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This would take the rate the ECB pays on bank deposits to the highest level since November 2008, after a steady climb from a record low of -0.5% in July. Reuters GraphicsThe ECB said in December that rates would be increased "at a steady pace" until it is happy inflation is heading back down to its 2% target. BNP Paribas also thought the ECB might take out the reference to a "steady pace" of rate hikes or offset it so that a 50-basis-point increase would be "not predetermined (but) still a possible outcome". And an ECB survey showed banks were tightening access to credit by the most since the 2011 debt crisis - usually the harbinger of lower growth and slowing inflation. To some observers, this meant the ECB would be wise not to commit to any future policy move.

☆ Seven EU countries oppose new EU funding as response to U.S. subsidy plan - letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Jan Strupczewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Plans by the European Commission to create new European Union funding for the green industry are facing mounting opposition in the 27-nation bloc, as seven EU countries openly rejected the idea in a letter to the EU executive. The letter, seen by Reuters and dated Jan. 26, was signed by the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Ireland, Estonia and Slovakia and addressed to the European Commission vice president responsible for trade, Valdis Dombrovskis. All 10 countries say the EU should be using funds already approved instead of seeking more money. But in their letter, the seven countries said the EU should first spend the money it had already agreed to raise through the 800 billion euro post-pandemic recovery and resilience fund (RRF) of grants and cheap loans. "We have to ensure that the economy can better absorb the already agreed EU funding," the seven countries wrote.

[1/9] Czech presidential candidate Petr Pavel and his wife Eva Pavlova react at his headquarters, after results are announced for the country's presidential election, in Prague, Czech Republic January 28, 2023. Pavel, a 61-year-old retired general running for office for the first time, won 58.3% of the vote with all voting districts reporting final results, defeating billionaire ex-premier Andrej Babis, a dominant but polarising force in Czech politics for a decade. Pavel has also fully backed continued support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia's invasion. Babis, 68, a combative business magnate who heads the biggest opposition party in parliament, had attacked Pavel as the government's candidate. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy congratulated Pavel on his election on Twitter and said he looked forward to close cooperation.

☆ Hundreds of armored vehicles are now heading to Ukraine to help fight off a looming Russian 'onslaught,' US officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Christopher Woody | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The US, UK, and Germany have agreed to provide their tanks to Ukraine, as have some other countries. Those tanks now join hundreds of other armored vehicles delivered or promised to Kyiv. The 31 Abrams tanks the US will send to Ukraine likely won't arrive for months or longer, but the US and European countries have already committed to sending Ukraine several different types of armored vehicles. (On Wednesday, US officials said M88 recovery vehicles would be delivered with the Abrams tanks.) The US and Germany have agreed to send M1 Abrams and Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

☆ Explainer: Why has Ukraine sought Leopard 2 battle tanks?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Kyiv has been pushing for the Leopard 2 tank in particular because it has several advantages over the alternatives, such as Britain's Challenger 2 and the U.S. M1 Abrams tanks. With some 20 nations operating the Leopard 2, several nations could each chip in a small portion of their tanks to support Ukraine. Germany has about 350 Leopard 2 tanks today, compared to some 4,000 battle main tanks at the height of the Cold War, according to German military expert Carl Schulze. At the same time, it is all but impossible to buy a large amount of Leopard 2 tanks quickly. However, unlike the Leopard 2, it is not widely used, which limits how many can be made available for Ukraine.

☆ Germany agrees to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, allies to follow
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Andreas Rinke | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Germany's decision paves the way for other countries such as Poland, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway to supply some of their Leopard tanks to Ukraine, going some way towards delivering the hundreds of tanks that Ukraine says it needs. "Germany will always be at the forefront when it comes to supporting Ukraine," Scholz told German parliament to applause. Germany aims to quickly establish two battalions with Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine and initially provide 14 Leopard 2 tanks from its own inventory. A battalion normally comprises three or four companies with around 14 tanks each. Poland has also pledged 14 tanks and Britain has promised 14 of its own Challengers.

