Business

MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/: Ust-Luga, a port in the Russian northwestern Leningrad region, has resumed shipping Russian export crude compliant with GOST (All Union State Standard) requirements, the Russian Energy Ministry said on Friday.

"Earlier, on May 8, on spec oil was transported to the metering station of Ust-Luga port. On May 9, it started to flow into a tank farm for being loaded onto tankers," the ministry added.

MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has held a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Edouard Philippe, the Russian cabinet’s press service said in a statement on Friday.

The parties "discussed pressing issues concerning Russian-French interaction, including trade, economic and investment cooperation," the statement reads. Medvedev and Philippe also talked about a schedule for future contacts between the two countries’ governments.

According to the press service, the telephone call was initiated by France.

WASHINGTON, May 10. /TASS/: US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo will visit Moscow and Sochi on May 12-14, the Department of State said in a statement on Friday.

"On May 13, he will arrive in Russia to meet with his team at U.S. Embassy Moscow before meeting with UUS business leaders and UUS exchange alumni. Secretary Pompeo will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier," the statement reads.

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua): Washington's recent move on the Taiwan question has muscled in on China's sovereignty and internal affairs, and put the bilateral relations in jeopardy.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the "Taiwan Assurance Act of 2019" and "Reaffirming the United States commitment to Taiwan and to the implementation of the Taiwan Relations Act," a blunt violation of the one-China principle and the spirit of the three China-U.S. joint communiques.

10 May 2019; MEMO: A Saudi vessel that had been due to load arms in France left the country’s Le Havre port without its cargo of weapons and is now sailing towards Santander in Spain, according to ship tracking data, a local official and a lawyer.

Reuters reported that two French human rights groups yesterday sought to block the loading of weapons onto the ship through a legal filing, arguing the cargo contravened an international arms treaty.

Baghdad, May 10, IRNA – Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Thursday that Iraq will never be part of the US anti-Iran sanctions.

Tehran, May 10, IRNA - The Ambassador of Iran to the United Nations, Majid Takht Ravanchi, in response to US president's claim to negotiate with Iran for non-acquisition of nuclear weapons, said that Trump appears to be unaware of Iran's lack of interest in nuclear weapons.

TEHRAN, May 10 (Xinhua): Thousands of people in Iran's capital Tehran on Friday rallied in support of recent Iranian government's decision to suspend the implementation of some of its commitments under the nuclear deal in response to the U.S. withdrawal from the deal last year.

According to local media, similar rallies were held in other Iranian cities after the Friday prayers.

In Tehran, people chanted slogans and held placards in support of the Iranian government's decision.

CARACAS, May 9 (Xinhua): With a prescription in his hand, Francisco Gonzalez, a night watchman whose wife was suffering from cancer, walked out of a private pharmacy in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

With the composure of someone who has become accustomed to the difficulties of finding medications, Gonzalez told Xinhua the medicines he needs "haven't been found for now."

10 May 2019; DW: The planned merger between German steel giant Thyssenkrupp and its Indian competitor Tata will likely fall through because the European Commission is expected to block the deal.

German steel giant Thyssenkrupp on Friday announced that it was putting the brakes on a merger with Indian competitor Tata.