Category: Євросоюз

Violent storms buffeting western Germany on Friday killed at least one man and injured about 40 people, 10 of them seriously, when an apparent tornado raked several towns, police and local media said. Images on social media showed an apparent tornado with its distinctive spinning cyclone flinging debris through the air, though the German Weather Service did not immediately confirm a tornado had occurred. The 38-year-old man in the far-western town of Wittgert died of head injuries sustained when he fell after suffering an electric shock in a flooded cellar, local media quoted police as saying. Police said up to …

READ MORE

French President Emmanuel Macron named new foreign and defense ministers on Friday as part of a government re-shuffle intended to create fresh momentum ahead of parliamentary elections next month.   France’s ambassador to London, Catherine Colonna, was picked as foreign minister, making her only the second woman to hold the prestigious job.   Sebastien Lecornu, former minister for overseas territories, was promoted to the defense ministry, Macron’s chief of staff Alexis Kohler announced at the presidential palace.  Macron decided to shuffle the portfolios despite the conflict in Ukraine, Europe’s biggest since World War II.   “It’s a government that is …

READ MORE

Before the Russian invasion, Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Replyanchuk spent his days unearthing corruption, often among judges and law enforcement. Now the Kyiv-based journalist who works for the independent media website Slidstvo.Info uses his investigative reporting skills to expose war crimes and atrocities. Every crime has a face, Replyanchuk told VOA. “War criminals who executed civilians in Bucha, pilots who dropped bombs on Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities, artillerymen who shelled Kharkiv: those are specific people,” he said. “And my job is to reveal these people.” With the first Russian soldier standing trial for war crimes this week, and journalists interviewing …

READ MORE

People suffering from eco-anxiety — the fear of environmental catastrophe — may get a boost from a green forum in Paris this week. Gathering hundreds of eco-entrepreneurs, companies and activists, ChangeNOW aims to trace a sustainable blueprint for the future. From food to fashion, technology to transport, a raft of green solutions for our resource-sucking society is parked through Saturday inside a massive events venue — made of sustainable materials — in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. “It’s 35 days to reach Madagascar from Marseille. Going through the Suez Canal. And we are using the wind. It helps us …

READ MORE

Theater director Mikhail Durnenkov and actor Aleksey Yudnikov are both longstanding enemies of the Kremlin. For decades, their performances have parodied the Russian government and its leader, President Vladimir Putin, testing the boundaries of expressive freedom under constant state surveillance. Durnenkov’s 2015 production, The War Has Not Yet Started, has proven eerily prescient: a tense play of 12 intertwined stories about life in modern Russia amid the undeclared war with Ukraine and endless state propaganda. Despite regular run-ins with the police and authorities, the Moscow-based Teatr.doc company managed to keep going. But, following a severe clampdown on political opposition and …

READ MORE

France’s new government lineup will be announced later on Friday, the presidency said, with the new Cabinet set to meet on Monday. The announcement came four days after Elisabeth Borne, the outgoing labor minister, was named premier, becoming the first woman to head the French government in more than 30 years. The government reshuffle was widely expected following the reelection of President Emmanuel Macron in April and ahead of legislative elections next month. The centrist Macron will need a legislative majority to push through his domestic agenda following his reelection, with a new left-wing alliance and the far right threatening …

READ MORE

The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved a new $40 billion aid package for Ukraine as the country combats Russia’s invasion. The House of Representatives voted in favor of the package last week. U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the measure promptly. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address Thursday that the Senate passage of the aid package was “a manifestation of strong leadership and a necessary contribution to our common defense of freedom.” In another development Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the administration is authorizing $100 million more in military aid to Ukraine. …

READ MORE

The US Senate passed a $40 billion bill Thursday that provides humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine. After a week of delay, the vote means President Joe Biden will be able to sign the bill into law just as billions in aid passed earlier this year runs out. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more. Producer: Katherine Gypson …

READ MORE

More than 70 years ago the United States launched a massive reconstruction effort to help rebuild Europe following the end of the Second World War. This week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin said Ukraine will need similar assistance, as the U.S. Congress prepares to approve $40 billion in military, economic and humanitarian aid for Kyiv. “Eventually, Ukraine will need massive support and private investment for reconstruction and recovery, akin to the task of rebuilding in Europe after 1945,” Yellin told an audience in Brussels Tuesday. The Marshall Plan, officially known as the European Recovery Plan, was put in place in …

