Category: Євросоюз

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Sunday as part of a West Africa tour as the European country looks to diversify its trade partners and expand economic partnerships in the energy-rich region. In his third trip to Africa since he took office in 2021, and his second this year, Scholz pushed for further development of Nigeria’s capacity to meet local needs even as Germany seeks improved trade relations with its second-largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. Germany-Nigeria trade volume is estimated to be about 3 billion euros annually. Major aspects of the two countries’ cooperation …

READ MORE

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Sunday to stand up to “imperialist powers” as he led Turkish centenary celebrations in the shadow of Israel’s escalating war with Hamas militants in Gaza. Erdogan took centerstage during daylong events that both honored the republic’s secular founder and played up the achievement of Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted party that has run Turkey since 2002. “Our country is in safe hands, you may rest in peace,” Erdogan said after laying a wreath at the mausoleum of military commander and statesman Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. “We will be successful and victorious. No imperialist power can prevent this,” Erdogan …

READ MORE

Russia said Sunday that it shot down 36 drones overnight over the Black Sea and the Crimean Peninsula. Ukraine, which has stepped up its campaign against Russia, has not commented on the overnight attack. From their meeting in Japan Sunday, the G7 trade ministers issued a joint statement about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it “brutal, unprovoked, unjustifiable and illegal war of aggression.” Russian universities have reportedly been instructed to stop any negative discussions during academic activities about any Russian political, economic and social trends, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday. This move marks yet another “restriction of the information …

READ MORE

The death toll from a fire at a mine owned by ArcelorMittal in Kazakhstan rose to 42 people on Sunday as a search for four miners continued, the Ministry for Emergency Situations said.    “The search operation is hampered by the presence of destroyed mining equipment, as well as rubble in some places”, the ministry said in a statement.    Rescuers are searching for miners in two areas of the mine 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) apart, it said.    On Saturday, operator ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the local unit of Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal MT.LU, said 206 of 252 people at the Kostenko mine had been …

READ MORE

A third round of Ukrainian-backed peace talks opened in Malta on Saturday with representatives from more than 60 countries but without Moscow, which condemned it as a “blatantly anti-Russian event.”  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the first of two days of closed-door talks among national security and policy advisers, which he hopes will drum up support for his 10-point plan to end the war.  In a statement on social media, he said 66 countries had taken part in the talks, proof that his plan “has gradually become global.”  It follows similar meetings in Jeddah and Copenhagen this summer, with the …

READ MORE

Schools will move to an online regime starting Monday in Ukraine’s central city of Vinnytsia after a hepatitis A outbreak sent scores of children and adults to the hospital, the country’s chief sanitary official said over the weekend.   “The main thing now is to establish the center of the outbreak and the causes in order to stop the spread of the viral hepatitis A among the population as soon as possible,” Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Ihor Kuzin wrote on Facebook on Saturday.  Kuzin, who also serves as Ukraine’s deputy health minister, said 141 people in the city and …

READ MORE

Britain’s King Charles III begins a four-day tour of Kenya on Tuesday, his first trip to Africa since becoming king following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, last year. His objectives include addressing what Buckingham Palace officials describe as “painful aspects” of Britain’s colonial past with the East African nation. He’ll also discuss issues related to the climate crisis and the importance of national security. VOA Nairobi Bureau Chief Mariama Diallo reports. …

READ MORE

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators rallied in cities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia on Saturday to show support for the Palestinians as Israel’s military widened its air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip. In one of the biggest marches, in London, aerial footage showed large crowds marching through the center of the capital to demand the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak call for a cease-fire. “The superpowers at play are not doing enough at the moment. This is why we’re here: We’re calling for a cease-fire, calling for Palestinian rights, the right to exist, to live, …

READ MORE

Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. Is There a Path to Refugee Resettlement for Palestinians? Palestinians are the largest stateless community worldwide, according to the United Nations, and when they become refugees, the way to resettlement in the United States or other countries is not a straightforward journey. Immigration reporter Aline Barros reports. Canada Admits Nearly 40,000 Afghans, Willing to Take More Canada is on the brink of fulfilling its commitment to accept 40,000 Afghans before the end of this year. The pledge, made …

READ MORE

Serbian police have arrested six people and seized automatic weapons after a shooting between migrants near the country’s tense border with Hungary killed three people and injured one. Police said late Friday they detained four Afghan and two Turkish nationals suspected of unlawful possession of guns and explosives. It was not immediately clear whether they would be charged with the shooting as well. The suspected clash between groups of migrants happened early Friday in abandoned farming warehouses near the village of Horgos. Police raided the area and seized two automatic rifles and ammunition. They also found 79 migrants and transferred …

