Category: Євросоюз

An arson attack on a suburban Athens building that houses the offices of a Greek radio station and newspaper caused significant damage early Wednesday and drew condemnation from political leaders in Greece and elsewhere in the European Union.  Explosions were heard before a fire broke out shortly after 3 a.m. at the building that houses radio station Real FM and the Real News newspaper in Maroussi, a northern Athens suburb.  Firefighters extinguished the blaze. Fire Service investigators found the remnants of three gas canisters tied together on an external stairwell between the ground and first floors, as well as a …

READ MORE

Turkish officials say there is a potential breakthrough in efforts to release Ukrainian grain to world markets as global food prices soar amid Russia’s war with Ukraine. Turkey’s defense minister, Hulusi Akar, said an agreement is likely to be announced soon following four-way talks Wednesday among Russian, Ukrainian, United Nations, and Turkish officials in Istanbul. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in a statement after Wednesday’s talks that a deal to allow the release of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain could come as early as next week. Akar said Turkey would play a pivotal role in checking shipments in …

READ MORE

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accused Russia of forcibly deporting hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians from areas it controls in the east and south of the country to Russia. Blinken said an estimated 900,000 to 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens, including 260,000 children, have been interrogated, detained, and deported from their homes to Russia, including to isolated areas in the Far East, through filtration operations. In a statement on July 13, Blinken called on Russia to stop these operations, which he said violate the Geneva Conventions. “The unlawful transfer and deportation of protected persons is a grave breach of …

READ MORE

Thousands of firefighters battled more than 20 blazes that raged across Portugal and western Spain on Wednesday, menacing villages and disrupting tourists’ holidays amid a heat wave that pushed temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius in some parts of Europe. In France, hundreds of firefighters, supported by six water-bomber aircraft, battled two wildfires in the southwest, which prompted the evacuation of thousands of campers, Gironde prefect Fabienne Buccio said. In Santiago de Guarda in the central Portuguese district of Leiria, Albertina Francisco struggled to hold back tears as a cloud of black smoke billowed over the tiny village. “It was very …

READ MORE

With thousands of sanctions already imposed on Russia to flatten its economy, the U.S. and its allies are working on new measures to starve the Russian war machine while also stopping the price of oil and gasoline from soaring to levels that could crush the global economy. The Kremlin’s main pillar of financial revenue — oil — has kept the Russian economy afloat despite export bans, sanctions and the freezing of central bank assets. America’s European allies plan to follow the Biden administration and take steps to stop their use of Russian oil by the end of this year, a …

READ MORE

British Conservative Party lawmakers cast ballots Wednesday in the first round of the election to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Eight candidates have secured the necessary support of 20 of their colleagues to make the first ballot. If necessary, further rounds of voting will take place on Thursday and next week. Once only two candidates remain, they will participate in a runoff vote by about 180,000 Conservative Party members across the country. The winner is scheduled to be announced September 5 and will immediately become the new prime minister. Several high-profile candidates are in the first round, including former treasury …

READ MORE

Like most of his predecessors as Conservative Party leader, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is wealthy, white and male. There’s a good chance his successor will be different. The eight candidates running in a party election to succeed Johnson are four men and four women, with roots in Iraq, India, Pakistan and Nigeria as well as the U.K. The race could give the country its first Black or brown prime minister, its third female leader, or both. With the first round of voting by Conservative lawmakers set for Wednesday, the bookies’ favorite is former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, son of Indian …

READ MORE

Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are due to meet Wednesday in Istanbul in an effort to resume grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has hindered Ukrainian exports, helping push up global prices on grain, cooking oils, fuel and fertilizer.  Turkey and the United Nations have been working to broker a deal to alleviate the crisis.  Russia has expressed concerns about ships being used to bring weapons into Ukraine and called for ships to be searched.  Ukraine has said an agreement cannot threaten the security of its territory along the Black Sea.  …

READ MORE

France’s new foreign minister said on Tuesday there were only a few weeks before the window of opportunity to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers would close.  Speaking to lawmakers, Catherine Colonna said the situation was no longer tenable and accused Iran of using delaying tactics and going back on previously agreed positions during talks in Doha earlier this month, while forging ahead with its uranium enrichment program.  “There is still a window of opportunity … for Iran to finally decide to accept an accord, which it worked to build. But time is passing,” Colonna said, warning that …

READ MORE

Eight British Conservative Party lawmakers have made the cut to replace outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who resigned earlier this month amid scandals.  Each of the eight needed support from at least 20 fellow Conservative Party lawmakers before the Tuesday deadline.   Runoff voting among fellow Conservative lawmakers, to narrow the field to two, is scheduled to begin Wednesday.  Among the eight are former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt and backbench lawmaker Tom Tugendhat. Former health secretary Sajid Javid was not among the eight.  Lawmakers aim to narrow the field to two by …

