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Odessa: Ukrainian President Poroshenko called NATO "the only effective security mechanism in the world."

Odessa: US naval specialists continue the construction of the Operational Control Center for the Ukrainian Navy. The construction began in July 2017.

Ukraine is working hard to build a US Navy base in the city of Odessa. US warships call at the port of Odessa more and more frequently. Most recently, while the Russians were celebrating Orthodox Christmas, US destroyer USS Carney DDG-64 arrived in Odessa at nighttime. 

According to representatives of the Sixth Fleet of the US Navy, the purpose of the mission is to conduct operations to ensure security at sea and strengthen combined readiness and naval capabilities among NATO allies and partners.

US Pentagon, under the guise of military assistance to Ukraine, has been deploying modern infrastructure in Ukraine to conduct military operations and NATO reconnaissance activities in the Black Sea.

The port of Odessa is only 300 kilometres from the main base of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia in Sevastopol, so the activity of the US navy in the region is easy to understand.

During the first days of 2017, patrol anti-submarine aircraft of the US Navy P-8A Poseidon conducted reconnaissance flights near the coast of the Crimea.

The Kiev regime seeks Ukraine's accession to NATO, and the establishment of the US Navy base in Odessa is part of this plan. In December 2014, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a bill to abandon the non-bloc status.

According to President Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's entry into NATO is "the main priority of Ukrainian foreign policy."

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WASHINGTON — State and federal prisons held an estimated 1,505,400 prisoners in 2016, 21,200 fewer than in 2015.

The number of prisoners in state and federal correctional facilities fell by 1 percent from year-end 2015 to 2016

The number of prisoners in state and federal correctional facilities fell by 1 percent from year-end 2015 to 2016, the Bureau of Justice Statistics announced today. This was the third consecutive year that the U.S. prison population declined.

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Daimler invests in what3words; Navigation destination easy to input with three words

Investment expands cooperation with the start-up

New models from the compact class are first to use the address system

Stuttgart – Daimler AG is expanding cooperation with the start-up what3words. As part of the move, the company took part in a round of financing by what3words and acquired a share of around ten percent. In addition, Mercedes-Benz will be the first automobile manufacturer to integrate the new three-word address system and make it available to its customers.

With the A-Class as the first representative of the next generation of compact cars, a completely new infotainment system – Mercedes-Benz User Experience – will go into series production from as early as spring 2018. Navigation destinations can be entered and searched for with the help of three-word addresses. Using text and voice input, the driver enters his desired destination using just three words, such as remark.healers.heat, and arrives exactly at a specific nine square metres.

what3words has divided the entire world into 57 trillion squares of three metres by three metres and has allocated each of these squares a unique three-word address – including places where there are no regular street addresses. This means that every one of these locations is unambiguously identified and easy to memorise. An algorithm applies the vocabulary list of approximately 25,000 words per language in such a way that potentially confusing combinations are very far away from one another and that both man and machine can easily notice input mistakes. In the meantime, the system is now available in 14 languages.

"With Mercedes-Benz User Experience, we have moved one big step closer to our goal of making the vehicle into a mobile assistant", emphasises Sajjad Khan, Vice President of Digital Vehicle & Mobility at Daimler. "Our collaboration with what3words is heading in exactly this direction: Inputting locations in a simple way makes life easier for our customers and ensures a special experience. For this reason, we will further expand out cooperation with what3words in future and develop new fields of application."

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Russia to deploy new generation radar in Crimea; US is doing everything to push Russia off balance

Ukraine continues provocations on the border near Crimea and Russia takes steps to ensure security of its territory, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on the reports about the S-400 missile systems’ deployment to the peninsula.

"We know that both provocations and subversive activities continue on the Russian-Ukrainian border near Crimea," Peskov said.

"That’s why Russia’s adoption of all the necessary measures to protect its security should not be viewed as a threat for anyone. This should be perceived as ensuring its own security and, certainly, Russia has a full sovereign right to do this," he said.

Show of Force in Odessa by Americans; US - Russian relations can hardly degenerate any further by arrival of a US destroyer in the Odessa port

Arrival of a US destroyer in the Odessa port does not pose any risk for Russia and the situation is under control, Frants Klintsevich, first deputy chairman of defense and security committee in the upper house of Russian parliament, told reporters.

Klintsevich admitted, however, that the destroyer Carney DDG64’s visit to Ukraine was an irritating factor. "Someone is doing everything to push Russia off balance". "The goal of the visit - the strengthening of interoperability and naval capability of NATO allies and partners - sounds absolutely flaunting." The Ukrainian regime obviously views the visit of the US naval ship as a show of solidarity.  

