Category: Євросоюз

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, scheduled to leave office later this year after nearly 16 years, is in Moscow for one final meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Before the two leaders met for talks in the Kremlin Friday, Merkel took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Russia’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow and viewed a military procession immediately after.German Chancellor Angela Merkel takes part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin Wall in central Moscow, Russia, Aug. 20, 2021.Later, at the Kremlin, Putin presented the German chancellor with a bouquet of flowers …

READ MORE

Britain and the United States imposed sanctions Friday on men they said were Russian intelligence operatives responsible for the poisoning one year ago of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny.The two countries targeted seven Russians with sanctions and issued a joint statement warning Russia about chemical weapons.Washington separately imposed sanctions on another two men and four Russian institutes it said were involved in chemical weapons research or what it described as an assassination attempt against Navalny.Navalny was flown to Germany for medical treatment after being poisoned in Siberia on August 20, 2020, with what Western experts concluded was the military nerve agent …

READ MORE

Afghan refugees in Turkey say they made the dangerous journey to escape living again under Taliban rule. VOA’s Arif Aslan reports from eastern Turkey, where some of the Afghans he spoke with arrived over the past few days as the Taliban were taking over the Afghan capital. Sirwan Kajjo narrates his report.Camera: Arif Aslan. …

READ MORE

Russia, once a thorn in China’s side, is backing Beijing in its disputes with third countries, including a maritime sovereignty flap in Southeast Asia, to counter Washington’s influence in Asia, scholars believe.With the world’s second strongest military, after the United States, Russia holds occasional military exercises with China – with at least four events publicized to date — sells arms to its giant neighbor to the south and joins it in criticizing the West.Officials in Moscow are trying now to boost Beijing’s claim to the contested South China Sea without overtly taking its side over five other Asian governments that …

READ MORE

Thursday, the United States plans to ship 35,100 doses of Pfizer vaccine to Kosovo through COVAX, the United Nations vaccine-sharing mechanism, a White House official told VOA.The doses are part of the purchase of half a billion Pfizer doses secured by the Biden administration earlier this year.Kosovo is experiencing another spike in infection, largely due to the delta variant. There have been 120,862 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 2,295 deaths according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Fewer than 550,000 vaccine doses have been administered in the country.In addition to the $2 billion donated to COVAX, the Biden administration …

READ MORE

One of Malta’s wealthiest businessmen, Yorgen Fenech, has been indicted for the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, prosecutors said in court documents filed on Wednesday. No date for the trial has yet been set. Fenech has been under arrest since November 2019, accused of complicity to murder. He has since been undergoing a pre-trial compilation of evidence where he pleaded not guilty. Caruana Galizia was blown up by a car bomb as she drove out of her residence on Oct. 16, 2017, in a killing that shocked Europe and raised questions about the rule of law in the European Union’s smallest …

READ MORE

The interior ministers from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, comprising the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, held a conference call Wednesday to discuss how to coordinate safe and legal migration routes for Afghans fleeing the Taliban.British officials said most of the focus was on the immediate security and logistical challenges of extracting Afghan officials and others, mainly civilians, who have worked with Western security forces during the 20 years of the NATO deployment in Afghanistan.The meeting came hours after French President Emmanuel Macron promised not to abandon Afghans who had served or partnered with French forces in Afghanistan. …

READ MORE

Pope Francis says people who get the coronavirus vaccine would be committing “an act of love” towards their fellow men and women. The pontiff made the personal appeal in a filmed public service message that was released Wednesday online and on television.  “Thanks to God’s grace and to the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us from Covid-19,” Pope Francis said in the message, which he made on behalf of the U.S.-based nonprofit group the Ad Council. He said the vaccines “bring hope to end the pandemic, but only if they are available to all and if we collaborate with …

READ MORE

Britain and the United States say they will work with other nations to develop a coordinated strategy for Afghanistan, and that when it comes to the Taliban’s pledges for how it will operate, the group’s actions are ultimately what matter”We will judge this regime based on the choices it makes, and by its actions rather than by its words, on its attitude to terrorism, to crime and narcotics, as well as humanitarian access, and the rights of girls to receive an education,” Johnson told members of parliament Wednesday.FILE – Schoolgirls attend class in Herat on Aug. 17, 2021, following the …

READ MORE

America’s NATO allies are scrambling to evacuate their citizens from Afghanistan following the U.S military withdrawal from the country, and the collapse of the Afghan government. Many European officials have voiced fears that the Taliban takeover will increase the risk of terrorism and cause a renewed influx of refugees. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Camera: Henry Ridgwell       …

READ MORE

America’s NATO allies are scrambling to evacuate their citizens from Afghanistan amid the U.S. military withdrawal from the country and the collapse of the Afghan government. Many European officials have voiced fears that the Taliban takeover will increase the risk of terrorism and renew an influx of refugees into Europe.  Britain and other NATO allies began evacuating their citizens from Afghanistan on Sunday, along with hundreds of Afghan citizens who worked alongside them. France, Germany, Spain and Italy are also operating evacuation flights after U.S. troops reasserted control of the airport Monday, following chaotic scenes over the weekend. Several European states …

