Category: Євросоюз

Russian forces pressed attacks on front-line cities in eastern Ukraine on Monday, while Ukrainian officials played down a report that Kyiv is amending some plans for a counteroffensive due to a leak of classified U.S. documents. The Russians were pounding Ukrainian positions around besieged Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region and other cities and towns with air strikes and artillery barrages, Kyiv said. “The enemy switched to so-called scorched earth tactics from Syria. It is destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery fire,” Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said of Bakhmut. The small and now …

READ MORE

U.S. President Joe Biden travels to both sides of the Irish border this week, taking part in commemorations to mark the 25th anniversary of Northern Ireland’s Good Friday peace accord as well as making a pilgrimage to the towns of his Irish ancestors. Biden’s visit comes as the durability of the peace accord is being tested by political disagreements and occasional attacks carried out by dissidents. The latest violence came just Monday when masked youths pelted police vehicles with petrol bombs during a march in Londonderry. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to greet Biden when he arrives Tuesday …

READ MORE

Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza said on Monday he stood by all of his political statements, including against the Ukraine offensive, that led him to face 25 years in jail. “I subscribe to every word that I have said, that I am incriminated for today,” Kara-Murza said, citing his fight against the Ukraine offensive and President Vladimir Putin. “Not only do I not repent for any of it — I am proud of it,” he said in his last words to the court, which were published on journalist Alexei Venediktov’s Telegram channel. Kara-Murza, 41, is accused of several charges including …

READ MORE

Greek lawmakers are set to vote on urgent legislation introduced by the government in Athens to ban neo-Nazi parties from competing in upcoming national elections in May. The move comes after an imprisoned neo-Nazi set up – from behind bars – a political party that is gaining popular support ahead of the polls.   Greek Justice Minister Makis Voridis submitted the legislation to parliament, billing it as unprecedented and part of the government’s drive to protect democracy in the birthplace of democracy. With this bill, he said, it is the first time in history that Greek members of parliament are …

READ MORE

Latest developments: Two killed In Zaporizhzhia after a Russian airstrike hit a residential building in the southeastern Ukrainian city. In his Easter Sunday message, Pope Francis invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people. He also praised nations that help refugees. Ukrainian photographer turns battle-ravaged bodies into works of art.   Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Monday his country needs security guarantees from Russia, according to state broadcaster BelTA. The comments came as Lukashenko hosted Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. According to BelTA, Lukashenko cited his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, saying the two leaders discussed …

READ MORE

An avalanche on Sunday near Mont Blanc in southeastern France swept four people to their deaths and left two more missing, the officials said.   Among the dead were two mountain guides caught by the snow tumbling down the Armancette glacier, the prefecture for the Haute-Savoie department said.    Investigators had been called to help with the search for the two people still unaccounted for in the Alps.    One person also suffered slight injuries in the avalanche while eight others also swept up were unharmed, the prefecture said.    The avalanche covered an area of 1,000 meters by 500 meters.    No avalanche warning …

READ MORE

Two bodies were found in the rubble of a building that collapsed in Marseille following a major explosion, French authorities said early Monday, as rescue workers scrambled to find at least six people still unaccounted for. The discovery of the bodies came about 24 hours after the blast brought down the four-story building in the Mediterranean port city. Emergency workers had continued rescue operations through Sunday night into the early hours of Monday with the help of a crane and lights, but a persistent fire underneath the rubble hampered their work, making it difficult for firefighters to deploy sniffer dogs. …

READ MORE

The aroma of corek, a spiced bun the Armenian community makes for Easter, is once again wafting through the streets of Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey.    For the first time in eight years, Armenians were able to celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at their church in the city after it was badly damaged during clashes between the Turkish army and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 2015-16.    The small community was left without a place to meet. But the Surp Giragos Armenian Church has recently been restored and is now open again.    “We haven’t had this chance for a long time. Today …

READ MORE

A British performance of “The Bodyguard” musical ended in unrequited love for some audience members who couldn’t refrain from singing along to the anthemic finale.  The show at the Palace Theatre in Manchester screeched to a halt Friday when two unruly patrons were ejected for joining the lead in singing “I Will Always Love You,” the soaring, emotional ballad made famous by Whitney Houston.  It was not supposed to be a singalong. Ushers carried signs saying, “Please refrain from singing” and announcements were made in advance that patrons would have a chance to join along at the end but not …

READ MORE

In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis on Sunday invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people, praised nations which welcome refugees and called on Israelis and Palestinians wracked by the latest surge in deadly violence to forge a “climate of trust.” Francis, along with dozens of prelates and tens of thousands of faithful, celebrated Easter Mass in a flower-adorned St. Peter’s Square, affirming the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead days after his crucifixion. The 86-year-old pontiff topped the celebration with a traditional speech about troubled places in the world. Encouraging “trust among individuals, peoples …

