Europe

30 Mar 2023; MEMO: In a partial victory for Iran, judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on Thursday, ruled Washington had illegally allowed courts to freeze assets of Iranian companies and ordered the United States to pay compensation, the amount of which will be determined later, Reuters reports.

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/: Russian air defense forces intercepted a Ukrainian Grom-2 ballistic missile and shot down a Mi-8 helicopter over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Thursday.

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/: Moscow and Beijing have to take adequate measures in current geopolitical circumstances in order to protect their multifaceted cooperation from the harmful effect of illegal unilateral sanctions, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing Thursday.

"In current geopolitical circumstances, Moscow and Beijing have to take adequate measures in order to protect the positive groundwork of multifaceted cooperation, which took many years to accumulate, from the harmful effect of illegal unilateral sanctions," the diplomat noted.

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will chair a high-level open debate at the UN Security Council on effective multilateralism in defense of the organization's Charter principles, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/:  Russia is going to demand reports from the countries conducting national investigations into the sabotage at Nord Stream pipelines, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.

"We will continue to raise this topic, which is inconvenient for the West. We will continue to return to it and make these countries return to it, demanding a report on national investigations," she said.

ZURICH, March 30 (Reuters) - Four bankers who helped a close friend of Vladimir Putin move millions of francs through Swiss bank accounts have been convicted of lacking diligence in financial transactions.

The four were found guilty on Thursday of helping Sergey Roldugin, a concert cellist who has been dubbed "Putin's wallet" by the Swiss government.

The executives - three Russians and one Swiss - helped Roldugin, who is godfather to Putin's eldest daughter Maria, deposit millions of francs in Swiss bank accounts between 2014 and 2016.

KYIV, March 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Thursday Russian forces had made some gains inside the eastern battlefield city of Bakhmut, but at a heavy price in lives lost that has blunted Moscow's offensive as Ukraine prepares a counterstrike of its own.

In a potential escalation of Moscow's diplomatic feud with Washington, Russia's FSB security service arrested an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, on suspicion of spying for the United States.

ATHENS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- In the wake of the banking turmoil triggered by the collapse of three U.S. banks, and the crisis at Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse this spring, Greek experts have called for vigilance and rapid action.

Greek experts have said that despite there are no imminent threats to the Greek or European banking system and economy and a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis is unlikely, vigilance is required after such banking turmoil.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries and negotiators from the EU’s parliament reached a provisional deal Thursday to raise the share of renewables in the bloc’s energy mix, another step to accelerate its green transition.

The European Council, which represents the 27 member nations, said the agreement reached after all-night negotiations would raise the renewable energy target to 42.5% of total consumption by 2030. The current goal is 32%.

HELSINKI (AP) — Expulsions of Russian intelligence officers and visa refusals have substantially weakened Moscow’s intelligence operations in neighboring Finland in the past year, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service said Thursday.

The intelligence agency, known by the abbreviation SUPO, said in a statement that Russian intelligence has been “squeezed” in the Nordic country because of the agency’s ability to compromise spy operations in 2022.