The French government is to scrap 4,500 public-sector jobs in 2019 and more than 10,000 in 2020, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said in an interview published Sunday. And pensions, family allowance and housing benefit will not keep up with inflation as part of an economy drive to reach EU targets on the budget deficit as growth proves more sluggish than expected. Source RFI
The bankruptcy of Yukos Oil in Russia will not be recognized in the Netherlands, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled on Friday, upholding a decision in 2017 by a lower appeals court. Source: The Moscow Times
The Dutch journalist who was expelled from Turkey is suspected of forgery, sources report to Nieuwsuur. Ans Boersma would have falsified her ex-boyfriend’s papers, a Syrian who was recently arrested in the Netherlands for being a member of the terror organization Jabhat al-Nusra. Source: NOS
Vladimir Putin has said that Russia finds the Kosovo authorities’ decision to create their own army regrettable and sees it as another risk of destabilization of the situation in the Balkans.
“Regrettably, Kosovo’s authorities took a series of provocative steps lately, thus greatly aggravating the situation. In the first place I have in mind their decision of December 14 to form a so-called army in Kosovo,” Putin told a news conference. “It goes without saying that this is a direct violation of the UN resolution, which does not allow for the creation of any paramilitary forces except for the international UN contingent.”
“Such irresponsible steps by Kosovo’s authorities may cause destabilization in the Balkans,” he warned. Source: Tass
