Month: August 2021

Russian Opposition Leader Faces New Charge, More Jail

Imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny faces a new charge that a non-profit organization he created encouraged Russians to break the law.The charge, which was announced Wednesday by Russia’s Investigative Committee, is punishable by up to three years in prison.The committee says Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption group encouraged Russians to “perform unlawful acts” by encouraging Russians to participate in unauthorized protests in January.Russia Opens Criminal Case Into 2 Navalny Allies They are accused of raising funds for organizations deemed by the authorities as ‘extremist’   Navalny, 45, is currently serving a two-and-a-half year sentence on a 2014 embezzlement conviction. He was arrested …

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Belarus Tells US to Reduce Embassy Staff, Rejects Ambassador

The regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has responded to the latest round of U.S. sanctions by requesting Washington to reduce its embassy staff in Minsk to five people by September 1. Belarusian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Anatol Hlaz said in an interview that was placed on the ministry’s website on August 11 that Minsk also had revoked its consent to the appointment of Julie Fisher as the U.S. ambassador to Belarus. “Taking into account that Belarus has lost trust in the current U.S. administration, we suspend cooperation in all new projects, grants, and programs coordinated by the U.S. government until such trust …

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Austria Protests Detention of 2 Journalists in Belarus

The Austrian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday protested the detention of two journalists who were working in Belarus for Austria’s national broadcaster ORF.ORF correspondent Carola Schneider and her camera operator were detained Monday in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and taken to a police station.The broadcaster cited a Belarusian human rights group as saying that plainclothes police officers stopped the two journalists while they were interviewing a local resident. The pair were later released, ORF said.Austria’s Foreign Ministry called the police action “completely unacceptable.””We immediately lodged a protest,” the ministry said on Twitter. “Correspondents must be able to work unhindered and …

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Six EU Countries Want to Maintain Deportations of Afghan Asylum-Seekers 

Half-a-dozen European Union countries have told Brussels they want to continue deporting Afghan migrants whose asylum-applications are denied — despite the Taliban’s recent military successes, including overrunning eight of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals in the past week. EU officials told reporters during a briefing Tuesday that they found it inconceivable any EU member states would want to continue with deportations while conflict is raging in Afghanistan and as the Taliban is making major inroads in the wake of the U.S. and NATO withdrawal from the country. But the EU says it is up to the member states what they do, adding to …

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Опитування: 70% українців не згодні з тезою Путіна про «єдність росіян та українців»

Незгоду з Путіним висловили 52 відсотки опитаних на сході України (22 відсотки згодні), 59 відсотків на півдні (19 відсотків згодні), у центрі – відповідно 74 і 12 відсотків, на заході країни – відповідно 90 і 0,4 відсотка …

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Greece Gains on Wildfires, Faces Climate Change Criticism

Massive forest fires have gripped Greece for more than a week. The government has come under fierce criticism for failing to heed warnings of wildfires amid a protracted heat wave affecting not just Greece but the Balkans and southern Europe.Some of the nearly 600 wildfires that have sparked across Greece, have been brought under control. But fresh ones flared on the island of Evia and in the Peloponnese, adding to the 62 evacuation orders authorities issued over the past week across the country. Several mayors criticized a lack of aerial support in fighting the fires, despite the government’s assurances earlier this year that it had set aside ample resources. But even before the fires began, environmental experts had warned of the pending danger Those experts, including Costas Synolakis, a professor of natural hazards …

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Greek Officials Defend Wildfire Response

Firefighters in Greece continue to battle wildfires as officials defend their response amid unusually high temperatures and dry conditions. “We handled an operationally unique situation, with 586 fires in eight days during the worst weather conditions we’ve seen in 40 years,” Greece’s civil protection chief Nikos Hardalias said at a Tuesday news conference. “Never was there such a combination of adverse factors in the history of the fire service.” The government has pledged $586 million in aid to help those affected by the fires, including a massive blaze on Evia island that has been burning for more than a week. More than 900 firefighters have been working to …

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Britain’s Prince Andrew Faces Rape Lawsuit

Virginia Giuffre, an alleged victim of late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has filed a lawsuit against Britain’s Prince Andrew, alleging he raped and sexually abused her several times when she was 17 years old.Andrew, who is Queen Elizabeth II’s second son and ninth in line to the British throne, has consistently denied the accusations and has said he does not recall ever meeting Giuffre.In the civil lawsuit filed Monday at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Virginia Giuffre, now 38, said the prince sexually abused her on multiple occasions during visits arranged by Epstein, who committed suicide …

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Germany’s COVID-19 Vaccine Program Has Slowed Dramatically, Merkel Says

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday Germany has fallen behind other European countries in its COVID-19 vaccination efforts, and with new infections on the rise, the government must take steps to speed up the program or run the risk of seeing its health care system overwhelmed.Merkel spoke to reporters Tuesday following a meeting with Germany’s 16 state governors. She said they are all in agreement that the federal, state and local governments must promote vaccinations and make them easy to obtain.German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a news conference at the Chancellery in Berlin on Aug. 10, 2021.The German chancellor …

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Дрифт на Софійській площі в Києві: вилучені автомобілі, кримінальне провадження, 50 тисяч гривень шкоди і 1700 гривень штрафу

Поліція почала провадження за статтею про хуліганство, яка в разі визнання винним передбачає обмеження волі до 5 років або позбавлення волі до 4 років …

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Messi Gets Hero’s Welcome in France After Agreeing to Join Paris Saint Germain

Six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi received a hero’s welcome after flying to France on Tuesday to join Paris Saint Germain (PSG) following his shock departure from Barcelona.The agreement to sign the 34-year-old Argentine is a major coup for wealthy PSG, who will add one of the best soccer players of all time to an already formidable front line that includes Brazil’s Neymar and young Frenchman Kylian Mbappe.Wearing a T-shirt that read “This is Paris,” Messi beamed and waved at scores of fans who had come to greet him at Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of the French capital …

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