USA: Stephen Moore appointed to the Federal reserve board by Donald Trump

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EU: Portugal's FM to become next Eurogroup president

The Eurogroup meeting on Monday elected Portuguese finance minister Mario Centeno as president of the Eurogroup.

The new president will take office as of Jan 13, 2018 and will serve a two and a half year term.

He is the first minister from a southern eurozone economy to hold the elected role and first Eurogroup meeting under the presidency of Mario Centeno will take place on Jan 22, 2018.

Mario Centeno has been the finance minister of Portugal since November 2015.

Read more: Portugal's FM to become next Eurogroup president - World - Chinadaily.com.cn

Turkish-Dutch foreign relations break down; Ambassador recalled - by Janene Pieters

Talks on improving the relationship between the Netherlands and Turkey have failed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday.

The Netherlands officially withdrew its ambassador in Ankara.

Relations between the Netherlands and Turkey have been tense since the Netherlands refused Turkish ministers access to the country to campaign for a referendum that gave Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan more power.

Turkey responded by comparing the Dutch to Nazis, calling them fascists, imposing a number of sanctions and accusing the Netherlands of mass murder in Srebrenica. The Netherlands refused to congratulate Erdogan when he won the referendum. 

Over the past months the two countries have been in talks on repairing the relationship. In December Erdogan called Prime Minister Mark Rutte an 'old friend' and said that he wanted to restore the relationship with the Netherlands.

And in mid-January Rutte said he no longer demanded that Erdogan publicly apologize for calling the Dutch Nazis and fascists, according to RTL Nieuws.

But these talks have been unsuccessful, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday. "For the time being these talks do not offer any view on the normalization of bilateral relations", the Ministry said in a statement. Foreign Affairs Minister Halbe Zijlstra added: "The recent talks provided an opportunity for Turkey and the Netherland to come closer together again, but we did not agree on how normalization should take place."

The government therefore decided to officially withdraw the Dutch ambassador to Ankara. The ambassador hasn't had access to Turkey since March 2017. "As long as the Netherlands does not have an ambassador in Turkey, the Netherlands will also not grant permission for the appointment of a new Turkish ambassador in the Netherlands. This message was conveyed to the Turkish agent in The Hague", the ministry said.

Read more: Turkish-Dutch foreign relations break down; Ambassador recalled | NL Times

Russia-US Relations: Kremlin hardliner to be next Russian ambassador to the US

Russian President Vladimir Putin has picked a career diplomat, considered a hard-liner, to be Moscow's next ambassador to the United States.

Anatoly Antonov, 62, spent 33 years working in the foreign ministry, before jumping to the defense ministry in 2011, where he became a deputy minister in charge of international relations.

He takes the job at a particularly tense time in US-Russian relations. Late last month the US imposed sanctions against Kremlin insiders in response to Moscow's interference in last year's US presidential election - a charge the Kremlin denies.

Read more: Kremlin hardliner to be next Russian ambassador to the US | News | DW | 21.08.2017

USA: FBI director nominated by Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has nominated a new director of the FBI.

Christopher Wray was a former US attorney general under President George W.Bush. He served as assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s criminal division from 2003 to 2005. working on corporate fraud scandals and cases involving US financial markets.

He currently works for King and Spalding’s Washington and Atlanta offices where he handles various white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement cases, according to the firm.

White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said Trump met last week with candidates for the FBI director post, including Wray.

The announcement comes the day before Comey is scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Moscow’s alleged interference and any potential ties to Trump’s campaign or associates.

Read more: FBI director nominated by Donald Trump | Euronews