Category: Євросоюз

Satellite imagery shows progress in the construction in Russia of a plant that will mass produce Iranian-designed kamikaze drones that Moscow is expected to target against Ukrainian energy facilities, a research organization said on Monday. Despite the headway, neither the United States nor its allies have imposed sanctions on the plant’s owner, JSC Alabuga, or its associated companies, said the Institute for Science and International Security report. The White House, the Russian embassy and Iran’s U.N. mission did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The report said a mid-September satellite image showed that new construction at the plant “directly” …

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Russian shelling hit the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson Monday, killing three people and injuring at least 12, including a 2-month-old infant, according to local governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Since their liberation last year, Kherson and the western bank of the Dnipro River have been regularly bombarded by Russians from Dnipro’s eastern bank. There are usually rounds of air alerts during the day. Two people were killed and 10 more injured in an afternoon combined attack in the central part of the city, Prokudin said. “Eight vehicles, including one ambulance, an administrative building, a hospital, and at least fifteen houses were …

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An ally of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has been transferred from house arrest to a detention center, where she will be held for the remainder of her trial on extremism charges. Ksenia Fadeyeva, who formerly ran Navalny’s office in the Siberian City of Tomsk, is the latest in a string of Russian crackdowns on political activists, independent journalists and rights workers. Fadeyeva was also a member of the local legislature in Tomsk. The transfer to a detention center comes after she was placed under house arrest three weeks ago for violating her restrictions. A prosecutor demanded the ruling be …

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Around 900 small earthquakes shook southern Iceland on Monday, as scientists warn a significant eruption from the Fagradalsfjall volcanic system may be imminent. Uncertainty surrounding possible damage from earthquakes and volcanic activity led nearly 4,000 people to be evacuated from their homes in the coastal town of Grindavik, about 40 kilometers southwest of the capital, Reykjavik. Thousands of small tremors have been recorded in the area in recent weeks, and Grindavik residents were evacuated early Saturday morning after quakes caused some damage to buildings and roads. Nearly all of those evacuated were able to find residences outside of the town …

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The European Union has jointly condemned Hamas for using hospitals and civilians as “human shields” in the Israel-Hamas war while EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell urged Israel “for maximum restraint in targeting in order to avoid human casualties.”  In a show of unity, all 27 members of the bloc issued a statement that “the EU condemns the use of hospitals and civilians as human shields by Hamas.” At a meeting of the bloc’s foreign affairs ministers, Borrell presented the statement he issued after weeks of often contrasting statements on how the group should address the Israel-Hamas war. “You know …

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A Ukrainian military officer allegedly coordinated last year’s attack on the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, according to The Washington Post, citing anonymous sources in Ukraine and Europe. No one has taken responsibility for the September 2022 explosions, off the Danish island of Bornholm, that damaged three out of four offshore natural gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea and delivering Russian gas to Europe. The United States and NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, called it an act of sabotage, while Moscow said it was an act of international terrorism.  Germany, Denmark and Sweden have launched investigations into the …

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Russia plans to block certain Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and protocols that are deemed by a commission of experts to pose a threat, state news agency RIA reported, citing correspondence from the digital ministry. Demand for VPN services soared after Russia restricted access to some Western social media after President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022. A 2017 Russian law obliged providers of VPN technology to cooperate with the Russian authorities and to restrict access to content banned by Russia or be banned themselves. Many VPN services remain widely in use throughout Russia and there has been …

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It is a familiar sight in this remote rural town: a migrant in a headscarf and thick winter coat carrying her belongings to the overcrowded reception center as a storm brews over the flat landscape. For many here and across this nation once known as a beacon of tolerance, it is too familiar. “Immigration is spiraling out of control,” Henk Tapper said while visiting his daughter in Ter Apel two weeks before the Netherlands votes in parliamentary elections on Nov. 22. Candidates across the political spectrum are campaigning on pledges to tackle migration problems that are crystallized in Ter Apel, …

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Top Ukraine presidential aide Andriy Yermak said Sunday he had arrived in the United States with a delegation headed by the economy minister for talks on cooperation and support to his war-torn country.     “Meetings in the White House, Congress, with think tanks and with representatives of civil society organizations are planned,” Yermak said.      The delegation led by Yulia Svyrydenko will discuss “the president’s formula for peace, strengthening Ukraine’s defense, comprehensively deepening our cooperation and many other important topics,” he added.     Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are regularly meeting with Western leaders to try …

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The evacuation of Russian nationals from the Gaza Strip has begun and more than 60 Russian passport holders have crossed into Egypt, Russia’s emergencies ministry said Sunday.  A limited evacuation, which began on Nov. 1, of foreign passport holders and Palestinians needing urgent medical treatment, to Egypt has faced difficulties. It was paused several times in the past week due to bombardments that aid staff said hit or targeted medical convoys.  “At the moment, citizens of the Russian Federation who wish to leave the conflict zone are crossing the checkpoint,” Russia’s emergencies ministry said.  “Russian Emergency Situations Ministry specialists are …

