Month: June 2022

Russia Edges Toward Debt Payment Default

Russia moved closer Sunday to defaulting on international debt payments for the first time in a century.  Interest payments totaling $100 million on two bonds were originally due May 27, but carried a 30-day grace period.  Russia has struggled to make such payments due to restrictions on its financial activities and sanctions imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine that began in late February.  Russian forces launched new missile attacks Sunday on Ukraine’s two biggest cities, the capital of Kyiv and Kharkiv.  Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least two apartment buildings in the city were hit, leaving at …

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Erdogan to Meet With Leaders of Sweden, Finland Before NATO Summit in 4-Way Talks

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will attend a round of talks with the leaders of Sweden and Finland, as well as NATO on Tuesday ahead of the summit in Madrid, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Sunday. Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the bids have faced opposition from Turkey, which has been angered by what it says is Helsinki and Stockholm’s support for Kurdish militants and arms embargoes on Ankara. Speaking to broadcaster Haberturk, Kalin said he and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal would also attend a round of talks with …

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Ukraine War Could Boost Illegal Drug Production, says UN

The war in Ukraine could allow illegal drug production to flourish, while the opium market’s future hinges on the fate of crisis-wracked Afghanistan, the United Nations warned Monday.  Previous experience from the Middle East and Southeast Asia suggests conflict zones can act as a “magnet” for making synthetic drugs, which can be manufactured anywhere, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in its annual report. “This effect may be greater when the conflict area is near large consumer markets.”  The UNODC said the number of dismantled amphetamine laboratories in Ukraine rose from 17 in 2019 to 79 …

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Greece to Triple Length of Border Fence With Turkey

Greece is set to further seal its land frontiers with rival neighbor Turkey, tripling the length of a soaring fence built to block illegal migrants from sneaking in. The plan comes as Greece faces a sudden surge in refugees, both along its land and sea frontiers, as relations with its age-old foe deteriorate. Greece began extending the security fence along its rugged border with Turkey last year, a decade after Athens initially built a 13-kilometer fence in the region to stem the tide of illegal migration. But a sudden surge in refugee flows has authorities concerned now. “There is a …

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Germany to Charge Most Citizens for COVID Rapid Tests

Germany will start charging for rapid COVID-19 tests that were previously free, though vulnerable groups will be exempt from the fee. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said that starting July 1 the rapid tests widely available at centers across Germany will cost citizens 3 euros ($3.16) each, with the rest subsidized by the government. The tests will remain free for people who can prove they belong to vulnerable groups, for visitors to care homes and hospitals, and for small children. The planned end to free tests at the end of June has raised concerns that Germany might experience an undetected rise …

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Russia’s Putin to Make First Foreign Trip Since Launching Ukraine War 

Vladimir Putin will visit two small former Soviet states in Central Asia this week, Russian state television reported Sunday, in what would be the Russian leader’s first known trip abroad since ordering the invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion has killed thousands of people, displaced millions more and led to severe financial sanctions from the West, which Putin says are a reason to build stronger trade ties with other powers such as China, India and Iran. Pavel Zarubin, the Kremlin correspondent of the Rossiya 1 state television station, said Putin would visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and then meet Indonesian …

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У Білорусі готують ДРГ, а на кордоні з Україною РФ тримає окремі підрозділи військ – Генштаб ЗСУ

На території Білорусі спостерігається підготовка диверсійно-розвідувальних груп для їх подальших дій на території України, по…. «На Волинському та Поліському напрямках, на території республіки білорусь, відзначається підготовка окремими підрозділами збройних сил російської федерації диверсійно-розвідувальних груп для їх подальших дій на території України», – йдеться у повідомленні. На Сіверському напрямку, за даними Генштабу, з метою демонстрації присутності та сковування дій українських сил Росія утримує в прикордонних районах Брянської та Курської областей окремі підрозділи військ Західного військового округу. Головне управління розвідки Міністерства оборони України 26 червня заявило, що Росія планує нарощування чисельності оперативно-тактичної авіації на території Білорусі, зокрема запланований переліт 10 літаків на …

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Russia Attacks Ukraine’s Two Biggest Cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv 

Russia launched new missile attacks Sunday on Ukraine’s two biggest cities, the capital of Kyiv and Kharkiv, even as leaders of the Group of Seven nations from the world’s leading democracies held talks in the Bavarian Alps to determine new ways to isolate Moscow. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least two apartment buildings in the city were hit, leaving at least one person dead, and four others injured. Russia ramped up its use of cruise missiles, striking targets across northwestern Ukraine. Air raid sirens blared in several cities. “It’s more of their barbarism,” U.S. President Joe Biden said of …

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Despite Strong Summer Start, Europe’s Aviation Industry Frets 

Air traffic is booming this summer, but after European vacations are over will passenger demand hold up? The question was the focus of the annual congress of the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe in Rome this week, held at the cusp of the approaching peak season. The summer period is shaping up to be by far the best since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis that has severely affected the airline industry since 2020. Some airlines, such as Ryanair, and countries, in particular Greece, have already recovered or even exceeded their 2019 daily flight numbers, according to Eurocontrol, a pan-European …

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Norway Pays Tribute to Victims of Oslo Shooting 

Norway paid tribute on Sunday to the victims of a deadly shooting near a gay bar in the capital that shocked the normally peaceful country and led to the cancellation of a Pride march. The altar of Oslo cathedral was draped in a rainbow cloth for a service to remember the victims of the attack, attended by Crown Princess Mette-Marit. Investigators are probing  the motives of the suspected gunman, who opened fire in the early hours of Saturday, killing two and wounding 21. “Oslo is in mourning. The whole country has been shaken by this attack,” the Norwegian Protestant Church …

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