“The main installations have been completed, the shut-off valves have been installed, so we can assume that the project will be completed by the end of 2019,” said project spokesman Jens Müller. Source: The Local Deutschland
Trade Cooperation
Austria has mulled over the possibility of new sanctions against Russia due to the detention of three Ukrainian Navy vessels that sailed toward the Kerch Strait in what Moscow has described as an unequivocal provocation committed in violation of international law. At a secret meeting of the Political and Security Committee in Brussels on Tuesday, French and German diplomats spoke out against stepping up existing EU sanctions against Russia in light of the growing rift between Moscow and Kiev over the Kerch Strait incident. Source: Sputnik
Kosovo Prime Minister says taxes on imports from Serbia and Bosnia will rise from 10 to 100 per cent immediately – a day after Serbia hailed the failure of its bid to join Interpol. Source: Balkan Insight
Russia may launch settlements with Iran in national currencies in order to continue bilateral cooperation despite the US sanctions against Tehran, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with the Anadolu news agency on Sunday. Source: TASS
Tehran has expressed hope that the Iran nuclear deal can be saved despite the US pulling out of the agreement. Iran’s statement came during a visit of the British foreign minister to Iran. Source: Deutsche Welle
China said it will continue pursuing negotiations with Canada on a free-trade deal after assurances that a recently settled North American trade agreement would not stop Ottawa from signing deals with other countries. Source: South China Morning Post
The nation’s lawmaking body approved the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on Monday, following Australia’s ratification on October 31. Source: South China Morning Post
The U.S. will send hundreds of additional troops and a dozen fighter jets to the Middle East in the coming weeks to counter what the Pentagon said is an escalating campaign by Iran to plan attacks against the U.S. and its interests in the region. And for the first time, Pentagon officials on Friday publicly blamed Iran and its proxies for recent tanker bombings near United Arab Emirates and a rocket attack in Iraq. Source: Associated Press
A Maltese armed forces patrol boat picked up 216 economic migrants in the Mediterranean and was bringing them to Malta on Saturday, a spokesman said. One pregnant woman and a couple of children were believed to be among the 200 men. Source: Euronews
The record influx of asylum seekers has overwhelmed border detention facilities and shelters, forcing U.S. immigration authorities to bus migrants to nearby cities and even fly them to California.
Las Cruces, New Mexico, has received over 6,000 migrants since April 12. Deming, population 14,183, gets 300 to 500 a day, according to City Administrator Aaron Sera. Source: Reuters
- India, the world’s second-largest arms importer and fifth-largest economy, has inked the majority of its weapons deals with Russia.
- Indian Ambassador Harsh Shringla says New Delhi wants to pivot its defense spending to the United States.
- Countries like India, that heavily pursue arms deals with the Kremlin are subject to U.S. sanctions, under President Donald Trump’s “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act,” or CAATSA.
The U.S. military said it sent two Navy ships through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, its latest transit through the sensitive waterway, angering China at a time of tense relations between the world’s two biggest economies. Source: Reuters
A senior German diplomat was in Tehran on Thursday for meetings with Iranian officials to try to preserve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and cool rising tensions in the region, a German diplomatic source told Reuters. Source: Reuters
- Iran has recently quadrupled its uranium production, a spokesperson for the nation’s atomic energy agency says.
- The nation has stopped complying with key parts of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Turkey is preparing for potential U.S. sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defense systems as Ankara considers the acquisition a “done deal,” Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters, Akar said the U.S. was still trying to dissuade Turkey from purchasing the Russian-made missiles but Ankara was determined to go through with the deal. Source: Daily Sabah
Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that Ankara has sent military personnel to Russia for training on the operation of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems. “We sent our specialists to Russia for training on operating the S-400, training starts from today and will continue for several months,” he said. Source: Ehamedya
Eight Turkish military aircraft on Tuesday carried out 34 violations of Greek national airspace in the northeastern, central and southeastern Aegean, according to defense sources who reported one mock dogfight between Greek and Turkish aircraft. Source: Ekathimerini
An Islamic State offshoot has amassed around 5,000 militants in northern Afghanistan on the border of post-Soviet republics of Central Asia, the director of Russia’s FSB has warned, adding that many of them have fought in Syria. “Especially worrying is re-deployment of terrorist groups into northern provinces of Afghanistan,” Alexander Bortnikov told chiefs of ex-Soviet intelligence services in Dushanbe. He warned that ‘Wilayat Khorasan’, a local Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) affiliate, had managed to gather 5,000 fighters in the area. Source: RT
Amazon Japan has suspended direct online sales of Huawei Technologies Co. products after Washington last week blacklisted the Chinese communications giant, sources close to the matter said Friday. Source Japan Times
Russia’s industrial output growth in April 2019 jumped to 4.9% year-on-year after 1.2% growth in March, according to the latest data by Rosstat statistics agency. Source: BNE
- U.S. industrial production fell in April, dragged by a big drop in factory output as production of autos and auto parts continued to slide.
- The Federal Reserve says industrial output — reflecting total production at factories, utilities and mines — dropped 0.5% in April.
- Industrial production also fell 0.5% in February.
British Steel Ltd.’s three-year run as a company ended on Wednesday, putting 5,000 jobs at risk and piling fresh misery on the U.K.’s manufacturing base. Source: Bloomberg
Japan’s goods trade surplus plunged 90.3 percent in April from a year earlier to 60.4 billion yen ($546 million), hit by weak exports to China amid U.S.-China trade tensions. Source: Mainichi
British Steel, the country’s second largest steel producer, is on the brink of collapse unless the government agrees to provide an emergency 30 million pound ($38 million) loan, two sources close to the situation said. British Steel said negotiations had not concluded and it continues to work with all parties to secure the future of the business. It also reassured employees that their salaries will be paid in full for May. Source: Reuters
HSBC Holdings PLC plans to add more than a 1,000 jobs this year at its technology development centers in China, as the Asia-focused lender seeks to bolster its presence in the world’s second largest economy. Source: Reuters
British Steel, the country’s second largest steel producer, is on the brink of collapse unless the government agrees to provide an emergency 30 million pound loan by later on Tuesday, two sources close to the situation said. Source: Reuters
Ford will cut 7,000 jobs from its global salaried workforce, or about 10 percent of its 70,000 employees, the company announced on Monday. About 20 percent will be senior-level managers, which is part of an effort to flatten the company’s organizational structure. Source: The Verge
Exxon Mobil has evacuated all of its foreign staff from Iraq’s West Qurna 1 oilfield and is flying them out to Dubai, a senior Iraqi official and three other sources told Reuters on Saturday. Source: Reuters
