italian economy contracted in the fourth quarter of 2018, plunging the country into a technical recession, official data showed Thursday.

The 0.2 percent contraction -- following a 0.1 percent fall in the third quarter -- will put pressure on the populist government in the eurozone's third largest economy, which took power in June on the back of big-spending electoral promises.

31 Jan 2019; DW: Investment in the British car industry dropped 46.5 percent last year to 589 million British pounds (€673 million/$769 million), said the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT).

Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, business groups have pressured the government to soften the economic impact of departing the European Union, citing a major downturn in investment. Thursday's figures are the lowest ever since SMMT began compiling the data.

What the report said:

31 Jan 2019; DW: The latest standoff between Italy and the EU over sea rescues has ended with 47 migrants landing in Sicily. The German charity Sea Watch now fears it could be prosecuted and its boat impounded.

A charity rescue ship with 47 migrants aboard arrived at a Sicilian port on Thursday after spending two weeks at sea while Italy demanded other European states take them in.

30 Jan 2019; DW: Two of the three suspects reportedly tried to build a homemade bomb and considered carrying out an armed or vehicle attack. Prosecutors accused the suspects of planning an "attack."

Three Iraqi refugees were arrested on Wednesday in northern Germany for preparing a terror attack.

Two 23-year-olds and a 36-year-old were arrested in an early morning raid in the state of Schleswig-Holstein after a months-long investigation, German police said.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Amnesty International on Wednesday urged online travel sites to ban listings from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The London-based rights group’s report, titled “Destination: Occupation,” said rental sites Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia and TripAdvisor are driving tourism to settlements that most of the world considers illegal.