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English soldier Ken Hay was trapped behind German lines and captured while on night patrol in 1944, days after joining the Allied invasion of Normandy, a turning point in World War Two. The ambush near the bitterly contested “Hill 112” came during weeks of fighting after the largest seaborne assault in history, which began the liberation of France from Nazi German occupation. “Thirty of us went out, 16 including my brother got back, five of us got captured and nine got killed,” Hay said. As many nations around the world commemorate last century’s wars and other conflicts during a weekend …

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Pope Francis reiterated his plea Sunday for an end to hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians, and called for “much more” humanitarian aid for Gaza. “Enough, enough brothers, enough,” Francis said, adding the wounded in the Gaza Strip needed to be taken care of immediately and the protection of civilians assured. He also said hostages held by Hamas must be freed. Addressing the crowds in St. Peter’s Square after his weekly Angelus prayers, Francis said arms would never bring peace and that the conflict must not widen. “I am close to all those who suffer, Palestinians and Israelis,” he said, adding …

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A lion prowled the streets of an Italian seaside town for several hours Saturday after escaping from a local circus, before being sedated and captured. Alessandro Grando, mayor of Ladispoli, near Rome, had warned residents to stay at home while police and circus staff sought to catch the animal. Videos later published by Italian media, apparently taken by locals but not confirmed by AFP, showed the adult lion walking through dark and deserted streets. In a Facebook post around 10:30pm (2130 GMT), more than five hours after his original message raising the alarm, Grando said the lion had been “sedated …

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King Charles and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak led Britain in remembering the country’s war dead on Sunday, seeking to unify communities a day after a large pro-Palestinian march was marked by skirmishes between far-right counter-protesters and police. At a solemn ceremony at the Cenotaph war memorial on Whitehall in central London, Charles, Sunak, other politicians and senior members of the royal family held a two-minute silence and then laid wreaths to honor those killed in war. On Saturday, the annual Armistice Day commemoration marking the end of World War saw more than 300,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators march through central London, with …

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Huseyin Buyukdag says he loves Turkey and his job as a teacher. But with the rampant economic crisis and growing repression in his country, he said he and his wife have decided to try and find a better life in Germany. They are among a growing number of young and educated looking to leave Turkey, where rights and freedoms are being eroded and inflation is surging under increasingly authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After Erdogan secured a third term in office in May elections, things are unlikely to change, he says. “Even if I don’t want this, even if I …

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An American military aircraft crashed after suffering a “mishap” during training in the eastern Mediterranean, the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) said Saturday.  It did not specify the type of plane or where it was flying from, but the United States has deployed a carrier strike group to the area as part of efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a regional conflict.  “On the evening of November 10, a U.S. military aircraft conducting training operations in the eastern Mediterranean suffered a mishap and went down,” EUCOM said in a statement that did not provide information on the fate …

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Latvia’s president says Russia is planning for a long war in Ukraine and he has a message for countries wavering on continuing military support to Kyiv: Keep supplying arms or the Ukrainians will lose and Russia will have a green light for threatening others in the future. Edgars Rinkēvičs said in an interview with The Associated Press that “it is important to actually fight for international peace, and peace in Europe, because if we stop Russia in Ukraine, then Russia is not going to be able to challenge other countries.” He pointed to the disruptive role that Russia’s Wagner mercenary …

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More than 300,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London on Saturday, with police arresting more than 120 people as they sought to stop far-right counterprotesters from ambushing the main rally.  Skirmishes broke out between police and groups gathered to protest the demonstration taking place on Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War I, when Britain and other nations commemorate their war dead.  Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the violence seen at the Cenotaph war memorial and also attacked “Hamas sympathizers” who joined the bigger rally, “singing antisemitic chants and brandishing pro-Hamas signs and clothing on today’s protest.”  …

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European Union countries are having reservations about committing a long-term fund of $21.4 billion of military aid for Ukraine as its grinding fight continues against Russia’s invasion. EU defense ministers prepared to discuss the plan Tuesday in Brussels proposed by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell last July. However, diplomats say multiple countries — including Germany — have voiced reservations about committing up to $5 billion annually over four years as part of broader Western security commitments to bolster Ukraine’s defenses. The EU already has provided aid of arms and equipment worth $26 billion, according to the bloc’s diplomatic service. …

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Residents of a fishing town in southwestern Iceland left their homes Saturday after increasing concern about a potential volcanic eruption caused civil defense authorities to declare a state of emergency in the region. Police decided to evacuate Grindavik after recent seismic activity in the area moved south toward the town and monitoring indicated that a corridor of magma, or semi-molten rock, now extends under the community, Iceland’s Meteorological Office said. The town of 3,400 is on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the capital, Reykjavik. “At this stage, it is not possible to determine exactly whether …

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