Category: Євросоюз

An overnight fire in a retirement home in Milan killed six people and injured around 80, including three who are in a critical condition, Italian authorities said on Friday. The fire started in a first-floor room of the facility. It was put out quickly and did not spread to the rest of the building, yet produced a vast quantity of toxic fumes. Two residents burned to death in their room, while four others died from intoxication, Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said, speaking to reporters on the scene. “It could have been (even) worse. Having said that, six dead is a …

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WASHINGTON — Russian fighter jets flew dangerously close to several U.S. drone aircraft over Syria again Thursday, setting off flares and forcing the MQ-9 Reapers to take evasive maneuvers, the Air Force said. It was the second time in 24 hours that Russia has harassed U.S. drones there. “We urge Russian forces in Syria to cease this reckless behavior and adhere to the standards of behavior expected of a professional air force so we can resume our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS,” Lieutenant General Alex Grynkewich, head of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, said in a statement. Colonel …

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WHITE HOUSE – As the war on Ukraine rages, Russia remains the biggest and most immediate threat for NATO. However, as allied leaders meet for their summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, next week, a key agenda item will be to implement the Strategic Concept adopted during the Madrid summit in 2022, where the alliance recognized security challenges emanating from China. NATO’s strategic concept states that the alliance faces “systemic competition” from Beijing’s “ambitions and coercive policies” that challenge members’ “interests, security and values.” While allies may agree that the China challenge is real, they differ in how to address it. Many …

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A former Azerbaijani parliamentarian was arrested and charged with extortion this week because he has been speaking out about recent environmental protests against a planned disposal site for chemical waste, he and his lawyer said.     Nazim Baydamirli, who represented the Gadabay district in Azerbaijan’s west, was detained Tuesday and placed on four months of pre-trial detention. He called the accusations of extortion fraudulent. Instead, he told the court that his imprisonment was related to his support of protests against the planned chemical waste reservoir in the Soyudlu village of the Gadabay district.      “He said in court that the …

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The United States, France and Britain have accused Iran and Russia of violating a U.N. Security Council resolution over Tehran’s transfer of drones to Moscow, which its military then used to repeatedly attack Ukrainian cities. The three powers said Thursday that Tehran and Moscow violated obligations under U.N. Resolution 2231, which enshrined the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in international law; and by conducting the drone transfers without advance approval from the U.N. Security Council, they had violated the resolution. They urged the U.N. to address the alleged violations during the semiannual meeting about implementation of the resolution. “Specifically, the U.N. …

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Jailed American journalist Evan Gershkovich on Friday marks his 100th day in detention in Russia on espionage accusations.  The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested March 29 while on assignment in the central Russian city of Yekaterinburg. Russian authorities have accused the Moscow-based reporter of spying.  Gershkovich, the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny the espionage charges.  Media watchdogs say his arrest marked a new low in Russia’s declining press freedom environment under President Vladimir Putin.  “Evan’s detention marked a new escalation in Putin’s war on the free press, expanding his crackdown beyond Russia’s domestic media which has already been totally …

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Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday announced the expelling of nine Finnish diplomats and shutting down of Finland’s consulate in St. Petersburg in retaliation for Finland expelling nine Russian diplomats last month. The ministry said in a lengthy statement that it summoned Finland’s ambassador to Russia, Antti Helantera, on Thursday, and relayed its “strong protest in connection with the confrontational anti-Russian policy pursued by the Finnish authorities.” The statement also noted that “the parameters of Finland’s accession to NATO create a threat” to Russia’s security, and “encouraging the Kyiv regime to (go to) war and pumping it with Western weapons means …

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Sharing a border with Ukraine, Romania has become one of the European Union countries most exposed to the conflict and a key NATO supplier of weapons to Kyiv. Despite Romania’s support of Ukraine, its historically troubled relations with Ukraine still pose difficulties. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in Bucharest. …

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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday that Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was no longer in Belarus and had returned to Russia. Prigozhin went to Belarus as part of a deal to end an armed mutiny by his Wagner mercenary group last month. Lukashenko brokered the agreement, which included security guarantees for Prigozhin and his fighters. Lukashenko told reporters Thursday that his offer to allow some Wagner fighters to be stationed in Belarus still stood. “At the moment the question of their transfer and setup has not been decided,” Lukashenko said. “I am absolutely not worried or concerned that we …