☆ Germany to send Leopard tanks to Kyiv, allow others to do so - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Germany delivers its first Leopard tanks to Slovakia as part of a deal after Slovakia donated fighting vehicles to Ukraine, in Bratislava, Slovakia, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Radovan StoklasaBERLIN, Jan 24 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine and allow other countries such as Poland to do so while the United States may supply Abrams tanks, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. A government spokesperson, the foreign ministry and the defence ministry declined to comment. Other allies, in Scandinavia for example, intend to go along with Germany in supplying their Leopard tanks to Kyiv, the magazine reported. U.S. officials told Reuters that Washington may soon drop its opposition to sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine, in a move intended to encourage Germany to follow.

"Germany will always be at the forefront when it comes to supporting Ukraine," Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the German parliament, to applause. "At a critical moment in Russia's war, these tanks can help Ukraine defend itself, win and stand as an independent nation," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. [1/13] Germany delivers its first Leopard tanks to Slovakia as part of a deal after Slovakia donated fighting vehicles to Ukraine, in Bratislava, Slovakia, December 19, 2022. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any U.S. tanks sent to Ukraine would "burn like all the rest". Ukraine defeated Russia's troops on the outskirts of Kyiv last year and later drove them out of swathes of occupied land.

☆ Archaeologists found 38 skeletons in a 7,000-year-old mass grave. All but one had been decapitated.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyArchaeologists have discovered a 7,000-year-old mass grave in Slovakia containing 38 skeletons, with all but one decapitated. A ditch, where the mass grave was found, ran around the village over the length of approximately a mile. An unexpected discoveryA picture shows the mass grave found in Vráble-Ve`lke Lehemby in Slovakia. Prof. Dr. Martin Furholt, Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology/Kiel UniversityThese weren't the first headless bodies found in the ditch. That's why the discovery of such a huge mass of headless bodies came as a complete surprise, Fuchs said.

LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Global aluminium production rose by a marginal 2.0% last year, a rate of growth that was down from 2.7% in 2021 and the slowest since 2019, according to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI). Global aluminium production by region change versus 2021EUROPE POWERS DOWNWestern European aluminium output was running at an annualised 2.73 million tonnes in December, down by 540,000 tonnes on December 2021 and the lowest production rate this century. Latin America was the fastest-growing aluminium production region last year with output up 10.7% year on year. As ever more smelters switch to green energy sources, global aluminium production is ever more dependent on seasonally variable power availability. Such regional adjustments are now part and parcel of the global aluminium production landscape but they have injected a new degree of volatility into aluminium's previously slow-changing supply side.

☆ Referendum in Slovakia fails to bring early vote closer
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 22 (Reuters) - A referendum in Slovakia failed to open a path to early elections after most voters avoided the polling stations on Saturday, quashing the opposition's plan to bring the contest forward. Only one popular vote - on joining the European Union - has passed the threshold since Slovakia's independence in 1993. An early election can be held in Slovakia if the constitution is changed to permit parliament's four-year term to be shortened. Such a change of constitution would need approval by a referendum or by at least 90 votes in the 150-seat parliament. Political parties are due to hold another round of talks on Sunday evening, where they will discuss prospects for holding early elections which could take place before the summer or in autumn.

☆ Factbox: Ukraine's military supplies: What ground vehicles are Kyiv's allies sending?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

THE UNITED STATES:Bradley Fighting Vehicle: a tracked, armoured vehicle with a turret-mounted 25-mm gun that can carry up to seven soldiers in addition to three crew. M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzer: a tracked, armoured vehicle with a 155 mm gun. Stryker armoured personnel carrier: a wheeled armoured vehicle that can be configured to handle anything from carrying infantry to medical evacuations. M1117 armoured security vehicle: a wheeled vehicle with a mine-resistant hull. SWEDENArcher Artillery System: a wheeled, self-propelled gun.

Andrew Tate once called his sexually explicit webcam business a “total scam” and boasted on his website that he lured women in by getting them to fall in love with him. Romanian authorities arrested him, his brother and two women on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organized crime group, according to Reuters. The webcam business that Tate ran and openly spoke about is central to these charges, according to Romanian Authorities. Some of the allegations by Romanian authorities echo what Andrew Tate has said publicly about his webcam business. Earlier this month, Vice reported that Tate was arrested in 2015 in the U.K. on suspicion of sexual assault and physical abuse, citing statements from U.K. authorities and Tate himself.