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Microsoft: Windows-pc’s kunnen trager worden door veiligheidsupdate

Sommige computers kunnen een stuk trager worden door veiligheidsupdates die Microsoft moet doorvoeren vanwege de onlangs aan het licht gekomen problemen met o.a. Intel chips.

Vooral pc’s die draaien op Windows 7, 8 moeten rekening houden met verslechterde prestaties.

Ook Microsoft werkt aan een oplossing.  

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Kansspelbelasting tijdelijk naar 30,1 procent; met ingang van 1 januari 2018 is het tarief voor de kansspelbelasting verhoogd van 29 procent naar 30,1 procent.

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(RPT) Raad van State: financiële dienstverlening valt niet onder 'bevorderen' kansspel

De Raad van State heeft op 27 december 2017 betaaldienstverlener CURO Payments in het gelijk gesteld in een zaak tegen de Kansspelautoriteit. CURO Payments was in beroep gegaan tegen een beslissing van de rechtbank Oost-Brabant, die in november 2016 besliste dat het verlenen van betaaldiensten aan illegale kansspelwebsites niet mag.

De uitspraak van de hoogste bestuursrechter is een forse tegenvaller voor de Kansspelautoriteit. Online kansspelen zijn in Nederland verboden. De Kansspelautoriteit probeert binnen de huidige wet- en regelgeving (de Wet op de kansspelen dateert uit 1964, toen internet nog niet bestond) de wet te handhaven.

Met de uitspraak van de Raad van State wordt het de Kansspelautoriteit nog moeilijker gemaakt op te treden tegen online kansspelen. Nadere bestudering van de uitspraak moet uitwijzen wat de gevolgen precies zijn voor het handhavingsbeleid van de Kansspelautoriteit. De publieke doelen hiervan zijn consumentenbescherming, tegengaan van illegaliteit en criminaliteit en verslavingspreventie.

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Airbus to increase production of A320 aircraft in China

European aviation giant Airbus signed a framework agreement with its Chinese partners to increase the number of planes it makes at its Tianjin assembly plant.

According to a statement released by Airbus China, Airbus aims to produce five aircraft a month by early 2019 before reaching a monthly total of six jets by early 2020 at the Tianjin final assembly line for the A320-family of jets.

Currently, it produces four A320 aircraft a month at the facility. From the time it was established in 2008 until the end of 2017, the Tianjin plant assembled and delivered a total of 354 A320s.

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China's CPI up 1.8% in December

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.8% year on year in December, slightly up from 1.7% for November, data showed Wednesday. The pickup was driven by a fast increase in non-food prices, which rose 2.4% year on year, the  Chinese National Bureau of Statistics said. 

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Rechtszaak in onderzoek dood Anne Faber van start

Vandaag is de rechtszaak tegen de 27-jarige verdachte in het onderzoek naar de dood van Anne Faber in Zeist van start gegaan met de eerste pro forma zitting. In de voordracht dankten de officieren van justitie de vele vrijwilligers en professionals voor hun hulp en betrokkenheid. “Zonder de inzet van vrijwilligers hadden we hier nu wellicht niet gestaan”. De volgende zitting is op 23 maart en de zaak zal naar verwachting op 11 en 12 juni 2018 inhoudelijk behandeld worden.

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London: BCC Quarterly Economic Survey: Skills shortage biggest risk for business

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) today publishes its Quarterly Economic Survey – the UK’s largest and most authoritative private-sector business survey.

Based on the responses of over 7,000 businesses, the survey shows that growth in the UK economy remains subdued, with almost all services indicators below their pre-EU referendum levels and the strong performance of manufacturers easing slightly in the final quarter of 2017.

The findings of the survey indicate the skills shortages are reaching critical levels. Of the service sector firms hiring, the percentage reporting recruitment difficulties rose to 71%, the highest since records began. In manufacturing, the percentage of recruiting firms reporting difficulties is at its highest since Q4 2016.

In the manufacturing sector, the proportion of firms reporting improved export sales and orders fell slightly compared to the previous quarter. The indicators for domestic sales, employment expectations, recruitment, and confidence in turnover are also lower than in the previous quarter.

In the service sector, a key driver of the UK economy, growth remains muted and relatively unchanged from the previous three months, and is below historic averages. The proportion of firms confident that turnover and profitability will improve in the next year decreased, and firms reporting improved cashflow remains low.

