Category: Євросоюз

Large areas of the Mediterranean sweltered under an intense summer heat wave on Tuesday, and firefighters battled to put out blazes across the region.  In Algeria, at least 34 people have died. In Croatia, flames came within 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of the medieval town of Dubrovnik late on Tuesday.  Greece has been particularly hard hit, with authorities evacuating more than 20,000 people in recent days from homes and resorts in the south of the holiday island of Rhodes.   Close to 3,000 tourists had returned home by plane as of Tuesday, according to figures from the Transport Ministry, and tour …

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A former U.S. Marine who was freed by Russia last year in a prisoner swap has been injured while fighting for Ukraine against Moscow’s forces, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.  Trevor Reed, who was held by Russia for more than two years before winning his freedom in April 2022, sustained shrapnel wounds after stepping on a landmine about two weeks ago but now is recovering at a German hospital, according to U.S. news accounts.  The U.S. has repeatedly warned Americans to not visit Ukraine during the war, let alone join Ukrainian forces in the fight against Russia. At some …

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The Russian prosecutor-general’s office on Tuesday declared independent TV channel Dozhd to be an undesirable organization, continuing the country’s wide crackdown on news media and groups regarded as threats to Russia’s security.  The designation outlaws Dozhd from operating in Russia and exposes its journalists, staff and donors to potential criminal charges.  Dozhd, which is often critical of the Kremlin, closed its operations in Russia soon after the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, moving first to Latvia and then to the Netherlands. The prosecutor-general’s office said Dozhd had spread extremist material and discredited authorities.  The channel frequently offended authorities with its …

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In Ukraine, even in the face of Russian shelling, some people are staying in cities to rescue pets. Volunteers from Kharkiv are trying to help. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. This video contains images of injured animals that may be disturbing to some viewers. Camera — Pavel Suhodolskiy …

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The fingerprints of climate change are all over the intense heat waves gripping the globe this month, a new study finds. Researchers say the deadly hot spells in the American Southwest and Southern Europe could not have happened without the continuing buildup of warming gases in the air. These unusually strong heat waves are becoming more common, Tuesday’s study said. The same research found the increase in heat-trapping gases, largely from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas has made another heat wave — the one in China — 50 times more likely with the potential to occur every …

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Goalkeeper Gaelle Thalmann shielded Switzerland to a 0-0 draw against Norway on Tuesday at the Women’s World Cup, as the Norwegians played without star striker Ada Hegerberg because of injury. Hegerberg was initially listed to start, but the team announced during the match that the former Ballon d’Or winner was unable to play after experiencing “a feeling in the groin” toward the end of her pre-match warmups. The Norwegians could have used her to break open a scoreless game. In her place, Sophie Roman Haug started the match as a striker. But Roman Haug’s Women’s World Cup debut proved to …

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Greece braced for a new wave of soaring temperatures Tuesday, as wildfires raged on several popular tourist islands, forcing mass evacuations. In the capital city of Athens the mercury is expected to soar to 41 degrees Celsius, and reach up to 44C in central Greece, according to the national weather forecaster EMY. Many regions of the country were on “red alert”, meaning there is an extreme risk of dangerous forest fires exacerbated by strong winds. The very hot weather comes after a weekend of intense heat as thousands of locals and tourists fled forest fires on the Greek islands of …

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Latest Developments: Between 3,450 and 3,650 Wagner group mercenaries have arrived in Belarus since the group’s short-lived rebellion, a military monitoring group said Monday. The fighters are camped close to Asipovichy, a town 230 kilometers north of the Ukrainian border. The Wagner mercenaries are training Belarusian troops as part of an agreement to end the Wagner revolt brokered by the Belarusian president between the Kremlin and Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. The Russian defense industry says it is now producing more munitions per month than it did in the whole of 2022, the RIA news agency reported.   The International Atomic …

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Lithuania on Monday urged the European Union to use Baltic ports to export Ukrainian grain after Moscow declined to renew a 2022 deal on their safe passage through the Black Sea. Russia has said it is ready to return to the agreement, which has allowed the export of nearly 33 million tons of grain from Ukrainian ports, if its demands are met “in their totality.” Moscow says its own deliveries of agricultural products and fertilizers under the deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey were hampered by Western sanctions. A letter by three Lithuanian ministers to EU commissioners said …

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The French president is pressing his country’s interests in the South Pacific this week and trying to make France’s voice heard in a region shaping up as a prime geopolitical battleground for China and the U.S.  President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Caledonia starting Monday comes as French forces take part in massive U.S.-Australian-led military exercises in the region. With troops, citizens and resources spread across its Pacific territories, France wants to protect its interests and project its power alongside like-minded democracies worried about China’s growing assertiveness.  The most strategically important stop is Thursday in …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday signed new legislation which marked the final step in outlawing gender-affirming procedures, a crippling blow to Russia’s already embattled LGBTQ+ community. The bill, which was approved unanimously by both houses of parliament, bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person,” as well as changing one’s gender in official documents and public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies. It also annuls marriages in which one person has “changed gender” and bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents. The ban is said to stem from …

