Category: Євросоюз

Polish authorities arrested two Russians and charged them with espionage for allegedly distributing propaganda material on behalf of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group. Poland’s Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said Monday on social media that the country’s internal security service and police arrested the Russians, and that the accused had distributed the materials in the cities of Krakow and Warsaw. Polish authorities said the Russians distributed about 300 leaflets with links to Wagner recruitment websites and were in possession of 3,000 pro-Wagner items. The Russians were identified only as Aleksiej T. and Andriej G., and were due to receive up to $5,000 …

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All 105 soccer fans suspected of being involved in extensive clashes in the Greek capital that ended in the death of a 29-year-old AEK Athens supporter have been ordered to be detained pending their trial, authorities said Sunday. Three examining magistrates and two prosecutors questioned the detained fans in batches — 30 on Friday, 40 on Saturday and 35 on Sunday — and decided each day whether to detain them pending trial. One suspect, who is hospitalized under guard, gave a deposition to a visiting magistrate. The 102 Croat citizens and three Greeks have all denied any culpability in the …

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Paris prosecutors Sunday took over the investigation into the deaths of at least six migrants whose boat sank trying to cross the Channel between France and England, as police hunted the traffickers responsible. Prosecutors in the channel port of Boulogne opened an investigation Saturday, hours after the tragedy, but the investigation was switched to Paris, officials in both offices told AFP. Six Afghan men died when a migrant boat thought to have been carrying up to 66 people bound for England sank in the Channel in the early hours of Saturday. Most of those on board were Afghans with some …

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Greek prosecutors Sunday charged 35 more people in connection with the fatal stabbing of a young Greek football fan before a Champions League game, taking the total to face charges over the incident to 105. Of that number, 102 are from Croatia and suspected of links with the ‘Bad Blue Boys,’ hard-line supporters of Dinamo Zagreb who traveled to Greece last Monday, the day before their side’s Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens. The others are two Greeks and an Albanian. Authorities are hunting for another Greek national, also suspected of being involved in the fatal attack, according to the …

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The number of migrants dying in the Mediterranean is an “open wound” for humanity, Pope Francis said Sunday after a week marked by a string of deadly shipwrecks. At his weekly Angelus prayer, the 86-year-old pontiff offered his prayers for the 41 people reported missing Wednesday by four survivors brought to safety on the Italian island of Lampedusa. He recalled “with pain and shame” U.N. figures showing more than 2,000 migrants have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea since the start of the year. “It is an open wound in our humanity,” he told pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s …

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Poland’s ruling party wants to ask voters in a referendum whether they support accepting “thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa” as part of a European Union relocation plan, the prime minister said Sunday, as his conservative party seeks to hold onto power in an October parliamentary election. Mateusz Morawiecki announced the referendum question in a new video published on social media. It indicated that his party, Law and Justice, is seeking to use migration in its election campaign, a tactic that helped it take power in 2015. Poland is hosting more than a million Ukrainian refugees, …

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The Russian defense ministry said Sunday that a Russian warship fired warning shots on a Palau-flagged cargo vessel headed to the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The ministry said the shots were fired because the captain of the Sudru Okan had ignored demands from the warship to stop. After firing the shots, Russian military descended from a helicopter onto the cargo ship. After Russian forces inspected the Sudru Okan, the vessel was allowed to proceed to Izmail, the defense ministry said. Izmail is main export route for Ukrainian agricultural products. Russia withdrew from a Black Sea grain agreement in July. Meanwhile …

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More than 2,000 people have been evacuated from flooded areas of the Primorye region in Russia’s Far East, emergency officials said Sunday. Heavy downpours flooded villages in the region in the aftermath of Typhoon Khanun, which battered Japan earlier this week before making its way toward the Korean peninsula. The remnants of the storm, now downgraded from typhoon status, were slated to bring double the monthly rainfall to some areas of the region over the weekend, according to Russian state media. “More than 2,000 people, including 405 children, have been evacuated in Primorye,” the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on …

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Russia shot down a Ukrainian drone Sunday over Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region, according to Tass, the Russian state news agency. No fatalities or damages were reported. Also Sunday, the British Defense Ministry said there is “a realistic possibility” that Russia is no longer funding the Wagner Group, owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who openly called for a rebellion in June against Russia’s leadership. The ministry said the Wagner Group may be looking to Belarus for funding, but Wagner’s “sizable force would be a significant and potentially unwelcome drain on modest Belarusian resources.” On Saturday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it thwarted Ukraine’s …

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The post-pandemic travel boom and the high ticket prices that come with it show no signs of slowing well into next year, despite economic uncertainty and dwindling household savings. While questions linger about how much longer consumers will continue to indulge, airlines, hotels and analysts say travel has remained a top priority instead of the “nice to have” purchase as in years past. International travel reached around 90% of pre-pandemic levels this year, according to the International Air Transport Association. The rebound was led by visitors to Southern Europe from cooler climates despite soaring temperatures and included swaths of American …

