These were the 10 biggest European tech stories this week

Happy Saturday!

This week, and for the last time this decade, our research team tracked almost 90 tech funding deals worth more than €600 million, as well as around 20 M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe, including Russia, Israel, and Turkey.

Meanwhile, here's an overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for this week:

1) Snap has reportedly acquired Ukrainian startup AI Factory for $166 million.

2) Amazon’s UK ambitions have been checked by the competition watchdog after it launched an in-depth investigation into the online retailer’s purchase of a stake in food delivery company Deliveroo.

3) Turkey’s top court ruled on Thursday (26 December) that the government’s ban on access to Wikipedia violated freedom of expression.

4) Russia has successfully tested a country-wide alternative to the global internet, its government announced.

5) Spotify said in a statement that it will 'pause' political advertising in early 2020 across its ad-supported tier. The move only applies to the US, as Spotify doesn’t run political ads in other countries.

6) Majelan, a Paris, France-based podcast production and distribution platform startup, has secured $10 million in its first funding round.

7) Russia's Mail.Ru Group now owns 60.3% of Skillbox, an e-learning platform for digital and IT specialties.

8) Anywhere365, a Rotterdam-based contact center and enterprise dialogue management solution provider, received a €40 million strategic investment from Bregal Milestone.

9) Delivery Hero has taken over Berlin-based ghost restaurant startup Honest Food.

10) Belgium's UnifiedPost has raised €13 million to bolster its cloud platform, which enables business to handle invoices and other administrative documents.

Podcast: tech.eu Podcast #148: Good and bad news for big tech, EU and climate change, crypto art, Elastic vs. Amazon, interview with Jacob Bangsgaard of MaaS Alliance

Bonus link: Israel now has 20 unicorns, privately-held tech companies worth more than $1 billion (Globes)