Category: Євросоюз

Climate activists sprayed orange and yellow paint on the columns of Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate on Sunday to push demands for a stop to the use of fossil fuels by 2030.   “Members of the so-called ‘Last Generation’ sprayed the columns on the east side of the Brandenburg Gate with orange paint from fire extinguishers during the morning,” Berlin police said on X, formerly known as Twitter. It added that police officers noticed a hydraulic lift was being operated at the gate and they kept the protesters from scaling the landmark building. They arrested all 14 protesters at the site …

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European Union Commision President Ursula von de Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni toured a migrant center Sunday on the small Italian island of Lampedusa. The center was recently overwhelmed with almost 7,000 migrants in a 24-hour period, a total that is nearly equivalent to the number of people who live on the island. Residents of Italy’s southernmost island say they are frustrated with the steady stream of arrivals on their tiny island. The island has struggled for years to manage the arrivals. Lampedusa is less than 160 kilometers from Tunisia, making it a logical first stop for the …

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Wartime Pope Pius XII knew details about the Nazi attempt to exterminate Jews in the Holocaust as early as 1942, according to a letter found in the Vatican archives that conflicts with the Holy See’s official position at the time that the information it had was vague and unverified.   The yellowed, typewritten letter, reproduced in Italy’s Corriere della Sera on Sunday, is highly significant because it was discovered by an in-house Vatican archivist and made public with the encouragement of Holy See officials.   The letter, dated Dec. 14, 1942, was written by Father Lother Koenig, a Jesuit who …

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Farmers say extreme temperatures caused a huge drop in the output of olive oil in Spain, the world’s largest producer, triggering a big jump in world olive oil prices. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona, who says Europe’s leadership is blaming climate change. …

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un discussed practical issues in stepping up military cooperation with Russia’s defense minister, state KCNA news agency said Sunday. During his visit to Russia, Kim inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, hypersonic missiles and warships Saturday, accompanied by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Kim’s trip comes at a time when “a fresh heyday of friendship and solidarity and cooperation is being opened up in the history of the development of the relations between the DPRK and Russia,” KCNA said, using North Korea’s official name. Kim met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and discussed military matters, …

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Ukrainian forces made progress Saturday in their offensive against Russian troops in the east and south, a military spokesperson said, as the two militaries disputed who controlled the village of Andriivka.  General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s land forces, posted a video to Telegram showing a scorched, desolate landscape that he said proved his forces had captured the village.   Andriivka is unrecognizable, a correspondent for Ukraine’s Hromadske radio said. It is “so badly destroyed that soldiers do not even know where to place the pole with the Ukrainian flag,” Yanina Lvutina said on the radio’s website.  Ukraine considers Andriivka …

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A Belgian court on Friday sentenced five men to prison terms ranging from 20 years to life on charges of terrorist murder in connection with 2016 suicide bombings that killed 32 people and wounded hundreds at Brussels airport and a busy subway station, the country’s deadliest peacetime attack.  A chief suspect, Salah Abdeslam, had previously been given a 20-year sentence for involvement in a shootout days before the March 22, 2016, attacks and received no further jail time. The shootout happened after police discovered him and another suspect by accident when they inspected what they thought was an empty apartment. …

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United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Saturday condemned Iran’s “disproportionate and unprecedented” move to bar multiple inspectors assigned to the country, hindering its oversight of Tehran’s nuclear activities.  Iran’s move is a response to a call led by the United States, Britain, France and Germany at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors this week for Tehran to cooperate immediately with the IAEA on issues including explaining uranium traces found at undeclared sites.  Grossi made clear that Iran overreacted.  “I strongly condemn this disproportionate and unprecedented unilateral measure which affects the normal planning and conduct of agency …

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Hundreds gathered in central London on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody in Iran last year, sparking worldwide protests of the country’s conservative Islamic theocracy. Chanting “Women! Life! Freedom!,” the crowds held her portrait and rallied around the memory of a young woman who died on September 16, 2022, after she was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory headscarf law. Similar protests took place in Italy, Germany and France. “We’re calling on everyone to remember those killed, but also continue the fight, because this fight has …

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers and other warplanes Saturday from Russia’s Pacific fleet. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other leading military officials gave Kim a tour of the bombers and warplanes after the North Korean leader’s arrival in the Far Eastern Russian city of Artyom. The items the Russians showed Kim are weapons that Russia has used in its invasion of Ukraine. Later Saturday, Kim and Shoigu traveled to Vladivostok to inspect more inventory, including a weapons-laden frigate. Kim’s trip to Russia has included more than four hours of talks with President Vladimir …

