Week 11 recap on General News (March 10-16)

* Hungary overrides veto and agrees to extend EU sanctions on Russian persons

Budapest demanded that eight names be removed from the blacklist, but a compromise was eventually reached and four names were published. In addition, three persons who are deceased have been excluded. (more here)

* China and Russia call for an end to nuclear sanctions against Iran

The trilateral meeting in Beijing took place after Donald Trump wrote a letter to Iran's supreme leader to resume negotiations on the nuclear issue. (more here)

* Trump suggests NATO's Rutte "contributed" to Greenland annexation

US President Donald Trump welcomes NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to Washington. They discussed Greenland, with Trump again defending the US annexation on security grounds. (more here)

* Armenia and Azerbaijan agree to end decades of conflict

Armenian and Azerbaijani officials announced on Thursday that they have finalised the text of a peace deal aimed at ending the nearly four-decade-old conflict between the South Caucasus states over Nagorno-Karabakh. (more here)

* Trump proposes 200% tariff on EU alcohol imports as part of trade escalation

US President Donald Trump has noted that this threat will remain in place until the EU lifts the 50% tariff on US-produced whiskey. (more here)

* EU strikes back against US steel and aluminium tariffs with retaliatory package

Early Wednesday morning, the EU executive unveiled a set of proportionate countermeasures on US imports into the EU, targeting a range of US products from boats to bourbon to Harley-Davidson motorcycles. (more here)

* According to SOHR, 1,130 people have been killed in clashes in Syria, including 830 civilians

Syria's new interim government announced the end of a multiday military operation against fighters loyal to ousted President Bashar Assad, marking the worst fighting since December, when the years-long civil war ended (more here)

* February unemployment in the Czech Republic rose slightly to 4.4 %. Job vacancies increased compared to January

As of 28 February 2025, the Labour Office of the Czech Republic registered a total of 326 223 job seekers, which was 5707 more than in January. In the year-on-year comparison, the share of unemployed was 0.4 percentage point higher, i.e. by 30,116 applicants. (more here)