In an effort to repay shareholders of Yukos, Belgian, French and Austrian courts this week authorized officials to seize Russian government assets. The move comes after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Russian government unfairly commandeered the company from its rightful owners, and should repay shareholders $50 billion in damages. Source Newsweek.
The French government was on Sunday hoping the sharp drop in “yellow vest” demonstrators signalled an end to the biggest crisis of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency, but conceded “mistakes” had been made. Source: France24
Austria is to hold talks with Egypt this week in an attempt to use the last days of its EU presidency to revive the bloc’s campaign for north African countries to take in more Mediterranean Sea migrants. Source: Financial Times
China and Russia have modified an important layer of the atmosphere above Europe to test a controversial technology for possible military application, according to Chinese scientists involved in the project. Source: South China Morning Post