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A Ukrainian minister told Reuters that the future of Ukraine’s battle against Russia holds “more drones, more attacks and fewer Russian ships.”   Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Ukraine’s drone production has increased by more than 100 times since last year.    Fedorov also told the news agency that Ukraine is testing artificial intelligence systems that can detect targets kilometers away, as well as guide drones despite disruptions from electronic warfare measures.   Meanwhile, the British Defense Ministry, in its daily intelligence update on Ukraine, said there is a “realistic possibility” that Russia will resume using air-launched cruise missiles against Ukrainian infrastructure …

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The war in Ukraine is likely to be the big topic for a second year when leaders gather at the U.N. General Assembly next week, but many developing countries are hoping to shine a light on issues important to them, including development, the economy and climate. This year’s general assembly will take place after Asian countries met in Indonesia for the ASEAN summit, G20 leaders gathered in India, and developing countries in the Group of 77 plus China met in Cuba. After a busy September, several high-profile leaders are skipping New York, but more than 140 heads of state and …

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The U.N.’s World Heritage Committee on Friday placed two major historical sites in Ukraine on its list of such sites that it considers to be in danger. The iconic St. Sophia Cathedral in the capital, Kyiv, and the medieval center of the western city of Lviv, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites central to Ukraine’s culture and history. The decision Friday to put those two on the body’s list of sites “in danger” has no enforcement mechanism but could help deter Russian attacks. Neither site has been directly targeted since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and …

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Ukrainian business magnate Ihor Kolomoisky has been served with notice of a third set of allegations following his detention on suspicion of fraud and money laundering, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said Friday. A new court hearing on the case in Kyiv on Friday also significantly raised the bail demanded from Kolomoisky, who made his first court appearance earlier this month. News reports from the court said the judge agreed to raise the bail to be posted to the equivalent of $105 million — from an original amount equivalent to under $14 million. Kolomoisky’s lawyers had previously said they …

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German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday in Washington. Ukraine’s request for longer-range missiles for its counteroffensive against Russia was on the agenda. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke Friday in Washington, both reiterating their long-term support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia. Speaking to reporters following their talks, Blinken said Germany and the United States, along with dozens of other nations around the world, are committed to providing military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. He said they also discussed Ukraine’s long-term ability not only to survive but to thrive following Russia’s invasion. Baerbock echoed Blinken’s remarks, saying support for Ukraine goes beyond arms deliveries to include humanitarian issues and repairing infrastructure. She …

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One American and two Russian space crew members blasted off Friday aboard a Russian spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub lifted off on the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft at 8:44 p.m. local time. O’Hara will spend six months on the ISS while Kononenko and Chub will spend a year there. Neither O’Hara nor Chub has ever flown to space before, but they will be flying with veteran cosmonaut and mission commander Kononenko, who has made the trip four times …

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The European Union on Friday threw its weight behind a plan to protect the Amazon rainforest, pledging to coordinate financial contributions from EU members and make sure the money was spent as intended under its Global Gateway investment plan. Team Europe, which includes EU members states and institutions such as the European Investment Bank, will coordinate 260 million euros ($277 million) already pledged by Spain, Italy, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands to curb deforestation in the Amazon. On top of that, the EU will add an undisclosed amount to protect the forest from logging. It will come from the …

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Britain, France and Germany announced Thursday they will keep their sanctions on Iran related to the Mideast country’s atomic program and development of ballistic missiles. The measures were to expire in October under a timetable spelled out in the now defunct nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. In a joint statement, the three European allies known as E3 and which had helped negotiate the nuclear deal, said they would retain their sanctions in a “direct response to Iran’s consistent and severe non-compliance” with the accord, also known by its official name as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA. …

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China, watching this week’s historic Russia-North Korea summit from the sidelines, is likely to welcome a boost for President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine but worry that its longtime client state in Pyongyang could be slipping from its grasp, experts say. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s green bulletproof train headed to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a city in Russia’s far Khabarovsk region, on Thursday after his rare summit with Putin a day earlier, according to Yonhap News in Seoul. In Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Kim is expected to meet with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and visit a manufacturing facility that produces Sukhoi fighter jets. …

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