☆ Factbox: European states in Estonia pledge weapons for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Ints KalninsJan 19 (Reuters) - A group of 11 European states have pledged to deliver more arms to Ukraine in its war with Russia, saying they would send main battle tanks, heavy artillery, air defence, ammunition and infantry fighting vehicles. The 11 nations were Estonia, Britain, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Spain. Weapons donations and military support will continue in close cooperation with allies and in accordance with Ukrainian needs. Estonia will continue to provide both basic and specialist training to hundreds of Ukrainian Armed Forces members in 2023. Poland has already donated 42 infantry fighting vehicles along with training package for two mechanised battalions.

☆ EU tourist stays neared pre-pandemic levels in 2022 - Eurostat
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 18 (Reuters) - The number of nights spent in tourist accommodation in the European Union in 2022 approached pre-pandemic levels, the bloc's statistics office Eurostat said on Wednesday, confirming the sector's recovery path after the COVID-19 pandemic. The 27-nation bloc recorded 2.72 billion nights spent in tourist accommodation last year, down by only 5.6% from 2019 levels, before COVID-19 inflicted heavy losses on the tourism industry due to border closures and lockdowns. This number is an increase of 91.1% and 48.3% from 2020 and 2021 levels, respectively. Domestic travel saw the strongest recovery, already exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 0.7% to 1.53 billion nights, while international tourism was still 12.6% below at 1.19 billion nights. Latvia and Slovakia were among the slowest recovering countries in terms of tourist night numbers in 2022, only recovering to slightly above 70% of 2019 levels.

☆ EU's Nov 2022 excess deaths drop sharply from 2020/21 peaks - data
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The EU's excess mortality rate measures the increase in total number of deaths, from any cause, compared with the same month in previous years. The November 2022 rate of 6.7% was a fall from 10.6% in October, and was almost in line with monthly averages for 2016-2019, Eurostat said. In 2022, a peak was reached in July at 16.8%, likely due to extreme heatwaves which hit parts of Europe and led to thousands of heat-related deaths, Eurostat said. The excess mortality rate in November 2022 varied across the EU, with Slovakia (-1.6%), Bulgaria (-2.6%), Romania (-6.2%) and Italy (0.5%) recording little or no excess deaths. Cyprus, Finland and Germany recorded excess mortality rates of 23.8%, 20.5% and 15.6% respectively in November, Eurostat said.

☆ Retired general, ex-PM lead the field in Czech presidential election
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] Presidential candidate and former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and Czech Army General Petr Pavel arrives at a rock club to meet his supporters, ahead of a direct presidential election that will start on January 13, in Prague, Czech Republic, January 9, 2023. Retired General Petr Pavel, 61, running as an independent, led two out of four final polls. Former prime minister Andrej Babis, 68, a billionaire heading the biggest opposition party in parliament was ahead in the other two. While there are eight candidates, only Pavel, Babis and economics professor Danuse Nerudova, 44, have a chance of making it to the second round, polls show. There pollsters give Pavel and edge, expecting him to gather more votes from other candidates than Babis.

☆ Thai king's daughter remains unconscious weeks after collapsing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha remained unconscious more than three weeks after collapsing due to a heart problem, a palace statement said in an update on the health of the the 44-year-old potential heir to the throne. The eldest child of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn lost consciousness on Dec. 15 due to severe heart arrhythmia resulting from inflammation following a mycoplasma infection, according to a statement issued by the palace late on Saturday. The princess's "overall condition is that she remains unconscious," the palace said. read moreShe is one of three children of King Vajiralongkorn who have formal titles, making her eligible for the throne under a palace succession law and the country's constitution. The king has yet to formally designate an heir and there has been no official discussion on the prospect of the princess taking the throne.

☆ Czech firm Net4Gas missing latest payments from Gazprom
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Net4Gas sro FollowGazprom PAO FollowPRAGUE, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Czech natural gas transmission system operator Net4Gas (N4G) has not received the latest monthly contracted payments from Russia's Gazprom, a government minister said. Net4Gas had been in the past shipping Russian gas from Germany through the Czech Republic to Slovakia and on to Austria. In October, Fitch Ratings agency affirmed N4G at 'BB+' and said its base scenario assumed "full or near-complete shut-off of Russian pipeline gas to Europe and no payments from Gazprom." The Czech Republic has scrambled to get alternative supplies through liquefied natural gas shipments and flows from Norway and elsewhere. Flows between Slovakia and the Czech Republic have been running in both directions depending on demand.