READ MORE

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that Afghanistan’s leadership was responsible for the rapid collapse of the Afghan military but noted the alliance should learns lessons on how it conducts military training. “This failure of Afghan leadership led to the tragedy we are witnessing today,” Stoltenberg said after a NATO meeting to discuss the security effects of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.The speed with which Afghan troops weakened during the Taliban’s offensive  “was a surprise,” said Stoltenberg, who also admitted “there are lessons that need to be learned” at NATO.In its reaction to the Taliban’s victory, Russia, which declared the …

READ MORE

Like many countries, France is seeing its COVID-19 cases rise — and nowhere as sharply as its overseas territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Low vaccination rates, fueled by suspicion of Paris, help explain the exploding pandemic in the Caribbean islands.Health workers from mainland France are arriving to the two Caribbean islands to help their overwhelmed colleagues deal with record COVID-19 cases. Hardest hit is Guadeloupe, where one in four people now tests positive for the disease caused by coronavirus—a number that doubled in a week. The situation is also alarming in Martinique. Hospitals are overflowing. Doctors say some basic medical equipment …

READ MORE

Officials in Turkey said Monday the death toll from flooding in the country’s northwestern Black Sea provinces rose to 77 as rescue crews continued to search for dozens of people still reported missing.The flooding began last week after torrential rains, demolishing buildings and bridges and damaging roads and electricity infrastructure.Disaster and emergency officials said more than 30 villages remained without power on Monday.The dead included 62 people in Kastamonu province, 14 in Sinop and one in Bartin, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate.AFAD said since the flooding began, more than 2,000 people have been evacuated from those areas.Some …

READ MORE

European leaders said Monday they will press for a unified international approach to dealing with a Taliban government in Afghanistan, as they looked on with dismay at the rapid collapse of two decades of a U.S.-led Western campaign in the country. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke Monday to French President Emmanuel Macron, stressing the need for a common stand on recognizing any future Afghan government and preventing a humanitarian and refugee crisis.  FILE – Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at the Downing Street Briefing Room in London, July 5, 2021.Both leaders agreed to cooperate at the U.N. Security Council, …

READ MORE

Turkey has dropped plans to take over the Kabul airport after NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan but is ready to provide support if the Taliban request it, two Turkish sources said Monday. Turkey, which has 600 troops in Afghanistan, had offered to keep them in Kabul to guard and operate the airport after other NATO members pulled out, and was discussing details with Washington and the government of President Ashraf Ghani. The plans were thrown into disarray in the past two days after Ghani fled the country on Sunday as the Taliban swept into Kabul and thousands of Afghans, also hoping to escape, …

READ MORE

Flooding caused by heavy rains in regions around the Black Sea have left dozens of people dead in Turkey and forced the evacuation of hundreds in southern Russia.The Turkish provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu and Sinop along the Black Sea suffered torrential rains midweek that led to flooding.Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said the flooding destroyed dozens of homes and several roads and bridges and cut off electricity to hundreds of villages.The death toll from flooding in Turkey rose to at least 57 people, AFAD said Saturday. At least eight people were hospitalized, agency officials said.Speaking late Saturday in …

READ MORE

The death toll from flooding in Turkey has climbed to at least 44 people, the country’s disaster agency said Saturday.Torrential rains Wednesday triggered flooding in the northern Black Sea region, destroying homes, closing roads, and cutting off electricity to hundreds of villages, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD).Fires Rage in Turkey as Anger Grows over Grounded Firefighting AircraftSome blame government political score-settling for stalling firefighting efforts parts of country burn Authorities said more than 2,200 people had been evacuated and that the search continued for missing residents.The floods are the second natural disaster to strike Turkey this …

READ MORE

A young man who killed five people, including his mother, and then took his own life in Britain’s first mass shooting in more than a decade had complained online about difficulties meeting women and being “beaten down” by life.Police said Friday that the motive for the shootings was unclear but that there were no immediate signs the crime was an act of terrorism or the gunman had connections to extremist groups.They identified the shooter as Jake Davison, 22, and said he had a gun license, but revealed few other details. Witnesses reported that he used a pump-action shotgun, police said, …

READ MORE

The World Health Organization said on Friday it was setting up a new group to trace the origins of the coronavirus, seeking to end what it called “political point scoring” that had hampered investigations.The inability of the WHO to say where and how the virus began spreading has fueled tensions among its members, particularly between China, where COVID-19 cases were first identified in Wuhan in late 2019, and the United States.The WHO called for all governments to cooperate to accelerate studies into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and “to depoliticise the situation.”It specified that a new advisory group called …

READ MORE