Category: Євросоюз

ISeveral people were injured Saturday following clashes between French police and protesters opposed to a large water reservoir for farm irrigation, despite a ban on gatherings in the area.  Police fired tear gas to repel some protesters who threw fireworks and other projectiles as they crossed fields to approach the construction area in the western rural district of Sainte-Soline. At least three police vehicles were set alight, television footage showed.  Two protesters were seriously hurt, including one who is in a critical condition after suffering a head injury, as well as 16 police officers, the local prefecture said. One officer …

READ MORE

New developments: Transcript of Ukrainian president’s daily address: “The enemy must know: Ukraine won’t forgive offenses against our people, won’t forgive these deaths and injuries.” – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy The British Defense Ministry said Saturday in its daily intelligence report on Ukraine that Russia is likely conducting “a more defensive operational design after inconclusive results from its attempts to conduct a general offensive since January 2023” in its campaign in Ukraine. Ukrainian troops have dug in at Bakhmut instead of pulling back. Some Western military experts said this tactic might be risky because the Ukrainians need to conserve forces for …

READ MORE

Violent pension reform protests in France led to the postponement Friday of British King Charles III’s trip to the country, highlighting the growing security and political problems faced by President Emmanuel Macron. The French president condemned the latest burst of violence overnight, while a human rights watchdog criticized the “excessive use of force” by police during recent demonstrations. King Charles’ first foreign trip as monarch had been intended to highlight warming Franco-British relations. Instead, it has underlined the severity of demonstrations engulfing Britain’s neighbor just 10 months into Macron’s second term. Uproar over legislation to raise the retirement age from …

READ MORE

According to Ukrainian officials, more than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia or Russian-controlled Ukrainian territories. As of March 24, only 324 have been returned, including Olena Dudnik’s son, Andriy. Lesia Bakalets reports on one mother’s ordeal. …

READ MORE

Iran on Friday condemned what it called France’s repression of protests after more than 450 people were arrested and nearly as many police were injured in demonstrations against pension reforms. Protesters clashed with French security forces Thursday in the most serious violence yet of a three-month revolt against President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to change the retirement age from 62 to 64. “We strongly condemn the repression of the peaceful demonstrations of the French people,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tweeted in French. “We call on the French government to respect human rights and refrain from using force against the people …

READ MORE

Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch. Activists thirsty for action at water conference A major U.N. water conference concluded Friday with more than 700 commitments for action across many sectors to stem a growing global water crisis. Thousands of participants from government, the private sector, academia and civil society participated in the three days of meetings that resulted in a new Water Action Agenda. However, calls by at least 150 countries for the U.N. secretary-general to create a special U.N. …

READ MORE

Lviv native Oksana used to be a Ukrainian military paratrooper, but in a leap of faith, she decided to become a nun in 2004. Sister Anysia, as she is now called, is now working to help military families dealing with the psychological trauma of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has more from Lviv. Camera: Yuriy Dankevych          …

READ MORE

A poll of global attitudes regarding Russia’s war on Ukraine suggests the West has regained its unity and sense of purpose following the invasion. The survey — conducted across 15 countries in December and January — shows markedly different attitudes in non-Western nations, as Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …

READ MORE

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “severely dislocated the Russian military’s training system – instructors have largely been deployed in Ukraine,” according to Britain’s Defense Ministry. In a Twitter post Friday, the ministry said Russia has “likely redeployed at least 1,000 troops who had been training at the Obuz-Lesnovsky training ground in south-western Belarus.” Russia has likely not dismantled the tented training camp, the British intelligence update said, suggesting that Russia “is considering continuing the training programme” under the “much less-experienced Belarusian army.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the military is set to launch a counteroffensive against Russian troops, but needs …

READ MORE

Skimming the treetops, three Soviet-era attack helicopters bank and swoop down on a field after an early-morning mission to the front lines in the fight against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Each day, they might fly three or four sorties, says the commander, whose two-crew Mi-24 helicopter, built about 40 years ago, is older than he is. “We are carrying out combat tasks to destroy enemy vehicles, enemy personnel, we are working with pitch-up attacks from a distance from where the enemy can’t get us with their air defense system,” said the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity for operational …