Both sectors have seen considerable rises in the proportion of businesses expecting prices to increase in the next three months. In the services sector, the percentage balance of firms expecting their prices to rise jumped to +36%, the highest since Q3 2008. In the manufacturing sector, the percentage balance of firms expecting their prices to rise increased from +35% to +50%, the highest since Q4 2016.

The results emphasise the need to kickstart the economy by addressing the barriers to growth – in particular the growing skills gap – which is hindering the ability of companies to find the workers they need to develop.

Key findings in the Q4 2017 survey:

Manufacturing sector:

The balance of firms reporting increased export sales fell from +29 to +25, the lowest since Q4 2016. Export orders fell from +24 to +20. The balance of firms reporting increased domestic sales fell from +24 to +23 and domestic orders from +21 to +18

The percentage of manufacturers that attempted to recruit in the last three months decreased from 71% to 66%. Of those, 75% had recruitment difficulties. Of these, skilled manual labour was the leading area of recruitment difficulties (68%) – the highest since records began

The percentage of manufacturers expecting their prices to increase jumped from 35% to 50%, standing near historic highs. The price of raw materials remaining the key driver, with 63% reporting it as a cause of price pressure (up slightly from the 61% in Q3)

The balance of firms confident turnover will increase in the next 12 months fell from +51 to +44, while confidence in profitability held fairly steading at +33, down from +34

The balance of companies reporting cashflow improvements remains low at +9, while the balance of firms investing in plant and machinery fell from +19 to +16, and investment in training held fairly steady, falling from +20 to +19

Services sector:

The balance of firms reporting improved export sales fell slightly from +14 to +12, and orders from +8 to +7. Domestic sales rose slightly from +19 +20, while orders fell from +15 to +14

The percentage of businesses attempting to recruit fell slightly from 52% to 50%. Of those, the percentage of services firms reporting greater recruitment difficulties rose from 67% to 71%, the highest since records began

The balance of services firms expecting prices to increase, rose considerably from 28% to 36%, the highest since Q3 2008

The balance of firms that report cashflow improvements remains low, falling slightly from +8 to +7. Investment also remains muted, with investment in plant and machinery standing at +8 (down from +10) and training +15 (up from +14)

The balance of firms confident turnover will increase fell from +40 to +36, the weakest since Q4 2016.Confidence in profitability also fell from +30 to +27

Commenting on the results, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

“While there are many business bright spots across the UK, the evidence from the biggest private business survey in the country shows that growth and confidence remain subdued overall as we enter a new year.

“Labour and skills shortages are set to be the biggest potential drag anchor on business in 2018, since ultimately it is people that make businesses work. Business itself must do more – by training and investing wherever possible in people – but government must also give firms the confidence to put their livelihoods on the line and go for growth.

“This must be the year employers act rather than just complain on skills, and the year government delivers clarity, leadership and investment in people and infrastructure. Kick-starting growth, and boosting wages and prosperity for all, depends on this.”

Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

“These results suggest that GDP growth remained underwhelming in the fourth quarter of 2017. Services sector activity remains subdued with most indicators still below their pre-EU referendum levels. Consumer-facing firms in particular are facing an uphill struggle due to negative real wage growth, which is continuing to stifle consumer spending. That said, the sector is still likely to have been the main determinant of growth in the fourth quarter.

“Following a strong showing for much of 2017, the manufacturing sector did come off the boil a little in the last quarter, with most of the key indicators weakening in the quarter.

“The latest results also confirm that inflation remains a concern with a significant spike in inflation expectations in the quarter. While inflation is likely to peak in the coming months it is likely to remain stubbornly above the Bank of England’s 2% inflation target for a prolonged period, maintaining the cost pressures on both consumers and businesses.

“Looking forward, the UK economy is set to continue on an underwhelming growth trajectory over the near term with uncertainty over the impact of Brexit coupled with high inflation and weak productivity likely to dampen overall economic activity.”

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Record passenger numbers for Brussels Airlines in 2017

Brussels Airlines (Lufthansa) welcomed 9.1 million passengers on board its flights in 2017, an increase of 17.2% compared to the previous year. The passenger load factor grew to a record average of 78.5% throughout the year.

Brussels Airlines closes 2017 with a total of 9,077,178 passengers, a record in the company’s 15 year history. The 1.3 million additional passengers were welcomed throughout the entire network. All sectors showed significant growth, with the highest increase recorded on the European network (+16.7%), followed by the Middle East (+14.3%), North America (+14.0%) and Africa (+13.2%), where the airline passed the 1 million passenger mark for the first time. With Mumbai, Brussels Airlines opened its first Asian destination in 2017. The new route attracted 80,450 passengers since the first flight on 30 March.

