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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

EU targets tech giants with new copyright deal for digital age Negotiators from the EU member states, the European Parliament and European Commission reached a tentative breakthrough deal on Wednesday night after a two­year debate on how toprotect the blocʼs cultural heritage, and reward publishers, broadcasters, writers and artists fairly. Commissioner for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip said: "Europeans will finally have modern copyright rules fit for the digital age with real benefits for everyone: guaranteed rights for users, fair remuneration for creators, clarity of rules for platforms." The rules will oblige online companies such as Alphabet Incʼs Google and Facebook Inc to pay publishers for displaying news snippets and share revenue with the creative industries and remove copyright­protected content on YouTube or Instagram. They will have to sign licensing agreements with rights hold­ ers such as musicians, performers, authors, news publishers and journalists to use their work online. They will have to install filters to prevent users uploading copyrighted material.

Germany avoids recession with flat final 2018 quarter The Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) reported on Thursday that gross domestic product (GDP) in the final quarter of 2018 was zero percent compared to the third quarter, and 0.6 percent compared to thesame quarter in 2017. A decline in the third quarter of 2018had raised fears of a technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. Europeʼs largest economy enjoyed a "first half year with plenty of momentum", adding 0.4 percent in the first quarter and 0.5 percent in the second, federal statistics authority Destatis said, adding: "A small trough in the second half of the year" brought shrinkage of 0.2 percent between July and September and no change in the final three months. Read more: Germanyʼs ʼeconomic sagesʼ lower growth forecast

39/2019 • 15 FEBRUARY, 2019

Could Russia and Belarus trade oil for national sovereignty? Aleksander Lukashenko is in Sochi for three days of talks with Vladimir Putin

Poland, US hold controversial Middle East conference in Warsaw US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo struck a chordin Poland this week when he said that the US had steered clear of the region for too long, leaving Russia to fill that "void." Warsaw sees Washington as a guarantor of security in the region. The Polish government is proud to have purchased 20 US­made HIMARS rocket launchers – a deal that was struck just before the start of the conference. As the contract was signed – in the presence of Polish and US soldiers ­ US Vice President assured Warsaw it would "stand behind Poland…" A Middle East conference – without Iran US support for Poland is also the reason why Warsaw is organizing the Middle East conference – inspired by the US.

Airbus scraps production of A380 superjumbo The meetings come amidst persistent rumors that Belarus could become part of a single state controlled by Russia — and even ruled by Putin. Itʼs Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenkoʼs third meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in less than two months. And according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, their talks wonʼt just last one day but will continue "tomorrow and even the day after." However, behind the empty diplomatic statements from both sides about "questions on Belorusian­Russian cooperation" things could be tense. There is likely to be economic wrangling going on behind closed doors — and it could have implications for the future of the Belarusian state. At the meeting Wednesday, Putin called energy policy "one of the most important areas" up for discussion. In July, the Russian Duma passed a law allowing a "tax maneuver" in the oil and gas industry. The Russian Finance Ministry has complained the country is losing a significant amount of money every year by providing Belarus with oil on preferential terms. The new regulations slowly get rid of tariffs but raise other taxes for the country.

y Belarus is unhappy with the new regulations, which officials say will leave a gap of 3.8 percent inthe countryʼs GDPin the coming years. Minsk insists it wants gas at Russian market prices, not European prices. Relations betweenBelarus and Russiahave always been close. They are important trade partners and are both members of the Eurasian Economic Union. Belarus has also been part of the "Union State of Russia and Belarus" since 1999 — the details of which have remained vague. Now Moscow has made it clear it is willing to exchange preferential economic treatment for a re-examination of the Union Treaty. In December, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev issued what some media outlets called an "ultimatum" — he said Russia would be happy to continue "building" a Union with Belarus, which could even include a common court and currency. He mentioned an"imbalance" in tradebetween the two countries in the same breath.

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus on Thursday announced it will end production of the A380 doubledecker passenger jet by 2021. The Franco­German company had hoped the superjumbo would challenge Boeingʼs 747 and revolutionize air travel in the 21st century. What the company said: Key client Emirates had informed Airbus it was cutting orders from 162 to 123 aircraft;That left the company with no substantial A380 backlog and no basis to sustain production.Shutdown costs are estimated at €463 million ($521 million) with a billion euros of European government loans forgivenIt will still produce 17 A380s including 14 for Emirates and 3 for Japanese airline ANA

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