06 Feb 2019; AFP: The EU's powerful anti-trust sheriff, Margrethe Vestager, is set to veto the merger of the Siemens-Alstom rail businesses on Wednesday, in defiance of France and Germany.

The tie-up, announced to great fanfare last year, was hailed as the birth of a much needed European industrial champion, an Airbus for the railways to face down a formidable Chinese rival.

ATHENS, February 6. /TASS/. Greece is willing to expand its economic cooperation with Turkey and play a more active role in implementing the TurkStream pipeline project, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said told reporters after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday.

06 Feb 2019; AA: Israeli defense officials have warned that the health system in the blockaded Gaza Strip was close to collapse, according to Israeli daily Haaretz on Wednesday.

In an assessment to Israel’s security cabinet, the officials warned that the deteriorating health conditions in the Palestinian territory would make it difficult for the Israeli army to fight in Gaza for a long time.

06 Feb 2019; AA: A team of Turkish scientists are developing clothing especially designed to withstand sub-zero weather conditions in Antarctica, the world’s coldest continent.

According to Caner Filiz, an instructor at Turkey’s Gendarmerie and Coast Guard Academy, the project is being carried out in coordination with Turkey’s Coast Guard Command and with contributions from the Turkish Mountaineering Federation.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — President Jair Bolsonaro is taking his anti-leftist ideological war to Brazil’s classrooms and universities, causing angst among teachers and education officials who say the government wants to fight an enemy that doesn’t exist.

Bolsonaro and top officials have announced plans to revise textbooks to excise references to feminism, homosexuality and violence against women, say the military will take over some public schools and frequently bash Paulo Freire, one of Brazil’s most famous educators, whose ideas had worldwide influence.

5 Feb 2019; DW: The Bundeswehr (Germany’s Federal Defence) provides Catholic and Protestant clergy for soldiers, but no spiritual counsel for Muslims. According to the government, key questions must be answered before the Bundeswehr's religious ranks are expanded.

Nariman Reinke, a naval petty officer, is one of about 1,500 Muslim soldiers who serve in the Bundeswehr.

06 Feb 2019; AFP: Japanese car giant Toyota slashed its full-year net profit forecast Wednesday after saying its nine-month figure had tumbled nearly 30 percent as it was hit by investment losses.

The firm's senior managing officer Masayoshi Shirayanagi also told reporters there was no way to avoid a negative impact in the event of a no-deal Brexit -- days after fellow Japanese carmarker Nissan announced a cut in production in Britain.

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. The Russian nanotechnology company Rusnano may become minority stockholder in the US-based electrical vehicles and batteries producer Tesla controlled by Elon Musk. This may take place after Tesla completes acquisition of Maxwell Technologies from California, a source on the market told TASS on Wednesday.

"Rusnano holds a very small stake in Maxwell and if Tesla acquires it, then the Russian company can become the minority shareholder in the Elon Musk’s company," the source said.

BRUSSELS, February 5. /TASS/. Defense ministers from NATO member states will start their upcoming meeting in Brussels by discussing the consequences of the US move to suspend its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), a NATO official told TASS on Tuesday.

06 Feb 2019; AFP: A 12-year-old judicial battle pitting a cereal farmer against Monsanto, the biotech giant, goes to a fourth round Wednesday before the French courts.

Farmer Paul Francois won his initial case in 2012, and its appeal by Monsanto in 2015, after suing the US firm for poisoning him through inhalation of its Lasso weedkiller.

LONDON, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May told business leaders in Belfast Tuesday she backs the idea of Britain and the Irish Republic co-hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2030.

May raised the prospect of the World Cup returning to Britain for the first time since 1966 during a visit to Northern Ireland.

New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) The Delhi High Court Tuesday asked Haryana to remove the bunds that, according to the Delhi government, were blocking flow of clean water into the Yamuna and was leading to an increase in pollution levels in the national capital's water supply.

The direction by a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao came after the Haryana government stated in an affidavit that it will remove the bunds.