Category: Євросоюз

A man in Spain who was suspected of having the deadly Marburg disease tested negative Saturday and does not have the virus, the health ministry said. Health authorities in Valencia earlier said they had detected the country’s first suspected case of the infectious disease that has led to the quarantining of more than 200 people in Equatorial Guinea. The 34-year-old man, who had recently been in Equatorial Guinea, had been given the all-clear but would be tested again in the coming weeks, officials said. He had been transferred from a private hospital to an isolation unit at the Hospital La …

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The European Union agreed Saturday to impose new sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The EU said in a statement the new sanctions “are directed at military and political decision-makers, companies supporting or working within the Russian military industry, and commanders in the Wagner Group.” The EU sanctions also prohibit transactions with three more Russian banks and hit Iran, restricting exports by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of drones used in attacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. The new measures announced Saturday were adopted after much internal disagreement over their exact makeup and made public one day …

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Turkey has arrested 184 people suspected of responsibility for the collapse of buildings in this month’s earthquakes and investigations are widening, a minister said Saturday, as anger simmers over what many see as corrupt building practices. Overnight, the death toll from the earthquakes, the most powerful of which struck at the dead of night Feb. 6, rose to 44,128 in Turkey. That took the overall number of deaths in Turkey and neighboring Syria to more than 50,000. More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkey by the disaster, the worst in the country’s modern …

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Britain and the European Union are inching toward concluding talks on revising post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland and an agreement is possible, but by no means guaranteed, in the coming days, Ireland’s prime minister said Saturday. Momentum has been building for weeks toward a deal to ease checks on trade that were introduced under the Northern Ireland Protocol – the arrangements agreed to avoid a hard border with EU member Ireland when Britain exited the EU in 2020. Lawmakers in British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party have been told to be in parliament Monday, in a sign that …

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Russia has likely depleted its supply of Iranian one-way-attack uncrewed aerial vehicles or OWA-UAVs, the British Defense Ministry said Saturday in an intelligence update. The ministry said there have not been any reports of the vehicles being used in Ukraine “since around” Feb. 15, while at least 24 were reported downed between late January and early February. “Scores were destroyed in the first few days of the year,” the ministry said. The British ministry said Ukraine will likely seek more stock of the unmanned vehicles, despite their bad track record for destroying their intended targets. “Russia likely sees them as …

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Spain has identified its first suspected case of Marburg disease.  The Spanish patient is a 34-year-old man who had recently traveled to the Central African nation of Equatorial Guinea.  He was in a private hospital but has been transferred to an isolation unit at Hospital La Fe in Valencia for further tests, regional medical officials said. Marburg virus disease, or MVD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “is a rare but severe hemorrhagic fever which affects both people and non-human primates … Primates [including people] can become infected with Marburg virus, and may develop serious disease with …

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Ukrainians and their supporters marched in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, one year after Moscow launched its full-scale war on Ukraine. Poland is host to more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees. Lesia Bakalets has more from Warsaw. …

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Turkey has begun work to rebuild homes following this month’s devastating earthquakes, a government official said Friday, as the combined death toll in Turkey and Syria surpassed 50,000. More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in the Feb. 6 earthquakes that killed tens of thousands in Turkey and neighboring Syria. The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority announced the death toll in Turkey due to earthquakes rose to 44,218 on Friday night. With Syria’s latest announced death toll of 5,914, the combined death toll in the two countries rose to above 50,000. Facing an election within …

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U.S. prosecutors went to federal court in New York on Friday to seek forfeiture of about $75 million in luxury real estate owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, saying the assets are proceeds from sanctions violations. The case arises from the indictment earlier this month of a Vekselberg business associate, who is accused of helping to buy and manage the properties, even as Vekselberg came under sanctions. Vekselberg, founder of the Renova Group, a Russian conglomerate, was first sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2018 and again last March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prosecutors say Vekselberg used a …

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One year after Russia invaded Ukraine, aid-dependent Somalia is still feeling the effects, as escalating prices for wheat and the long-running regional drought put millions at risk of starvation. According to traders in Somalia’s main markets, the price of a local food basket has increased by 49 percent over the past 12 months. Fuel prices have nearly doubled, increasing 92 percent compared to a year ago. Shoki Hayir, a lecturer at Mogadishu’s SIMAD University and a conflict researcher, told VOA that Russia’s war in Ukraine cut off Somalia from one of its main international food sources. “Somalia had sourced more …