READ MORE

Two former Black Democratic lawmakers who were expelled by Republican colleagues in Tennessee say they want to be reappointed, then elected back to their seats, following their ouster for a protest on the House floor urging passage of gun-control measures in the wake of a deadly school shooting. French President Emmanuel Macron said in comments published on Sunday that Europe had no interest in an acceleration of the crisis over Taiwan and should pursue a strategy independent of both Washington and Beijing. Macron has just returned from a three-day state visit to China, where he received a warm welcome from …

READ MORE

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar pledged Sunday to intensify efforts with his British counterpart Rishi Sunak to restore power-sharing government in Northern Ireland and hopes to break the deadlock there in the next few months. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has said it will not drop a yearlong boycott of the devolved assembly in protest at post-Brexit trade rules without further changes to a deal struck by the United Kingdom and the European Union in February to ease the trade barriers. London has said it will not renegotiate any part of its new agreement. “We put a huge amount of …

READ MORE

The residents of the German city of Hamburg have been warned that toxins from  a warehouse fire in the city of Rothenburgsort, a few kilometers southeast of Hamburg are headed their way. Reuters reports that despite not knowing just how toxic the fumes may be, authorities have decided to evacuate 140 Hamburg residents, while other Hamburg residents have been instructed to stay home with their doors and window closed.   The fire erupted early Sunday and continued to burn Sunday afternoon, despite scores of firefighters battling the blaze. The warehouse contents were not immediately clear. Some information in this report …

READ MORE

Pope Francis opened a celebration of Mass on Easter Sunday joined by dozens of prelates and tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square, where spring flowers made the vast space bright. made bright by spring flowers. Orange-red tulips, yellow sprays of forsythia and daffodils, and other colorful seasonal blooms were transported in trucks from the Netherlands on Saturday and set up in planters to decorate the Vatican square, which quickly filled up Sunday with Rome residents and Holy Week visitors to the city. Some 45,000 people had gathered by the start of the mid-morning Mass, according …

READ MORE

A missile fired from Ukrainian-held territory was shot down over the Black Sea town of Feodosia in Russian-controlled Crimea, the Moscow-installed head of Crimea’s administration said Saturday. Russia’s campaign to “severely degrade” Ukraine’s energy system this winter has probably failed, Britain’s Defense Ministry said in a post on Twitter Saturday. Thirty-one children “kidnapped by the Russians from Kherson and Kharkiv regions” are back in Ukraine after being separated from their parents for several months. One day after 31 children were returned to Ukraine, the head of Presidential Office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, emphasized in a phone call with Amal Clooney, a …

READ MORE

Ben Ferencz, the last living prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials, who tried Nazis for genocidal war crimes and was among the first outside witnesses to document the atrocities of Nazi labor and concentration camps, has died. He turned 103 in March. Ferencz died Friday evening in Boynton Beach, Florida, according to St. John’s University law professor John Barrett, who runs a blog about the Nuremberg trials. The death also was confirmed by the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington. “Today the world lost a leader in the quest for justice for victims of genocide and related crimes,” the museum tweeted. Born …

READ MORE

Millions of Christians around the world are celebrating Easter Sunday, the most holy day on the Christian calendar, commemorating Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. At the Vatican, Pope Francis is set to deliver his twice-annual blessing, known by its Latin name “Urbi et Orbi” — “to the city and the world” — from St. Peter’s Basilica. During the blessing, which will begin at noon on the basilica’s outdoor central balcony, the Roman Catholic leader will address Christians around the world. Last year, the pope made a plea for an end to the “senseless” war in Ukraine, a conflict that …

READ MORE

More than 30 children were reunited with their families in Ukraine this weekend after a long operation to bring them home from Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea, where they had been taken from areas occupied by Russian forces during the war. Mothers hugged sons and daughters as they crossed the border from Belarus into Ukraine Friday after a complex rescue mission involving travel across four countries. Dasha Rakk, a 13-year-old girl, said she and her twin sister had agreed to leave the Russian-occupied city of Kherson last year because of the war and go to a holiday camp in Crimea for …

READ MORE

Joe Blewitt is just about the busiest man in Ballina. His phone rings constantly with calls from locals and the world’s media as he prepares to welcome a relative — U.S. President Joe Biden.  Biden is scheduled to travel to Ireland next week, with a stop in Ballina, the town from which one of his great-great grandfathers left for the United States in 1850. Blewitt, a distant cousin who first met Biden when he came to town as vice president in 2016, said the U.S. leader pledged to return once he’d won the presidency.  “He said, ‘I’m going to come …

READ MORE

World Athletics on Saturday released details of a new event, the marathon race walk mixed relay, to be staged at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.  It takes the place of the men’s 50km race walk, which first appeared at the 1932 Olympics, but which has been scrapped in the pursuit of gender equality.  The new mixed relay will feature 25 teams, each comprising one male and one female athlete, who will alternate to complete the marathon distance (42.195km) in four legs.  “This format is designed to be innovative, dynamic and unpredictable,” said World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon.  “We believe it …

READ MORE