Here's a sanctions-related item sent to us by RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak:
European Union leaders have adopted an investment ban that targets firms and individuals in Sevastopol and across the rest of the Crimean peninsula.
The ban comes after EU foreign ministers in November decided that the EU’s non-recognition policy toward Russia’s annexation of Crimea needs to be bolstered with tougher sanctions.
The ban prohibits EU citizens and EU-registered companies from buying real estate on the Crimean peninsula, from setting up joint ventures with Crimean companies, and from buying Crimean firms, their shares, or other securities.
It also bans the sale, export, or transport of goods using EU-registered vessels and aircraft to Crimean firms in the transport, telecommunications, and energy sectors -- including the exploration and production of oil, natural gas, and mineral resources.
In the tourism sector, EU cruise ships are banned from calling at any port on the Crimean Peninsula.