READ MORE

More than 1.8 billion people worldwide are at risk of severe floods, new research shows. Most reside in low- and middle-income countries in Asia, and four out of 10 live in poverty. The figures are substantially larger than previous estimates. They show that the risk is concentrated among those least able to withstand and recover from flooding. “I thought it was a valuable paper, indeed. Because this link between poverty and flood risk is kind of overlooked,” said hydrologist Bruno Merz, of the German Research Center for Geosciences, who was not involved in the study. Flood risk assessments typically consider …

READ MORE

As parts of Europe endure sweltering heat, fears are growing of a cold winter ahead after Russia’s Gazprom energy company cut off a key pipeline to Germany this week — ostensibly for routine maintenance. The move has sparked alarm and is intensifying European Union efforts to slash energy consumption and find alternatives. Officially, Gazprom’s maintenance work on its Nord Stream I pipeline was long expected and unlikely to last very long. But German officials say anything is possible. Moscow has already curbed gas deliveries to nearly a dozen European Union countries in recent months, as they pass ever-tougher sanctions over …

READ MORE

A U.N. aid operation from Turkey into opposition-held areas of northwest Syria may now resume for six months — with the possibility of six additional months — after its authorization expired Sunday due to disagreements within the U.N. Security Council. “What is most important today is that the council, with this resolution, keeps the cross-border mechanism open and operating,” Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason said. “That humanitarian assistance continues to reach those in need.” Ireland and Norway hold the humanitarian file on Syria in the council and led the difficult negotiations. “We recognize that a six-month renewal is shorter than …

READ MORE

Ukrainian and Russian officials gave differing accounts Tuesday of a Ukrainian attack in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian side, a long-range rocket struck a Russian ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka, killing 52 Russian troops. Russia said the Ukrainian strike instead hit civilian infrastructure. Also Tuesday, Britain’s defense ministry said Russian forces continued to make “incremental territorial gains” in Donetsk province, the area of eastern Ukraine where it has focused its efforts. The British statement said Russia is likely maintaining pressure on Ukrainian forces while “regrouping and reconstituting for further offensives in the near future. Officials …

READ MORE

Spain and Portugal were sweltering in their second heat wave in a month Monday, with scorching temperatures also expected in France and Britain in the coming days. People in Spain baked with the temperature in the central town of Candeleda hitting a stifling 43.3 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit) shortly after 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), according to Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET. The mercury meanwhile hit 42.4C in the southern city of Seville. The southwestern cities of Badajoz and Merida also saw temperatures of 42C. AEMET forecast 46C in Badajoz on Thursday and Friday with Seville predicted to swelter in 45C …

READ MORE

Olympic champion Mo Farah revealed in an article published Monday that he was brought to Britain illegally under the name of another child to work as a domestic servant.  Farah told the BBC that he was given the name Mohamed Farah by a woman who flew him to the UK from the East African country Djibouti when he was 9.  The 39-year-old, whose father was killed in Somalia when he was 4, said his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin and claimed he was made to look after another family’s children in Britain.  “The truth is I’m not who you …

READ MORE

The United Nations said Monday that thousands of children in war zones suffered grave abuses including rape, maiming and death last year, and that concerns are growing for children in new regions of conflict, including Ukraine. “The fact remains that hundreds, if not thousands, of children are victims of violence in armed conflict every day of every week of every month of every year in conflict-affected states and regions,” Virginia Gamba, the special representative of the secretary-general for children and armed conflict, told reporters at the launch of the annual report. The most dangerous places to be a child last …

READ MORE

The red on beige sign outside La Torre shop advertises the kind of underwear earlier generations might have worn, mostly knickerbockers and girdles. The shop — known as The Tower in English — has been a standard in Barcelona for more than 120 years, preserving a glimpse into the city’s past. La Torre has withstood the relentless march of Starbucks, McDonald’s, and other international corporate chains which, critics say, have eaten up the souls of downtowns. Other period shops, cinemas or libraries have not been so fortunate and have been forced to close. Campaigners in Spain are determined to safeguard a form …

READ MORE

Hundreds of people marched in Spain’s capital Madrid Sunday to demand “human rights for Cubans” during a demonstration marking the first anniversary of the protests in Cuba. Police reported that some 250 people participated in the march. They also asked for freedom for political prisoners. “The tentacles of the Cuban regime are very wide,” said Cuban émigré Yadira Dobarganes, who criticized what she called the “false and lying leftists.” Among her demands was that Cubans have the right to return to the island, alluding to the complaints about the restrictions imposed by Havana on some people who are prevented from …

READ MORE

All Ukrainians can now apply for fast-track Russian citizenship, according to a decree signed Monday by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Previously, this option had been open only to residents of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as residents of the southern Zaporizhzhia and the Kherson regions, which are largely under Russian control. It was unclear how many would apply for Russian citizenship, but between 2019 — when the offer was made available to residents of Donetsk and Luhansk — and 2022, about 18% of the population in rebel-held areas of Ukraine received Russian passports. In May, the program …

READ MORE