Category: Євросоюз

The British government summoned Iran’s most senior diplomat in London on Monday to protest what it said were serious threats against journalists living in Britain, as ministers launched a new security review into Iranian activities.  On Saturday, a London-based television station critical of the Iranian government said it was moving its live broadcasting studios to the United States because of threats it faced in Britain.  “I am appalled by the Iranian regime’s continuing threats to the lives of U.K.-based journalists and have today summoned its representative to make clear this will not be tolerated,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in …

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Weeks of dry winter weather have raised concerns that Italy could face another drought after last summer’s emergency, with the Alps having received less than half of their normal snowfall, according to scientists and environmental groups. Italian rivers and lakes are suffering from severe lack of water, the Legambiente environmental group said on Monday, with attention focused on the north of the country. The Po, Italy’s longest river which runs from the Alps in the northwest to the Adriatic has 61% less water than normal at this time of year, it added in a statement. Last July Italy declared a …

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The BBC said Monday it has uncovered evidence of sexual exploitation on Kenyan tea plantations that supply some of Britain’s most popular brands. In a video posted on the BBC World website, a supervisor on a Kenyan tea farm is seen with an undercover reporter and he asks her to touch him and undress. He did not know he was being taped and a BBC crew was nearby for the reporter’s protection. More than 70 women told the BBC that that they had been sexually exploited by their supervisors on farms owned by Unilever, Lipton and James Finlay & Co. …

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting Monday with Turkish leaders in Ankara, with Turkey’s recovery from a devastating earthquake and its position as a necessary vote for expanding NATO among the top agenda items.  Blinken’s schedule includes talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which this week reaches its one-year anniversary, prompted Sweden and Finland to seek entry to the NATO defensive alliance, a process that requires unanimous consent of the existing members. Hungary and Turkey are the only ones yet to approve the new candidates.  Turkey has expressed …

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Antiwar German movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” won seven prizes, including best picture, at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, building the somber drama’s momentum as awards season rolls toward its climax at next month’s Oscars.  Irish tragicomedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” and rock biopic “Elvis” took four prizes each.  “All Quiet,” a visceral depiction of life and death in the World War I trenches, based on Erich Maria Remarque’s classic novel, won Edward Berger the best director award. Its other trophies included adapted screenplay, cinematography, best score, best sound and best film not in English.  Austin …

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The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Sunday it was in discussions with Iran about the results of recent verification work there soon after a Bloomberg News report that it had detected uranium enriched to 84% purity, which is close to weapons grade. Iran has been enriching uranium to up to 60% purity since April 2021. Three months ago, it started enriching to that level at a second site, Fordow, which is dug into a mountain. Weapons grade is around 90%. “The IAEA is aware of recent media reports relating to uranium enrichment levels in Iran,” the International Atomic Energy Agency …

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Moscow’s nights display few signs of a nation at war. Cheerful crowds packed restaurants and bars in the Sretenka neighborhood on a recent Saturday night, watched by officers marked as “tourist police.” Nearby, a top-hatted guide led about 40 sightseers to a 300-year-old church. There’s only an occasional “Z” — the symbol of Russia’s “special military operation,” as the Ukraine invasion is officially known — seen on a building or a shuttered store abandoned by a Western retailer. A poster of a stern-faced soldier, with the slogan “Glory to the heroes of Russia,” is a reminder the conflict has dragged …

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Russia is not happy with the comments the French president made in a newspaper interview. Emmanuel Macron told Le Journal du Dimanche that France wanted to see Russia defeated in Ukraine, but not crushed. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the French leader’s comments were “priceless” and showed that the West was talking about regime change in Russia. Macron also told the newspaper that he did not see an alternative to Russia’s current leader. “All the options other than Vladimir Putin in the current system seem worse to me,” the French leader told the newspaper. Russia, led by Putin, …

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The United States is sending another $100 million in humanitarian assistance to Turkey and Syria to help the two countries cope with the devastating earthquake that has killed more than 46,000 people and left millions homeless. The new aid brings the total U.S. assistance to $185 million and will be provided to international and nongovernmental groups that have been involved in the rescue and recovery efforts. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was visiting Turkey on Sunday to observe firsthand the devastating aftermath of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, said the new assistance would help in the purchase of such …

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Andrew Lloyd Webber, the English composer who created the scores for blockbuster musicals such as “Cats,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Evita,” has written the anthem for King Charles III’s coronation, adapting a piece of church music that encourages singers to make a “joyful noise.” The work by Webber is one of a dozen new pieces Charles commissioned for the grand occasion taking place May 6 at Westminster Abbey. It includes words adapted from Psalm 98 and is scored specifically for the abbey’s choir and organ. “I hope my anthem reflects this joyful occasion,” Webber said in a statement …