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the European Union on Monday to ensure that an “unacceptable and clearly non-European” ban on Ukrainian grain imports to five countries is lifted by a mid-September deadline. The five central European countries want the EU ban extended at least until the end of the year. The ban is set to expire on September 15. In his nightly video address delivered after a meeting with government officials, Zelenskyy said there could be no question of extending the restrictions beyond the deadline. “We believe that the European side will fulfill its obligations regarding this date, when the …

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An associate of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was convicted on extremism charges Monday as the Kremlin continues to crack down on political activists. Vadim Ostanin, who previously headed Navalny’s office in the southern Siberian city of Barnaul, was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony after being found guilty of organizing an extremist community and belonging to a nonprofit that “infringes on citizens’ rights,” Navalny’s team wrote on social media. Prosecutors had previously asked for the 46-year-old to be imprisoned for 11 years. Ostanin was detained in November 2021, several months after Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption …

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High-profile British radical preacher Anjem Choudary appeared in a London court Monday, charged with leading a terrorist organization. Choudary, 56, was charged Sunday with three counts under the Terrorism Act: directing a terrorist organization, membership in a banned organization and addressing meetings to encourage support for the organization between June 2022 and this month. Prosecutors say the charges relate to the group al-Muhajiroun, which was outlawed by the British government in 2010. It has since operated “under many names and guises,” including the Islamic Thinkers Society, prosecutors say. Choudary is alleged to have provided lectures to the Islamic Thinkers Society. …

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Substitute Cristiana Girelli’s 87th-minute header gave Italy a 1-0 win over Argentina in their Women’s World Cup opener at Eden Park on Monday, denying the South Americans a first win at the global soccer showpiece. Veteran striker Girelli, 33, replaced 16-year-old midfielder Giulia Dragoni in the 83rd minute and needed only four minutes to make an impact, beating goalkeeper Vanina Correa with a fine header to seal a hard-fought victory. Italy plays Sweden in Wellington on Saturday. The two teams are level on points but Sweden holds a slender advantage in Group G, topping the group on number of goals …

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Human Rights Watch said in a statement Monday that Mali’s armed forces and “apparently” the Wagner Group mercenaries “have summarily executed and forcibly disappeared several dozen civilians in Mali’s cental region since December 2022.” Mali’s forces and the Wagner Group have also “destroyed and looted civilian property and allegedly tortured detainees in an army camp,” according to HRW. The rights group said it has interviewed 40 people who know about the incidents, including “20 witnesses of abuses, three family members of victims, two community leaders, five Malian civil society activists, eight representatives of international organizations, and two Sahel political analysts. …

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Latest developments A previously announced meeting of a new NATO-Ukraine Council, expected to address Black Sea security, has been scheduled for Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.   Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country is capable of replacing Ukrainian grain exports to Africa after Russia left a deal allowing for safe shipments from Ukraine through the Black Sea amid Russia’s invasion.    Russia said Monday that Ukraine attacked Moscow with two drones that were destroyed by Russian air defenses.  Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two non-residential buildings were damaged, but that there were no reports of …

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Firefighters struggled through the night to contain 82 wildfires across Greece, 64 of which started Sunday, the hottest day of the summer so far.  Their efforts were without the help of firefighting planes and helicopters, which do not operate at night.  The most serious fire was on the island of Rhodes. Some 19,000 people had been evacuated from several locations on the island as wildfires burned for a sixth day, Greek authorities said. No further evacuations had been ordered as of Sunday night.  The Ministry of Climate Change and Civil Protection said it was “the largest evacuation from a wildfire …

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No clear winner emerged in a nail-biting finish to Spain’s election on Sunday as the right failed to fulfill predictions of a victory big enough to push Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez from power.  The two leading parties will seek to negotiate coalition deals in pursuit of a governing majority, but analysts warned the process could end in a hung parliament and another election.  With 100% of votes counted by 1:30 a.m. on Monday (2330 GMT), the opposition center-right People’s Party (PP) had 136 seats in parliament while Sanchez ruling Socialists (PSOE) had 122 seats.  Both were short of the 176 …

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A previously announced meeting of a new NATO-Ukraine Council, expected to address Black Sea security, has been scheduled for Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Sunday. NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said Saturday that the meeting, requested by Zelenskyy in a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, would discuss the situation following Russia’s withdrawal from a year-old deal overseeing grain exports from Ukrainian ports. “In fact, the date was agreed upon immediately after our conversation yesterday,” Zelenskyy said. “The meeting will be held this Wednesday.” He said the meeting was among events Ukraine was preparing for …

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