Month: August 2022

NATO will increase its peacekeeping force in Kosovo if there is an escalation of tensions with neighboring Serbia, the alliance’s chief said on Wednesday on the eve of EU-facilitated talks between the estranged western Balkan neighbors. “We have now a significant mission, a military presence in Kosovo close to 4,000 troops,” Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference after talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels, who stood alongside him. “If needed, we will move forces, deploy them where needed and increase our presence. We have already increased the presence in the north. We are ready to do more.” Tensions …

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Turkey and Israel said on Wednesday they will re-appoint respective ambassadors more than four years after they were called back, marking another milestone after months of steady improvement in relations. The two regional powers had expelled ambassadors in 2018 over the killing of 60 Palestinians by Israeli forces during protests on the Gaza border against the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. But they have been working to mend long-strained ties with energy emerging as a key area for potential cooperation. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office said on Wednesday the two countries decided to restore full diplomatic ties. …

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday rejected what he said were comments by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that diminished the Holocaust. Abbas was asked during a visit to Berlin on Tuesday about the upcoming 50th anniversary of an attack by Palestinian militants against Israelis at the Munich Olympics. Abbas spoke about incidents in which Israelis killed Palestinians since 1947, saying, “Israel has committed 50 massacres in Palestinian villages and cities, in Deir Yassin, Tantura, Kafr Qasim and many others, 50 massacres, 50 Holocausts.” Scholz, who was with Abbas when he made the comments at a joint news conference, used a …

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A law has taken effect in Scotland to ensure period products are available free of charge to anyone who needs them. The Scottish government said it became the first in the world to legally protect the right to access free period products when its Period Products Act came into force Monday. Under the new law, schools, colleges and universities as well as local government bodies must make a range of period products such as tampons and sanitary pads available for free in their bathrooms. The Scottish government already invested millions of pounds since 2017 to fund free period products in …

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Wolfgang Petersen, the German filmmaker whose World War II submarine epic “Das Boot” propelled him into a blockbuster Hollywood career that included the films “In the Line of Fire,” “Air Force One” and “The Perfect Storm,” has died. He was 81. Petersen died Friday at his home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood after a battle with pancreatic cancer, said representative Michelle Bega. Petersen, born in the north German port city of Emden, made two features before his 1982 breakthrough, “Das Boot,” then the most expensive movie in German film history. The 149-minute film (the original cut ran 210 …

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Ukrainian technicians at the Russian-held nuclear power plant hit by shelling work under the barrels of Russian guns and face huge pressure, but they are staying on to make sure there is no Chernobyl-style disaster, one of them said. The technician, who asked that his identity not be disclosed for fear of Russian reprisals, offered a rare glimpse into the fraught working conditions at the Zaporizhzhia plant, which Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of shelling. Europe’s biggest nuclear plant was captured by Russia in March, and the bouts of shelling have been widely condemned, prompting calls for an urgent …

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The United Nations said Tuesday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet Thursday in western Ukraine with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the invitation to the tripartite meeting was made by Zelenskyy. The leaders represent three of the four members in the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Russia is the fourth member. The deal, signed in Istanbul on July 22, has allowed for the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports to the international market, while removing some obstacles to the sale of Russian fertilizer and food stuffs. Some 20 million metric tons of …

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Investigative journalism has emerged as a powerful force during Greece’s phone-hacking scandal, rocking a government that tries to “control” the media landscape, experts say. The long-rumbling “Predatorgate” affair reignited at the end of July when Nikos Androulakis, leader of the opposition Socialists, told journalists about the attempted surveillance of his mobile phone via spyware Predator, having filed a legal complaint. The spyware can hack into a target’s phone and access messages and conversations. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged last week that the intelligence service’s surveillance had been “politically unacceptable,” claiming he had not been informed. He was speaking three …

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Germany’s main industry lobby group warned Tuesday that factories may have to throttle production or halt it completely because plunging water levels on the Rhine River are making it harder to transport cargo. The Rhine’s level at Emmerich, near the Dutch border, dropped by a further 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) in 24 hours, hitting zero on the depth gauge. Authorities say the shipping lane itself still has a depth of almost 200 centimeters (6 feet, 6 inches), but the record low measurement Tuesday morning highlights the extreme lack of water caused by months of drought affecting much of Europe. “The …

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