READ MORE

The U.S. Senate completed congressional action Thursday on a new $40 billion aid package for Ukraine, overwhelmingly approving it and sending the measure to President Joe Biden for his expected signature. The package is intended to buttress Ukraine over the next five months to combat Russia’s ongoing invasion. It includes money for military equipment, training and weapons, as well as billions of dollars in humanitarian aid, including money to help address global food shortages caused by the three-month conflict. The assistance replenishes stocks of U.S. equipment sent earlier to Ukraine and provides financing to help other countries that are assisting …

READ MORE

Amid a severe clampdown on political opposition and civil society in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, thousands of people have fled the country – including many artists, whose work is often critical of President Vladimir Putin. Some of those artists are now in Finland, as Henry Ridgwell reports from Helsinki. …

READ MORE

President Joe Biden on Thursday enthusiastically welcomed Sweden and Finland’s bids to join the NATO security alliance — a move that would bring two of Europe’s most modern militaries right to Russia’s northwest border.  Speaking from the Rose Garden, flanked by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and President Sauli Niinistö of Finland, Biden said he would send their membership applications to the U.S. Congress, where he hopes for a swift approval.  “Sweden and Finland have strong democratic institutions, strong militaries, and strong and transparent economies,” Biden said. “And a strong moral sense of what is right. They meet every …

READ MORE

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday hundreds more Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, bringing the total this week to 1,730.  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement it was registering fighters who left Azovstal, an operation that began Tuesday and was continuing Thursday.  “The ICRC is not transporting POWs to the places where they are held,” the aid group said. “The registration process that the ICRC facilitated involves the individual filling out a form with personal details like name, date of birth and closest relative. This information allows the …

READ MORE

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Wednesday said it had confirmed a single case of monkeypox virus infection in a man who had recently traveled to Canada. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said its labs confirmed the infection to be monkeypox on Wednesday afternoon. The state agency said it was working with CDC and relevant local boards of health to carry out contact tracing, adding that “the case poses no risk to the public, and the individual is hospitalized and in good condition.” The Public Health Agency of Canada late on Wednesday issued a statement …

READ MORE

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT:   3:05 a.m.: Several senior Russian commanders have been fired for performing “poorly” during the opening stages of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense’s  Thursday report. The ministry said the suspended include the lieutenant general who failed to capture Kharkiv, and the vice admiral under whose command the Russian cruiser Moskva sank.  “A culture of cover-ups and scape-goating is probably prevalent within the Russian military and security system,” the report said. Given the likely finger-pointing …

READ MORE

The U.S. Senate is set to vote Thursday on a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine. The measure includes money for military equipment, training and weapons for Ukraine, replenishing stocks of U.S. equipment sent to Ukraine and financing to help other countries that aid Ukraine. It also includes billions of dollars in humanitarian aid, including helping money to address global food shortages caused by the conflict. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly gave its approval to the package last week. If the Senate approves the measure, it will go to President Joe Biden for his signature.  …

READ MORE

The jailing of a politician turned media owner sends a “bad message” from Georgia about the country’s commitment to press freedom and Western ideals, international bodies and rights groups say. Nika Gvaramia, director of the opposition station Mtavari TV, appeared in court in the capital, Tbilisi, on Monday accused of harming the financial interests of a media outlet that he previously ran. The court convicted Gvaramia of abuse of power related to his time as general manager and director of the independent TV station Rustavi 2. He was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. His lawyer, Dimitri …

READ MORE

A 21-year-old Russian soldier pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing an unarmed Ukrainian civilian in the first war crimes case Kyiv has brought since the Russian invasion three months ago. Sergeant Vadim Shishimarin could be sentenced to life in prison for shooting a 62-year-old Ukrainian man in the head through an open car window four days after Russia launched the invasion in late February.  Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova previously has said her office is preparing war crimes cases against 41 Russian soldiers for offenses that included bombing civilian infrastructure, killing civilians, rape and looting. It is not clear how many …

READ MORE

After months of siege, Russia is taking control of Ukraine’s strategic port city, Mariupol, and aid workers say they do not know how many civilians remain. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine, that many risked everything to get out but even now, they still live in fear. …

READ MORE

Finland and Sweden have officially applied for membership in the NATO military alliance, spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made the announcement Wednesday at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, flanked by the ambassadors from both countries after receiving their formal application letters. “This is a good day at a critical moment for our security,” Stoltenberg said. “All allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement. We all agree that we must stand together. And we all agree that this is an historic moment which we must seize.” Finland’s parliament overwhelmingly voted to join NATO earlier Wednesday …

READ MORE