Brussels Airlines’ strong passenger growth is mainly due to the increased productivity of its fleet, the replacement of Avro aircraft (100 seats) by bigger Airbus A320 (180 seats) and the integration of Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium’s activities . On its long-haul network, the airline added an additional Airbus A330 to its fleet to operate the new Mumbai route and to increase the number of flights to African destinations. The pressure on airline ticket prices remained very high in 2017. Thanks to its increased offer, Brussels Airlines was able to continue to propose competitive fares and attract even more customers.

Brussels Airlines invested heavily in its leisure offer in 2017, as it continues to do in 2018, when the airline adds 26 summer holiday destinations to its network, thanks to the intensified cooperation with Thomas Cook Belgium.

The seat offer (ASK) grew by 14.5%, but the number of passengers grew faster, resulting in a seat load factor of 78.5%, the highest ever recorded for Brussels Airlines.

Brussels Airlines Cargo showed very positive results as the transported volumes grew by 22.6% and the cargo load factor increased by 10.3 percentage points, amounting to 67.7%. The cargo volumes increase is due to several initiatives to better forecast the belly capacity and therefore maximize the use hereof, and the addition of Mumbai as a destination.

December was again a month of growth for Brussels Airlines, although this growth was slowed down by the winter weather conditions and subsequent temporary closure of Brussels Airport on 11 December, which forced the airline to cancel 218 flights.

In total, Brussels Airlines welcomed 644,545 passengers on board its flights in December, an increase of 9.2% compared to the same month in 2016. Brussels Airlines was able to attract 6.6% more passengers on its European flights, thanks to its large network choice.

The slight decrease on the Transatlantic network (-2.6%) is due to the fact that there is a lower flight frequency on the Toronto route compared to 2016. The decrease on the Middle East sector (-6.2%) is due to winter cutbacks on the Tel Aviv route.

The significant growth on the African sector (+17.3%) is mainly due to the start of the intensified partnership with Thomas Cook Belgium in October, which added 5 new winter holiday destinations in North Africa to Brussels Airlines’ network.

Brussels Airlines Cargo recorded a significant increase in its transported volumes (+22.5%) and reached a Cargo load factor of 74.1% (+8.0 percentage points).

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UK’s trade deficit grew! Pound Sterling lower vs. euro, or the single-currency higher (+0.51%) vs. Pound Sterling at £0.8860

Daily High: £0.8864  <>  Daily Low: £0.8812

According to data published by UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), Britain’s trade deficit grew to -£2.8bn in November, while October’s reading was also revised from -$1.4bn to -£2.2bn.

This was a far worse outcome than forecast and saw the trade balance strike its lowest levels since June. The larger than expected deficit was attributed to a marked rise in the import of fuels as the colder months increased demand.

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London: UK NIESR: GDP growth of 0.6% in 2017 Q4

National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR): Our monthly estimates of GDP suggest that output grew by 0.6% in the final quarter of 2017, an increase compared with the third quarter when the economy expanded by 0.4% and the strongest quarterly growth estimate since the fourth quarter of 2016. Based on this, the UK economy expanded by 1.8% in 2017.

Amit Kara, Head of UK Macroeconomic Forecasting at NIESR, said “We estimate that economic growth recovered to 0.6 per cent in the final quarter of this year from 0.4% in the third quarter.

Economic growth has picked up in the second half of 2017 after a period of subdued growth in the first six months. The recovery has been driven by both the manufacturing and the service sectors, supported by the weaker pound and a buoyant global economy, while construction output continues to lag.

In November we had forecast final quarter GDP growth at 0.5% and as such today’s revised estimate suggests that activity has strengthened by more than we had previously anticipated.

This recovery, combined with above target CPI inflation, is consistent with a gradual withdrawal of monetary policy stimulus and as such we see the Bank of England raising the policy rate once again by 25 basis points in May and then every 6 months until Bank Rate reaches 2% by mid-2021.”

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Ifo:  Eurozone Economic Outlook: Investment Is Driving Growth

The economy in the euro area continues to grow strongly. Real GDP is expected to increase by +0.6% in Q4 2017 and Q1 2018, thus maintaining the same pace of expansion as in the four quarters before.

A slight slowdown to +0.5% is expected only in Q2 2018. The drivers of expansion are investments.

Private consumption is also rising sharply, but at slower pace compared to the first half of 2017.