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International Energy Agency (IEA) head Fatih Birol has warned of possible energy shortages next winter as relatively little new liquefied natural gas (LNG) is coming to the market while China’s consumption is set to rise this year. European governments made many correct decisions over the last year to ensure energy supply, such as building more LNG terminals to replace pipeline deliveries of Russian gas, Birol told Reuters on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday. But they also got lucky, he said, with a mild winter dampening demand while economic weakness in China led to the first …

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A 17-year-old high school student has captured Turkish hearts after he filmed a farewell message to his loved ones as he was trapped under the rubble of his home during last week’s earthquake. Taha Erdem and his family were asleep when a 7.8 magnitude quake hit their hometown of Adiyaman in the early hours of Feb. 6. Taha was abruptly woken by violent tremors shaking the four-story apartment building in a blue-collar neighborhood of the central Anatolian city. Within 10 seconds, Taha, his mother, father and younger brother and sister were plunging downward with the building. He found himself alone …

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In a dusty workshop in northern Lithuania, a dozen men are transforming hundreds of wheel rims into potbelly stoves to warm Ukrainians huddled in trenches and bomb shelters. As the sparks subside, one welder marks the countertop: 36 made that day. Hours later, they’ve reached 60. People from across Lithuania send old wheel rims to the volunteers gathering weekly in Siauliai, the Baltic country’s fourth-largest city. Two cars loaded with wood stoves wait outside the workshop ahead of the long night drive south. Since Russia invaded Ukraine last February, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — three states on NATO’s eastern flank …

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On the deserted edge of a town near the front line in eastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian soldier kneels in a firing position, a gloved finger on the trigger of his high-powered rifle. “The Russians want to control this road,” says his commander, who goes by the call sign “Virus,” looking up and down a snow-covered residential street. Dogs bark behind the garden walls and beyond as small-arms fire crackles in the near distance, in between the muffled sound of artillery shelling. As the anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches Friday, expectations are high that the fighting will intensify in Ukraine. But …

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Bulgarian prosecutors have charged six people with human trafficking after 18 Afghan migrants were found dead Friday inside a truck dumped on a dirt road near the capital Sofia. Prosecutors said the truck was abandoned near the village of Lokorsko after the driver and his companion found that many of the 52 migrants in the hidden compartments of the truck, which were isolated with foil, were dizzy and some had already died. The truck driver and his companion were also charged over the deaths of the migrants, prosecutors said. Despite strong and prolonged banging on the cabin, the driver refused …

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A group of exiled Iranians will increase support for opposition movements in the country so they can continue to pressure the authorities there amid a crackdown on protests, the last heir to the Iranian monarchy said Saturday. Iran has been rocked by unrest since the death in police custody of a young Iranian Kurdish woman in September after she was detained for flouting a strict Islamic dress code. The protests are among the strongest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the revolution. ‘Maximum pressure’ and ‘maximum support’ Eight Iranian exiled dissidents, including Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the toppled …

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The Biden administration formally concluded that Russia has committed “crimes against humanity” during its nearly year-long invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday. “In the case of Russia’s actions in Ukraine we have examined the evidence, we know the legal standards, and there is no doubt: these are crimes against humanity,” Harris, a former prosecutor, said at the Munich Security Conference. “And I say to all those who have perpetrated these crimes, and to their superiors who are complicit in these crimes, you will be held to account.” The official determination, which came at the end of …

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Human Rights Watch said Saturday that the monthlong refusal of Russian officials to provide information about the whereabouts of a political prisoner has raised concerns that he has been “forcibly disappeared.   Andrey Pivovarov’s family and lawyer have not been in contact with him since January 18, when he sent a letter informing them that he was being transferred from a St. Petersburg prison to a prison colony.   HRW said in a statement, “The authorities should immediately quash his politically motivated imprisonment and unconditionally release Pivovarov and, in the meantime, urgently allow his family and lawyer to meet with …

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Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu has been found dead under the building where he lived in southern Turkey after last week’s massive earthquake, the ex-Chelsea winger’s Turkish agent said. “Atsu’s lifeless body was found under the rubble,” Murat Uzunmehmet told reporters in Hatay, where the athlete’s body was found. “Currently, more items are still being taken out. His phone was also found.” Atsu had been scheduled to fly out of southern Turkey hours before the quake, but Hatayspor’s manager said on Friday the Ghanaian opted to stay with the club after scoring the game-winning goal in a Feb. 5 Super Lig …

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President Joe Biden will mark the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a speech Tuesday in Poland, where he is expected to reiterate the United States’ commitment to support the defense of Ukraine “for as long as it takes” despite growing Republican reticence and softening overall support among Americans. Scheduled to arrive in Warsaw on Tuesday morning, Biden will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda to discuss “collective efforts to support Ukraine and to bolster NATO’s deterrence,” said John Kirby, National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson in a briefing to reporters Friday. Biden also will meet with NATO leaders from …

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