READ MORE

Since January, 65 Ukrainian soldiers have been training at Fort Sill, a U.S. Army base in Oklahoma, to operate a Patriot air defense system. The troops expect to graduate in March and return to Ukraine to begin deploying the mobile air defense system. Given the sensitivity around the advanced training, the Pentagon has forbidden photographs of the participating soldiers and declined to allow VOA to name them. But Voice of America journalist Ostap Yarysh traveled to Fort Sill and observed the group firsthand. Rapid field training An American instructor watches Ukrainian soldiers deploy a big radar in the field. “Our …

READ MORE

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis this week called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” and condemned his invasion of Ukraine, a week after coming under criticism for remarks that seemed to advocate a reduction in U.S. support for Ukrainian forces. DeSantis, widely expected to announce his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination later this year, had previously described the war in Ukraine as a “territorial dispute” that did not represent a “vital national interest” of the United States. The remarks earned him immediate condemnation from many, including multiple long-serving Republicans in Congress, even though support for continued U.S. aid …

READ MORE

Adeline Lefebvre was scrunched up next to a newsstand as a swelling crowd of demonstrators pushed past her at the Place de la Bastille — the iconic Paris square that earned its fame from French Revolution days. Rock music blared and the gigantic balloons of the leftist CGT trade union bobbed in the air on this ninth day of nationwide strikes and protests against French President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular pension reform. Lefebvre, 58, a secretary who began working at 17, has been at every one. “Macron needs to understand things aren’t working out,” she said of the widespread opposition to …

READ MORE

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres brought an urgent climate message to the European Union summit Thursday in Brussels, encouraging leaders of the bloc’s 27 member nations to take dramatic action. Speaking to reporters alongside European Council President Charles Michel at EU headquarters, Guterres cited a report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change earlier this week.  That report called on nations to cut carbon emissions in half in the next 10 to 15 years if they want a chance at slowing global warming. Guterres said dramatic action is needed because, “We are close to the tipping point that will make …

READ MORE

Kenyan economists say newly-arrived wheat imports from Ukraine could help ease hunger in drought-stricken areas and bring down high food prices. Thirty thousand tons of wheat arrived in Kenya Monday under the U.N.-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative, in which Russia agreed not to block Ukrainian grain shipments. But Russian President Vladimir Putin warned this week that Moscow could end the deal within 60 days. The increased cost of cereal commodities such as wheat has left bakers like Harrison Kiai in the grip of higher wheat flour prices. Kiai said these days, his profits are insignificant. “Prices of the baking items …

READ MORE

Ukrainian authorities have called for a war crimes investigation after a video surfaced on social media that appeared to show Russian soldiers killing a Ukrainian POW. But how would this alleged crime be prosecuted? Oleksii Kovalenko tried to find out. VOA footage by Dmitriy Savchuk. Warning: This video contains graphic images that may not be suitable for all viewers. …

READ MORE

According to Argentina’s migration data, some 11,000 Russian women have arrived in the country since the start of 2022. Many of them were pregnant and gave birth to children in the South American country. Karina Bafradzhian tells us why. Video: David Gogokhia  …

READ MORE

China is very carefully watching how Washington and the world respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but has not yet crossed the line of providing lethal aid to Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. Speaking on the heels of a visit to Moscow by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Blinken told a Senate hearing that if Russia was allowed to attack its neighbor with impunity, it would “open a Pandora’s box” for would-be aggressors and lead to a “world of conflict.” “The stakes in Ukraine go well beyond Ukraine. … I think it has a profound impact …

READ MORE

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told lawmakers Wednesday that China’s diplomatic and material support for Russia goes against the US interest in ending the Ukraine war. His Capitol Hill testimony comes ahead of a potential call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. State Department bureau chief Nike Ching has more. …

READ MORE

Nearly 200 years after Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, researchers pulled DNA from strands of his hair, searching for clues about the health problems and hearing loss that plagued him. They weren’t able to crack the case of the German composer’s deafness or severe stomach ailments. But they did find a genetic risk for liver disease, plus a liver-damaging hepatitis B infection in the last months of his life. These factors, along with his chronic drinking, were probably enough to cause the liver failure that is widely believed to have killed him, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal …

READ MORE