The Verkhovna Rada dismissed Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk, with 254 deputies voting in favor of this decision. Before his resignation, however, Danyliuk spoke out with sharp criticism of the government.

"I’ve been incriminated with airing dirty laundry in public. It's so uncharacteristic of us that we do not have a Ukrainian analogue for this expression. When you gave me the powers of the Minister of Finance, I was going to build an efficient, modern financial system for the country. I …

Israel is prepared to attack not only Iranian forces in Syria, but also the Syrian army itself, stated Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu in London on Thursday.

“I think [Syrian President Bashar] Assad should take the following seriously. Now that the war with ISIS is over, and he [Assad] has called on Iran and allows it to attack Israel from the territory of Syria, his regime is no longer safe,” news agency France-Presse quoted Netanyahu as saying.

“His regime is not immune. If he …

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has passed a bill “On the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court”. 315 MPs voted in favor of law No. 7440.

The day before, the Ukrainian government managed to reach an agreement with the creditors concerning an amendment to the powers of the Public Council of International Experts in the selection of judge candidates for the anti-corruption court.

The council will consist of six people, and not seven as had been planned previously. A minimum of three votes will be needed to …

French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, stated that Paris is against a rapid review of EU sanctions imposed against Russia for its aggression towards Ukraine, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty reports.

“When there is progress [towards settling the conflict in Ukraine], then we will be able to raise the issue of sanctions, and that is what we will tell Italy,” he stated.

Earlier, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stated that his government will advocate a review of the …

Based on the results of Russia’s Central Bank stress tests, problems were identified in 117 banks. There exists a risk of a gap appearing in their capital if oil prices go down sharply. Moreover, the bankruptcy of several organizations can lead to a domino effect that will affect another 107 banks, RBC reported with reference to the report of the Russian banking regulator.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, these 117 banks account for about 30.6 percent of all banking assets. The Central …