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Russia’s war in Ukraine has added to Pakistan’s woes as its import-dependent economy has suffered price shocks. One year later, Islamabad not only continues to maintain a neutral diplomatic stance on Russia, but it is also trying to deepen trade ties with Moscow to acquire cheap energy. Sarah Zaman reports on how Pakistan walks a diplomatic tightrope in this conflict. Videographer: Wajid Ali Shah, Waqar Ahmad; Video editor: Waqar Ahmed …

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A meeting of finance officials of the Group of 20 countries, which coincided with the anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, revealed sharp differences between the world’s biggest economies on the conflict. The meeting began Friday in India’s southern city of Bengaluru.  At the opening session, U.S. Trade Secretary Janet Yellen called on G-20 countries to “redouble their efforts to support Ukraine and restrict Russia’s capacity to wage war.” “I urge the Russian officials here at the G-20 to understand that their continued work for the Kremlin makes them complicit in [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s atrocities,” Yellen …

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday his nation will be victorious against Russia as the war with the neighboring country entered its second year with no apparent end in sight. “We endured.  We were not defeated. And we will do everything to gain victory this year,” Zelenskyy said in a statement released on social media. “Ukraine has inspired the world. Ukraine has united the world,” he added. Leaders of the Group of 7 were set to meet virtually Friday to announce new sanctions against those aiding Russia’s war effort. The White House said Friday it is imposing sweeping new sanctions …

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Ukrainians living in South Africa are marking one year since Russia’s invasion with a dance production titled ‘We Stand for Freedom.’ The performance, supported by the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, draws parallels between racial oppression under apartheid and Moscow’s war on Ukraine. Vicky Stark meets some Ukrainians who fled the war in this report from Cape Town, South Africa. …

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The extensive sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine one year ago have not led to the decimation of the Russian economy, as many experts had predicted. As recently as last fall, according to new polling data, many Russians actually believed they were better off economically than they had been before the war started. According to data gathered by the Gallup organization, the share of Russians reporting they were satisfied with their standard of living increased by 15 percentage points, to 57% in 2022. For the first time in the poll’s history, satisfaction with living standards was above …

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There are fears of a new global nuclear arms race after Russia’s president announced this week that he would suspend the country’s participation in the New START treaty, which limits the number of warheads deployed by Russia and the United States. Henry Ridgwell reports. …

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine one year ago has sparked a long-term transformation across European defenses, a top U.S. general told VOA, as the Pentagon warns that Moscow has “already lost” its fight to control Ukraine. “The security environment here in Europe has been changed for decades,” Lieutenant General John Kolasheski, commander general of V Corps who is responsible for U.S. Army operations along NATO’s eastern flank, said in an exclusive interview in Poland earlier this month. As Russia’s war efforts took shape, the United States poured thousands of additional troops into Europe while European nations close to the conflict ramped …

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In Syria’s rebel-controlled Idlib province, February’s deadly earthquakes on the Turkish-Syrian border devastated a medical system already weakened from years of civil war. Rebel leaders warn of medicines running out as many quake survivors face disease and infections. Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Istanbul. Camera — Mouneb Taim, Moawia Atrash, Ahmad Fallaha …

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that Washington is seeking to strengthen sanctions against Russia and called for more support for Ukraine as it resists Moscow’s invasion. She was speaking in India’s technology hub of Bengaluru, where finance leaders of the Group of 20 leading economies have gathered to discuss challenges such as high debt and inflation that confront many low-income countries. She made her comments one day before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “As [U.S.] President [Joe] Biden has said, we will stand with Ukraine in its fight – for as long as it takes,” …

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As Russian tanks rolled into eastern Ukraine a year ago, millions of Ukrainians fled to Poland. Many came by foot through the Medyka border crossing – where aid agencies mounted a huge emergency response. Twelve months on, VOA’s Henry Ridgwell returned to Medyka to see what has changed – and how authorities are preparing for a possible new wave of refugees. Camera: Henry Ridgwell …

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