Inflation in the euro area is expected to drop from 1.4% in Q4 2017 to 1.2% in Q1 2018. This is due to base effects resulting from increases in energy and food prices last winter.

In Q2 2018 inflation is projected to pick up again to 1.4%. Risk premia compression and increased financial investors’ risk-taking behaviour in particular asset markets could lead to large asset price corrections.

Turmoil and substantial losses in financial markets would have negative consequences for the real economy as well.

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Nokia to provide Telenor with optical backbone in Norway and Sweden

Nokia to replace legacy optical core network connecting 200 Telenor nodes in Norway and Sweden

Advanced Nokia optical technology paves way for SDN-ready dynamic network capabilities

Multi-terabit capacity will support evolution to 5G mobile, growing consumer demand for online video and internet usage, and the increasing use of cloud applications

Espoo, Finland - Telenor has chosen Nokia as its sole supplier for the replacement of its legacy optical backbone network. The new optical core network will provide much-needed bandwidth capacity in Norway and Sweden.

As one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, Telenor Group is looking to increase bandwidth capacity by replacing its current optical core network connecting major centers across Norway and Sweden. Driving the need for the new multi-terabit capacity are the coming evolution to 5G mobile, growing consumer demand for online video and internet usage, and the increasing use of cloud applications and the associated need for data center interconnections.

The next-generation optical network will feature Nokia's state-of-the-art coherent optical transmission technology. Built on Nokia's industry leading solutions with advanced wavelength routing (CDC-F), it allows for greater flexibility and dynamic network management and automation. The network offers an SDN-ready platform that will provide Telenor with a more efficient way to automate, optimize and assure network services.

As an essential part of the Norwegian and Swedish national infrastructure, Nokia's optical backbone network is a highly robust solution. Many operations have been certified compliant with ISO27001 information security standards and in other cases have satisfactorily demonstrated conformance to the ISO27001 information security standards.

Nicolas Almendro, head of Europe & MEA Optics Business Development at Nokia, said: "We are excited to be chosen for this multi-year turnkey project. This highly resilient and secure optical backbone will play a critical role in deploying next-generation services to Telenor customers in Norway and Sweden, and help the customer prepare for the demands of 5G."

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National Express: Continued positive trading and new acquisitions sustain year end momentum

National Express Group PLC is pleased to announce that it has completed two small acquisitions.

One each in the US and Spain.

Both acquisitions will enable further expansion in target markets.

They are a school bus and coach business with 204 vehicles, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. This acquisition strengthens our presence in Ohio, enabling us to grow our business further, as well as improve our service offering to our customers in Cincinnati.

A Madrid bus operator with 73 vehicles, that provides staff transfers for a large local airline and national bank headquarters; an urban transport contract in Azuqueca, Guadalajara; and, school bus services in Madrid.

Both businesses are expected to deliver returns in line with our guidance of 15-20%.

We are encouraged by strong early Christmas trading in both our UK and Spanish coach businesses, with advanced sales higher than last year.

Overall, we remain on course to deliver our profit, free cash flow and leverage targets for the full year.

National Express records for passenger numbers and revenue.

Boxing Day was the UK’s largest coach operator’s busiest day of the year and its single largest day of sales ever, as coach travel proves to be an increasingly popular option at Christmas.

Over the Christmas holidays National Express moved nearly half a million passengers on its network, with passenger numbers on Christmas Day and Boxing Day up 15 per cent compared to last year.

National Express Coach Managing Director Chris Hardy said: “We’re delighted to announce a bumper Christmas performance this year with not one but two records broken on the same day. Coach is proving to be an increasingly popular travel option at Christmas and with the rail network partially shutdown for upgrade work we are proud to have been able to step up a gear and deliver a really great Christmas.”

Christmas stats:

•             Nearly 500,000 passengers carried over the Christmas holidays

•             Passenger and revenue records broken on Boxing Day

•             15 per cent year-on-year increase in passenger numbers on Christmas and Boxing Day

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AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals has announced the challenges for its latest Imagine Chemistry program, which has fast become a key element of the company's collaborative innovation approach.

First launched to great success in 2017, Imagine Chemistry is an opportunity for startup and scale-up firms and researchers to solve real industry challenges and create sustainable business opportunities in chemistry. The overall winners will be awarded joint development agreements with AkzoNobel to help bring their ideas to market.

The 2018 edition calls for solutions within the following six areas:

•             Sustainable small particle technologies

•             Wastewater-free chemical sites

•             Intelligent chemical plants

•             Revolutionizing chlorate production

•             Sustainable powder technologies

•             Zero footprint surfactant platforms

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