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An investigation has been launched into the death of a Pakistani porter near the peak of the world’s most treacherous mountain, a Pakistani mountaineer said Saturday.   The investigation was prompted by allegations that dozens of climbers eager to reach the summit walked past the porter after he was gravely injured in a fall.  The accusations surrounding events on July 27 on K2, the world’s second-highest peak, overshadowed a record established by Norwegian climber Kristin Harila and her Sherpa guide Tenjin. By climbing K2 that day, they became the world’s fastest climbers, scaling the world’s 14 highest mountains in 92 days.  …

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Armenia called on the U.N. Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on the worsening humanitarian situation in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is mostly populated by Armenians.  In his letter to the president of the U.N. Security Council, sent Friday and released by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday, Armenian U.N. Ambassador Mher Margaryan said the people of Nagorno-Karabakh were “on the verge of a full-fledged humanitarian catastrophe.”  Since December, Azerbaijan has blockaded the only road leading from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, severely restricting the delivery of food, medical supplies and other essentials to the region of about 120,000 people.  “The Armenian …

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Alessia Russo fired England into the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup in a 2-1 win against Colombia on Saturday. The Arsenal striker’s second-half goal completed a come-from-behind win for the Lionesses after Leicy Santos had given the Colombians a first-half lead. Lauren Hemp equalized before halftime, and Russo struck the winner in the 63rd minute as England advanced to the semifinals for the third straight time. It will face co-host Australia for a spot in the final. Sarina Wiegman is also a step closer to her second consecutive Women’s World Cup final after her Netherlands team was runner-up to …

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At least six people died and more than 50 were rescued after a migrant boat trying to cross the Channel from France capsized early on Saturday, local authorities said. Local Mayor Franck Dhersin said a vast rescue operation was launched about 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) as dozens of migrant boats tried to make the crossing at the same time. “Several of the boats were facing serious difficulties,” he told Reuters. “Near [the coastal town of] Sangatte they unfortunately found dead bodies.” The maritime prefecture confirmed that there had been at least six deaths and said search and rescue operations were …

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Iran is getting a boost to its status as an international arms supplier. Tehran hosted defense ministers from Bolivia and Belarus in July and early August to discuss military cooperation with its fellow anti-American allies. Bolivia later said it is interested in obtaining Iranian drone technology, while U.S. research group the Institute for the Study of War said the visit likely indicates Belarus wants to do the same. The U.S. and Ukraine say Iranian drones have been a key weapon for Russia in the war it has waged against Ukraine since last year, something both Moscow and Tehran have denied. …

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Australia edged France on penalty kicks Saturday to reach the Women’s World Cup semifinals for the first time. Cortnee Vine took Australia’s 10th penalty from the spot and calmly converted to give the Matildas a 7-6 win in the shootout after the quarterfinal match finished 0-0 after regulation and extra time. The Australians missed two earlier chances to clinch a dramatic shootout, but ultimately it didn’t matter as they ended a long curse for tournament hosts. The Australians became the only team other than the United States to advance past the quarterfinals of a Women’s World Cup as the host …

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It was born in the break, all those decades ago — that moment when a song’s vocals dropped, instruments quieted down and the beat took the stage. It was then that hip-hop came into the world, taking the moment and reinventing it. Something new, coming out of something familiar. At the hands of the DJs playing the albums, that break moment became something more: a composition in itself, repeated in an endless loop, back and forth between the turntables. The MCs got in on it, speaking their own clever rhymes and wordplay over it. So did the dancers, the b-boys …

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With cruise bookings seeing a resurgence after the Covid pandemic caused luxury liners to mothball, a Finnish shipyard is putting the final touches on what will be the world’s largest cruise ship. Royal Caribbean’s luxurious new vessel Icon of the Seas is nearing completion in the Turku shipyard on Finland’s southwestern coast, its maiden voyage scheduled for January 2024. “This ship is as of today, as far as we are aware of, the biggest cruise ship in the world,” said Tim Meyer, CEO of shipbuilder Meyer Turku tasked with the construction. While some have labeled the colossal structure a “monstrosity”, …

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IPVM, a U.S.-based security and surveillance industry research group, says the Chinese surveillance equipment maker Dahua is selling cameras with what it calls a “skin color analytics” feature in Europe, raising human rights concerns.  In a report released on July 31, IPVM said “the company defended the analytics as being a ‘basic feature of a smart security solution.’” The report is behind a paywall, but IPVM provided a copy to VOA Mandarin.  Dahua’s ICC Open Platform guide for “human body characteristics” includes “skin color/complexion,” according to the report. In what Dahua calls a “data dictionary,” the company says that the …

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Since Russia’s Wagner Group paramilitary forces moved to Belarus after their failed mutiny in July, that country’s three NATO neighbors – Poland, Lithuania and Latvia – have been building up their border defenses and preparing for a range of possible provocations.  In the case of Lithuania, authorities are planning for contingencies including infiltration of hostile migrants, cross-border shootings and a repetition of recent Belarusian helicopter flights that crossed into Polish airspace. Plans are also underway to close some border crossings. Rustamas Liubajevas, the commander of Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service, assessed the current threat and described the measures taken to …

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