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Europe’s workhorse Ariane 5 rocket blasted off for a final time on Wednesday, with its farewell flight after 27 years of launches coming at a difficult time for European space efforts.    Faced with soaring global competition, the continent has unexpectedly found itself without a way to independently launch heavy missions into space due to delays to the next-generation Ariane 6 and Russia withdrawing its rockets.  The 117th and final flight of the Ariane 5 rocket took place around 2200 GMT on Wednesday from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.  The launch had been postponed twice. It was originally scheduled on …

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Sweden has taken steps “in the right direction” to address Turkey’s concerns in order to earn support for Sweden’s entry into NATO. But Erdogan said public demonstrations by an organization Turkey considers a terrorist group “nullifies the steps taken.” The International Atomic Energy Agency calls for inspectors to be able to access the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant amid dueling accusations from Ukraine and Russia that the opposing side planned to attack the plant.   A Russian missile struck an apartment building in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Thursday, killing at least four …

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Reuters this week said that it will appeal a move by Turkey to block access to more than 90 web links and social media posts that used reporting by the news agency. The ban relates to an article that said that Swedish and American anti-corruption authorities were reviewing a complaint that named the Turkish president’s son, Bilal Erdogan. The Reuters article was translated into Turkish by several media outlets, including VOA’s Turkish Service. An Istanbul Court on June 26 issued an order that blocks access to 93 web addresses that used the Reuters news article, its Turkish translations or information …

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Latest developments: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Sweden has taken steps “in the right direction” to address Turkey’s concerns in order to earn support for Sweden’s entry into NATO.  But Erdogan said public demonstrations by an organization Turkey considers a terrorist group “nullifies the steps taken.” International Atomic Energy Agency calls for inspectors to be able to access the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant amid dueling accusations from Ukraine and Russia that the opposing side planned to attack the plant.    Ukrainian officials reported a Russian rocket attack early Thursday in the western city of Lviv. Regional governor Maksym Kozytskiy …

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As the weeklong unrest in France subsides, the United Nations and several other international human rights organizations have called on the French government to reform its police forces and stop their controversial racial profiling practice. “The government should take urgent action to reform the system of police stops,” six human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a statement on Wednesday.   “This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and discrimination in law enforcement,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for …

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A month after the explosion at Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam, the upstream reservoir that has provided water, power and food to the region since the 1950s has become a hellhole of dried-up fish carcasses and puddles alongside the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Nikopol and Malokaterynivka, Ukraine, with videographer Yevhenii Shynkar.  …

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Two environmental activists were arrested at Wimbledon on Wednesday after getting on court and disrupting a match by scattering orange confetti and puzzle pieces on the grass. A woman and a man wearing T-shirts from Just Stop Oil — a protest group that wants the British government to stop new oil, gas and coal projects — made it onto the field of play at Court 18 before being taken away by security. Later, during a different match at the same court, another man representing the same organization also threw orange confetti on the grass before security guards corralled him and …

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The European Union says China has canceled a planned visit by Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy. EU spokesperson Nabila Massrali said in a written statement Wednesday that Beijing did not give a reason. Massrali said China told the EU that “the envisaged dates next week are no longer possible” and that the bloc “must now look for alternatives.”   “We welcome Representative Borrell to visit China as soon as possible at the convenience of both sides,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters in Beijing Wednesday, adding that China will maintain communications with the …

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U.S. President Joe Biden is set to host Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson for talks Wednesday at the White House as NATO leaders prepare for a summit in Lithuania.  Sweden is trying to join NATO, a move prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. NATO leaders gave their approval to Sweden’s accession at their 2022 summit, but Turkey and Hungary have not yet ratified Sweden’s bid in a process that must be unanimous among current members.  Finland applied alongside Sweden and was fully accepted into NATO in April.  “President Biden and Prime Minister Kristersson will review our growing security …

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Latest developments:     Russia reiterates demand for state agricultural bank to be reconnected to global payment system as expiration of Black Sea Grain Initiative looms.   Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country’s economy is performing better than expected.       The Ukrainian military said Tuesday it destroyed a formation of Russian forces in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.  Ukraine said the attack happened in the Russian-occupied area of Makiivka.  Russian officials said the Ukrainian attack killed one civilian and wounded 36 others.  Ukraine and Russia traded accusations that the other side is planning to attack the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant …

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Andy Murray said he had an emotional meeting with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who spent six years in an Iranian jail cell, after inviting her to watch him from the royal box at Wimbledon on Tuesday. British-Iranian Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Murray became friends after she said in an interview last year that watching the Scot win Wimbledon on television in 2016 helped sustain her during solitary confinement. She had been accused of spying while in the country visiting her parents and held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison until her release last year. “She hadn’t been to Wimbledon before,” Murray said. “After the story …

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