Month: September 2024

Євросоюз

Soyuz craft heads to space station with 2 Russians, 1 American

MOSCOW — A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American blasted off Wednesday for an express trip to the International Space Station.  The space capsule atop a towering rocket set off at 1623 GMT from Russia’s manned space launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and was scheduled to dock with the space station three hours later, in contrast to some missions that last for days.  The mission commander is Alexei Ovchinin, with Russian compatriot Ivan Vagner and American Donald Pettit in the crew.  The blast-off took place without obvious problems and the Soyuz entered orbit eight minutes after liftoff, a relief …

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Євросоюз

Generation Z drives far-right support in Europe

London — Support for far-right figures among young voters appears to be growing in several European countries. Much of the focus is on Germany, where the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) is hoping to secure another victory in the upcoming Brandenburg state election in the east of the country on September 22.  AfD secured a resounding victory in the Thuringia state election earlier this month, winning 32.8% of the vote, well ahead of second-place Christian Democrats at 23.6%.  It was the first time the far right had won a state election since the end of World War II in 1945.  “More …

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Євросоюз

Wagner lost veteran fighters in Mali ambush, in setback to Russia’s Africa campaign 

LONDON/DAKAR — Among the dozens of Wagner mercenaries presumed dead after a lethal battle with Tuareg rebels during a desert sandstorm in Mali in July were Russian war veterans who survived tours in Ukraine, Libya and Syria, according to interviews with relatives and a review of social media data. The loss of such experienced fighters exposes dangers faced by Russian mercenary forces working for military juntas, which are struggling to contain separatists and powerful offshoots of Islamic State and Al Qaeda across the arid Sahel region in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The Mali defeat raises doubts over whether Moscow, which …

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Євросоюз

US, UK top diplomats head to Ukraine with eye on weapons

Przemysl, Poland — The top U.S. and British diplomats headed together into Ukraine on Wednesday to discuss further easing rules on firing Western weapons into Russia, whose alleged acquisition of Iranian missiles has raised new fears. In a rare joint trip, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was taking the train to Kyiv with Foreign Secretary David Lammy, whose 2-month-old Labor government has vowed to keep up Britain’s role as a key defender of Ukraine. The pair, who boarded the train early Wednesday at the Polish border town of Przemysl, are expected to meet in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, …

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