Tag: Region Europe

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Oct. 22 issued a decree to liquidate medical examination commissions for determining the severity of disabilities by Dec. 31. The decree was released after a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), which on Oct. 22 discussed violations at medical examination commissions and the fraudulent acquisition of disability status by officials through corruption schemes. Obtaining disability status…

ROME – Italy’s parliament made it illegal on Wednesday for couples to go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy — a pet project of Prime Minister’s Giorgia Meloni party which activists say is meant to target same-sex partners. Since taking office in 2022 Meloni has pursued a highly conservative social agenda, looking to promote what she sees as traditional…

BERLIN, October 16. /TASS/. Russia is concerned with the rhetoric being thrown around inside the German government saying that the country should prepare for war with Russia, which is not threatening anyone, the Russian embassy in Berlin said. “Russia is deeply concerned by the unconstructive rhetoric of German officials, special agencies and some individual politicians, calling for preparing for war…

Evolving client needs and industry challenges The financial advice sector is adapting to profound shifts: an ageing adviser and client population, a massive transfer of wealth, the rise of defined contribution (DC) pensions over defined benefit (DB). In addition to a younger generation that engages with financial advice very differently from their parents, often through apps and social media. We’re…

ROME – Italy’s supreme court on Oct 14 overturned the acquittal of 23 people over allegations they took bribes from late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to lie in an underage prostitution case that had dogged him for years. The ruling means that even though Mr Berlusconi himself died last year, one of the most famous investigations tied to his extravagant…

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The EU Court of Justice upheld on Wednesday its ban on the provision of legal advice to Russian entities and individuals. The measure was first introduced in 2022 by the European Union as part of sweeping sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. The ruling came after the Dutch bar association of Brussels, the…

Defence Minister Minoru Kihara calls on the Russian government to prevent a recurrence. Japan has protested to the Kremlin after a Russian patrol plane entered its airspace three times, Defence Minister Minoru Kihara says. “We confirmed today that a Russian Il-38 patrol aircraft has violated our airspace over our territorial waters north of Rebun Island, Hokkaido, on three occasions,” Kihara…

French President Emmanuel Macron has named a new government, hoping to put an end 11 weeks of political uncertainty after an inconclusive parliamentary election delivered a hung parliament. Conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Saturday put together the government whose first major task will be to submit a 2025 budget plan addressing France’s financial situation, which the prime minister this week…

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia and China started naval exercises in the Sea of Japan on Saturday, Russian news agencies cited Russia’s Pacific Fleet as saying. “A joint detachment of warships of the Pacific Fleet and Chinese Navy set out from Vladivostok to conduct the joint Russian-Chinese “Beibu/Interaction – 2024″ naval exercise,” the RIA news agency quoted the Pacific Fleet as…

Dozens of people were killed and thousands more injured after two consecutive days of explosions across Lebanon this week that the Shia militant group Hezbollah has blamed on Israel. Pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously on Tuesday afternoon, leaving at least 12 people dead, including two children. On Wednesday, another wave of coordinated explosions affecting handheld radios killed at…

MAZAN, France (AP) — The mayor of a French town making headlines for the trial of dozens of men accused of rapes that occurred there over almost a decade has apologized for comments that appeared to downplay the case. “I have been criticized for minimizing the seriousness of the heinous crimes of which the defendants are accused,” Louis Bonnet, the…

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will announce the provision of a loan of 35 bln euro to Ukraine, the Financial Times reported with reference to sources. According to the report, this initiative is part of the G7 plan to allocate $50 bln to Kiev using profits from frozen Russian assets. The amount of 35 bln euro…

MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. EU pipeline gas imports last month decreased by 2% in August and overall, since the beginning of this year, gas supplies from Russia to Europe have increased by 3 billion cubic meters, according to a report by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). In general, total gas consumption in the EU in January-August of this year…

ASTANA, September 18. /TASS/. Command exercises with the participation of the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces ‘Indestructible Brotherhood-2024’ will be held in Kazakhstan from September 26 to October 7, the republic’s Defense Ministry said. According to the agency, the exercise will be held at the Bereg training ground in the Almaty Region. The defense ministry added that military contingents from Belarus,…

Pavel Durov, the entrepreneur who founded the online communications tool Telegram, was charged on Wednesday in France with a wide range of crimes related to illicit activity on the app and barred from leaving the country.It was a rare move by legal authorities to hold a top technology executive personally liable for the behavior of users on a major messaging…

The founder and chief executive officer of the messaging service Telegram was detained at a Paris airport on an arrest warrant alleging his platform has been used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other offences, French media reported Sunday. Pavel Durov, a dual citizen of France and Russia, was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday evening after landing in…