READ MORE

As many as 400,000 people are estimated to have suffered sexual abuse from Spain’s Catholic clergy and lay people, according to an independent commission. At least half of the victims may have been children, said the nearly 800-page report released to the speaker of the Spanish parliament’s lower house Friday and then to reporters. Conducted by Spain’s ombudsman, Angel Gabilondo, who said the Church had often minimized or denied people’s reports of abuse, Spain’s first official probe of sex abuse by clergy members or others connected to the Catholic Church in the country was drawn from a survey based on …

READ MORE

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would help to build a “humanitarian coalition” to offer support to Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, following a two-day summit of European Union leaders in Brussels that wrapped up Friday. “We are going to build a humanitarian coalition with several European countries, particularly Cyprus, which will serve as a base for the humanitarian sea corridor,” Macron told reporters. Helicopter carrier France announced on Thursday it was deploying a helicopter carrier to support hospitals in Gaza. Macron reiterated calls for Israel to protect civilian lives as it targets Hamas fighters in Gaza after the …

READ MORE

Ukrainian pro-Russian entrepreneur Oleg Tsaryov was shot twice and seriously wounded late Thursday in Russian-annexed Crimea where he lives, his family and Russian officials said Friday. Russia’s top investigative body said it had opened a criminal inquiry into the attempt on his life, the latest incident in a series of attacks since the start of the war on several prominent pro-Moscow figures. Tsaryov was found unconscious and bleeding. A Russian-installed official in southern Ukraine, Vladimir Rogov, said he is in intensive care. The former Ukrainian lawmaker was lined up to lead a puppet administration in Kyiv if Russia succeeded in …

READ MORE

The European Union called for “pauses” in the war between Israel and Hamas to allow aid into the Gaza strip, following a summit in Brussels. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the bloc also discussed further aid for Ukraine as Kyiv fights Russia’s invasion. …

READ MORE

Iceland’s meteorological office reported Friday the Nordic Island nation’s southwestern Reykjanes Peninsula has been experiencing a “seismic swarm” of small earthquakes over the last three days, with at least 5,800 recorded since it began and around 1,000 since midnight Thursday. In a series of reports on its website, the meteorological office — known as the “Met” office — said the vast majority of the quakes have been under magnitude 3, although two in the last three days were over 4. The largest tremor, on Wednesday, measured 4.5 north of the town of Grindavík. While small earthquakes are a daily occurrence …

READ MORE

The Russian military is executing soldiers who do not follow orders related to the war in Ukraine, the White House said Thursday, in what is believed to be a reflection of low morale among Russian soldiers. “We have information that the Russian military has been actually executing soldiers who refuse to follow orders,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told a press conference. “We also have information that Russian commanders are threatening to execute entire units if they seek to retreat from Ukrainian artillery fire,” Kirby added, calling the practice “barbaric.”  Russia’s Washington embassy did not immediately reply …

READ MORE

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is using his renewed diplomatic engagement and arms dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin to enhance his position with China as the three socialist countries move to counter the U.S., according to analysts.  North Korea vowed Tuesday to continue its military cooperation with Russia despite international objections voiced at meetings on conventional weapons at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. “The DPRK will further develop traditional relations of friendship and cooperation with the Russian Federation and other independent sovereign countries,” said North Korea’s U.N. Representative Kim In Chul. The Democratic People’s Republic of …

READ MORE

Russian authorities on Thursday formally charged Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva with violating the country’s “foreign agent” law. Russia’s Investigative Committee announced that Kurmasheva has been charged under a section of the Criminal Code that refers to the registration of foreign agents who engage in “purposeful collection of information in the field of military, military-technical activities of Russia,” VOA’s sister outlet RFE/RL reported.  The Investigative Committee said she did not provide documents to be included on the registry.  Kurmasheva denies the charge, according to RFE/RL.  Based in Prague, Kurmasheva is an editor for RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir Service. A dual …

READ MORE

It has been almost three months since Victoria Roshchyna’s family and colleagues received any word from the award-winning Ukrainian journalist. Roshchyna, who is known for her courageous reporting on Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, disappeared shortly after passing a checkpoint. Friends and colleagues believe Russian forces detained her. The reporter had quickly pivoted from covering court cases to reporting from the front lines when Russian forces invaded her home country. As a freelance journalist, she has written for publications that include the Ukrainian news websites Hromadske and Ukrainska Pravda, as well as the broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Roshchyna told the …

READ MORE

In a city where damaged buildings are everywhere, a destroyed pizzeria stands out as a painful reminder of lives and livelihoods dashed in an instant. A Russian ballistic missile struck the popular eatery in eastern Ukraine in June, killing 13 people including an award-winning Ukrainian writer and several teenagers. Seven of the victims were staff. Today, fresh flowers and notes have been placed where the entrance once was. A T-shirt, part of the waitstaff’s uniform, hangs near the makeshift memorial with the inscription “We will never forget.” “As an entrepreneur, of course, I regret the loss of property, but there’s …

READ MORE