Month: September 2022

Ukraine Looks For War Dead in Recaptured Northeast Region  

Ukraine on Sunday searched for its war dead in Izium and other towns in the northeastern part of the country it reclaimed from Russia in a lightning advance earlier this month. Izium Mayor Valery Marchenko told state television that “the exhumation is under way, the graves are being dug up and all the remains are being transported to Kharkiv. “The work will continue for another two weeks, there are many burials,” Marchenko said. “No new ones have been found yet, but the services are looking for possible burials.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that investigators had discovered new evidence …

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Pelosi: Attacks on Armenia by Azerbaijan Are ‘Illegal And Deadly’

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, visiting Armenia Sunday, has condemned Azerbaijan’s recent attacks on Armenia, calling them “illegal and deadly.” More than 200 people have been killed in the border clashes. Speaking in Yerevan, Pelosi said the U.S. supports Armenian sovereignty and wants to know what it needs to defend itself. The U.S. lawmaker said the attacks were “initiated by the Azeris and there has to be recognition of that.” Pelosi said the attacks on Armenia by Azerbaijan are part of a worldwide struggle between democracy and autocracy. …

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EU Moves to Cut Money for Hungary Over Damaging Democracy  

The European Union executive recommended on Sunday suspending some 7.5 billion euros in funding for Hungary over corruption, the first such case in the 27-nation bloc under a new sanction meant to better protect the rule of law. The EU introduced the new financial sanction two years ago precisely in response to what it says amounts to the undermining of democracy in Poland and Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban subdued courts, media, NGOs and academia, as well as restricting the rights of migrants, gays and women during more than a decade in power. “It’s about breaches of the rule …

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Ukraine, Food Security in Spotlight During UN Leaders Week

The annual gathering of leaders at the U.N. General Assembly is taking place this year in the shadow of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and as the war in Ukraine heads into a possibly decisive period. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is skipping the Queen’s funeral to remain in New York to oversee an Education Summit on Monday. He will then participate in the opening of the annual debate Tuesday morning, telling reporters it would be “inconceivable” that he would miss it. U.S. President Joe Biden as host country leader would traditionally be the second head of state to address the assembly Tuesday, …

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Biden in London for Queen’s Funeral

U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are in London where they will attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.  Biden, who arrived late Saturday, is among hundreds of world leaders who are gathering in Britain to attend the queen’s funeral Monday.  Biden and his wife are expected to pay their respects to Elizabeth Sunday in Westminster Hall, where her body had been lying in state since Wednesday.  Members of Europe’s royal families are also expected to attend Elizabeth’s services.  King Charles III, Elizabeth’s son, is holding a formal state reception Sunday for the many dignitaries who have gathered in England’s …

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Belgrade’s EuroPride March Goes on Despite Far-Right Protests, Arrests

Serbian police arrested more than 30 people as thousands of LGBTQ activists turned out for Belgrade’s EuroPride march Saturday, despite a government ban. The event had been intended as the cornerstone event of the EuroPride gathering. But the interior ministry banned the march earlier this week, citing security concerns after right wing groups threatened to hold protests. And although the march took place without major incident, local media said clashes broke out between counterdemonstrators and police. The interior ministry had also barred any counter protests, but some far-right groups vowed to rally and gather in front of churches. Interior Minister …

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William, Harry Stand Vigil with Cousins at Queen’s Coffin

Princes William and Harry stood vigil at either end of the coffin of their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Saturday, heads bowed as a line of mourners streamed past the late monarch’s lying-in-state. The two sons of King Charles, attired in military uniforms, stood in silence at a 15-minute vigil in the vast Westminster Hall where the coffin has been lying since Wednesday, draped in the Royal Standard and with the bejeweled Imperial State Crown on top. William and Harry were joined by their six cousins, including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who earlier paid tribute to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. The …

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Pelosi in Armenia Days After Clashes, Says US Committed to Peace

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived Saturday in Armenia, days after the Caucasus country’s deadly border clashes with Azerbaijan jeopardized Western efforts to broker lasting peace between the arch foes. The worst clashes since Yerevan’s 2020 war with Baku erupted on Tuesday, claiming the lives of 215 people, before hostilities ended on Thursday after international mediation. Pelosi said her visit “is a powerful symbol of the United States firm commitment to a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Armenia, and a stable and secure Caucasus region.” She is the highest-ranking U.S. official to travel to Armenia since the tiny, impoverished nation’s 1991 …

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Cyprus Hails US Decision to Fully Lift Weapons Embargo

Cyprus on Saturday hailed the full lifting of a U.S. arms embargo on the ethnically divided island nation as a milestone reaffirming increasingly tighter bilateral bonds that serve to bolster stability in the turbulent east Mediterranean region. President Nicos Anastasiades tweeted his gratitude to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez, for helping to lift the embargo. Turkey, which maintains more than 35,000 troops in the northern third of Cyprus, condemned the decision. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry urged the U.S. to reconsider, warning that the move would harm efforts for a Cyprus peace deal, …

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Biden Warns Putin on Use of WMDs: ‘Don’t, Don’t, Don’t’

President Joe Biden again is warning Russian President Vladimir Putin against using weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Ukraine. “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. You will change the face of war unlike anything since World War II,” he said in an interview with CBS News scheduled to air Sunday night.  Biden would not comment specifically on a U.S. response if Russia were to use chemical or nuclear weapons in Ukraine. “They’ll become more of a pariah in the world than they ever have been,” he added.  “And depending on the extent of what they do will determine what response would occur.”    It …

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Харківщина: у деокупованій Козачій Лопані правоохоронці виявили катівню

На Харківщині у Козачій Лопані під час окупації війська РФ створили псевдоправоохоронний орган і у його підвальному приміщенні облаштували катівню, де піддавали тортурам цивільних – повідомляє пресслужба Харківської обласної прокуратури. У прокуратурі заявляють, що під час огляду вилучено документи, що підтверджують функціонування псевдовідділу поліції та апарат, яким окупанти катували мирних жителів струмом. Крім того, встановлені особи, які працювали на представників країни-агресора у Козачій Лопані, вживаються заходи щодо притягнення їх до кримінальної відповідальності, додають у відомстві. Це вже не перше повідомлення про виявлення катівень окупантів на звільнених територіях Харківщини, зокрема у Балаклії. За даними поліції, правоохоронці виявили 10 місць, де російські …

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