☆ Shiffrin claims 78th World Cup win, closes on record
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 27 (Reuters) - American Mikaela Shiffrin claimed her 78th World Cup victory in the giant slalom in Semmering, Austria on Tuesday, taking her to within four wins of compatriot Lindsey Vonn's women's record of 82. Shiffrin clocked a combined time of two minutes 7.18 seconds to beat Slovakia's Petra Vlhova by 0.13 and Italian Marta Bassino by 0.31. "You hope that you're in the right shape, and you can bring the right intensity from the start, and I felt really good today. Shiffrin's last win in the discipline came just over a year ago, in Courchevel, France in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics. The 27-year-old has racked up four wins this season and leads the overall World Cup standings by 205 points from Italy's Sofia Goggia.

He long has sought Patriot missiles to help counter three months of Russian missile and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure, including Ukraine's power grid. Switching to Russian, Zelenskiy warned that "citizens of Russia must clearly understand that terror never goes without a response." REPORTED REINFORCEMENTSUkraine has driven Russian forces from the areas around its capital Kyiv and second biggest city Kharkiv. Moscow is now focused on holding areas its forces occupy in southern and eastern Ukraine - around a fifth of the country. Russian forces shelled the southern Kherson region 61 times in 24 hours, half of those within Kherson city, killing one person, Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said.

☆ Explainer: What is the Patriot missile defense system?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Patriot missile defence system is seen at Sliac Airport, in Sliac, near Zvolen, Slovakia, May 6, 2022. Here's what you need to know about the Patriot:WHAT IS THE PATRIOT SYSTEM? The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a theater-wide surface-to-air missile defense system built by Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N) and considered one of the most advanced air defense systems in the U.S. arsenal. So far, the United States has provided a pair of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) to Ukraine. Russia has said the Patriot missile defense system would be a legitimate target for Russian strikes.

☆ Russia's Transneft receives Polish and German requests for oil
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The EU has pledged to stop buying Russian oil via maritime routes from Dec. 5, with Western nations also imposing price caps on Russian crude oil, but the Druzhba pipeline remains exempt from sanctions. And now we have received requests from Polish consumers: give us 3 million tonnes next year, and 360,000 tonnes for December, and Germany has already submitted a request for the first quarter," Transneft head Nikolay Tokarev said on Tuesday. Transneft, which handles more than 80% of total oil produced in Russia, has cranked up oil exports by a fifth this year, he added. Tokarev also said that oil supplies via the southern spur of Druzhba, which transports oil through Ukraine to Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will remain unchanged next year thanks to a ssanctions exception. Exports via the far eastern port of Kozmino are expected to total 42 million tonnes this year, exceeding usual annual capacity of 30 million tonnes, Tokarev said.

☆ Factbox: How governments are trying to ease impact of inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

* Ecuador's president decreed a 6% minimum wage hike for next year. * Hungary's government and private-sector employers have agreed on a 16% minimum wage increase for next year. * Poland will cap electricity prices for small businesses, hospitals and households in 2023, and raise the minimum wage twice. * Tunisia's government in September signed a deal with a major labour union to raise public-sector pay and the minimum wage. * Turkey in July raised the minimum wage by about 30%, adding to the 50% rise seen at the end of last year.

☆ Thai king's hospitalised daughter stable 'at a certain level' - royal palace
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The eldest child of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn is in a stable condition "at a certain level", with doctors using medication and equipment to support her lung, heart and kidney functions after she suffered a heart problem, the palace said on Monday. The princess was taken ill and lost consciousness on Wednesday while preparing her dogs for a competition in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province, the palace said. Princess Bajrakitiyabha is one of three children of King Vajiralongkorn who have formal titles, making her eligible for the throne under a palace succession law and the country's constitution. In its statement, the palace said her "condition is stable at a certain level" and her heartbeat was being controlled by medicine, but her heart contraction was still weak. The princess was born on Dec. 7, 1978 as the daughter of the king and his first wife, Princess Soamsawali.

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