Month: April 2023

Lithuania’s parliament passed legislation Tuesday to make it legal to deny entry to asylum seekers, the EU member’s latest move to fight illegal immigration from Belarus to the dismay of rights activists. The Baltic state had already been engaging in so-called pushbacks since 2021, when thousands of migrants and refugees — mainly from the Middle East and Africa — began trying to enter the European Union via Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. The EU argued that the influx was a “hybrid attack” orchestrated by the Belarusian regime in retaliation for international sanctions against Minsk. The number of attempted crossings has since …

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Britain’s Prince William has settled a phone-hacking claim against Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper arm for a “huge sum” after a secret deal struck with Buckingham Palace, lawyers for the heir’s brother Prince Harry said in court documents. Harry, the younger son of King Charles, is suing Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) at the High Court in London for multiple unlawful acts allegedly committed on behalf of its tabloids, the Sun and now defunct News of the World, from the mid-1990s until 2016. In preliminary hearings this week, NGN, which has paid out millions of pounds to settle more than a thousand …

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EU countries Tuesday gave the final approval to the biggest revamp to date of Europe’s carbon market, which is set to make it more costly to pollute and sharpen the 27-member bloc’s main tool for cutting carbon dioxide emissions. The world’s first major carbon trading system has since 2005 forced power plants and factories to buy permits when they emit CO2 and has cut emissions from those sectors by 43%. European Union members approved a deal agreed last year by negotiators from EU countries and Parliament to reform the carbon market to cut emissions by 62% from 2005 levels by …

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Latest Developments Estonian Prime Minister supports Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, EU China says it respects the sovereignty of former Soviet states Letter containing unknown substance was sent to the French embassy in Moscow, the TASS news agency said Monday, citing law enforcement. Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile struck a museum in the city of Kupiasnk on Tuesday, killing at least one person and injuring 10 others. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is doing all it can to destroy Ukraine’s history, culture and its people. “Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods,” Zelenskyy said after the Kupiansk attack. “We …

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The European Union’s top diplomat described as good news China’s distancing from controversial comments from one of its envoys who questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet states.     EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s remarks come after China’s ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, sparked an uproar by suggesting countries emerging from the ashes of the Soviet Union did not have status under international law.      “They [China] issued a tweet yesterday saying they hope that this statement or remark issued was not the official position of China,” Borrell said. “And now we have the concrete answer from China …

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In the aftermath of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year, global attitudes toward Russia’s leadership have shifted dramatically, with large majorities of the population in dozens of countries reporting disapproval of the Kremlin. Data compiled from surveys of thousands of people in 137 countries and regions showed a marked decline in approval of the Kremlin, according to a report released by the Gallup organization on Tuesday. Globally, 57% of respondents reported that they disapprove of Russia’s leadership in 2022, up from just 38% the year before. Only 21% of respondents said that they approve of Russia’s leadership, …

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The U.K. government on Monday said it was applying for a court order to stop a strike by nurses in the state-run National Health Service from going ahead.    Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he was acting on a request from NHS Employers, which represents hospital groups in England and Wales, to declare the planned walk-out on May 2 “unlawful.”    Nurses are due to start a new strike on the evening of April 30 and end two days later, on May 2. The government is arguing that the nurses’ union mandate for a walkout covers only the first day of the …

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