The internationally acknowledged banking center has joined the voices from across Europe about creating an independent analog for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) amid US anti-Iran sanctions. Russia, which has already created its own system, voiced readiness to cooperate within a “euro-SWIFT” system. [...]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The second pipelay vessel has started working on the German section of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the pipeline's operator, Nord Stream AG, said. "The offshore pipelay vessel "Audacia" began its work on the Nord Stream 2 project today. "Audacia", operated by Allseas, is the second vessel together with the "Castoro Dieci" (C10) to lay the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the German [...]

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) – German WKB Systems manufacturer offers Damascus to use its aerated concrete to restore buildings destroyed during the civil war, commercial director of the distributor of WKB Systems’ products in Syria told Sputnik on Friday. [...]

Following prohibiting firearms for foreigners, the conservative-leaning government is looking into imposing further restrictions on bladed weapons with exception of kitchen knives or hunting knives. According to the 2017 stats, most suspects in stabbing attacks are third-country citizens. [...]

The European Commission launched an attack on Italy's government this week, expressing its "serious concern" over Rome's spending plans and claiming they violate EU fiscal rules. Speaking to Sputnik, lawyer and Eurexit Association president Francesca Donato explained why the latent conflict between Rome and Brussels is likely to escalate. [...]

First batches of Russian-produced solar panels have been supplied to Europe, according to First Deputy Energy Minister Alexey Texler. “Export supplies have been started already, particularly from the Novocheboksarsk plant to Europe,” he said on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week on Friday. [...]

The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss the fourth meeting between Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Russian President Vladimir Putin...what does it mean for the European Union, Russia, and the growing movement from within the EU, to put an end to the failed policy of isolating Russia, and begin a productive and realpolitik policy of rapprochement the E [...]

Switzerland will take part in any new payment system if it were created as an alternative to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), according to Swiss Ambassador to Moscow Yves Rossier. [...]

The Austrian dealership for Russian Ural motorbikes has released a limited edition of the iconic vehicle, themed after a Trans-Siberian Express train. The bike is packed with old-fashioned styling and a bottle of vodka. The custom bike, dubbed Ural Transsib, is based on Ural CT model, yet it features a more powerful engine, custom fork, windscreen for the sidecar and other small changes. [...]

Vladimir Putin said he does not foresee any military action in Syria’s Idlib in the near future, stressing that peace –not fighting– is the ultimate goal. Putin spoke at a briefing with Austria’s Sebastian Kurz in St Petersburg. [...]

Follow RT to get the latest news and updates from Austria, including politics, culture, sport and weather. Austria is a country in Europe, the capital of which is Vienna. It has a border with, and is historically close to, Germany. Austria is one of the largest economies and world’s richest state by per capita in GDP terms. Find news on the economy, finance and market in Austria. [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) has filed charges against an Austria-based securities dealer and CEO for allegedly violating US laws linked to security-based swaps funded with bitcoins, the agency said in a press release. [...]

The United States has no right to tell European companies who they can trade and develop economic relations with, according to the Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. “We cannot accept that the US decided the regions with which European companies can or cannot do business,” Michel said in an interview with Belgian French-language broadcaster RTBF shortly after meeting with Iranian President [...]

The media have been quick to label the departure of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ally Volker Kauder as the latest in a series of “blows” to the chancellor. But Merkel shows no signs of being blown away just yet. [...]

Over the weekend, the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a report highlighting the most popular first names for baby boys and girls in England and Wales in 2017 using birth registration data. According to the UK Office for National Statistics, Muhammad became one of the top-10 most popular names for baby boys in London and several other large British cities last year. [...]

Washington is fiercely fighting for Germany’s energy market, trying to sell more of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the country, and to wrestle one of the biggest energy consumers away from Russian energy giant Gazprom. Germany currently gets around 60 of its natural gas imports from Russia. [...]

The US is looking to establish a permanent US military base in Poland. This is what President Donald Trump said on Tuesday following a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda at the White House. Sputnik discussed the potential establishment of a military base in Poland with Rick Rozoff - manager of the Stop NATO website. [...]

The US has repeatedly denounced the Russian-European joint venture to build a direct gas pipeline from Russia to the center of the EU via the Baltic Sea. Apart from lambasting Berlin for colluding with Moscow, Washington has already laid the groundwork for sanctions against companies involved in Nord Stream 2. [...]

Russian-Polish relations have reached a low point in recent years, with the two countries unable to see eye to eye on energy security, NATO's military buildup on Russia's borders, or the construction of a missile defense shield on Polish territory which Russia believes would challenge global strategic stability. [...]