Category: Євросоюз

For British IT consultant Yogen Shah, India’s COVID-19 crisis is deeply personal.The pictures of people hooked up to oxygen bottles on the streets of New Delhi and patients sharing beds in overcrowded hospitals remind him of his uncle in India, who recently contracted the disease.So Shah joined volunteers from one of Britain’s largest Hindu temples who set out to raise 500,000 pounds ($690,000) by racking up 7,600 kilometers (4,722 miles) on stationary bikes — roughly the distance from London to Delhi — in 48 hours.”I think every single person of Indian origin will have someone affected over there,” Shah, 40, …

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Two Italian ports faced an influx of hundreds of migrants on Saturday, as a charity ship sailed toward a Sicilian port with 236 people rescued in the Mediterranean from traffickers’ boats, while Italian coast guard and border police brought 532 others to a tiny island.The maritime rescue group SOS Mediterranee said a ship it operates, Ocean Viking, pulled the migrants to safety four days ago from two rubber dinghies. Upon instructions from Italian authorities, the Ocean Viking was sailing to Augusta, Sicily, with its passengers, 119 of whom were reported to be unaccompanied minors.SOS Mediterranee said some passengers told rescuers …

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Europeans marked International Workers’ Day, May 1, with traditional lily of the valley flowers and street protests. But this year’s mood was grim, with many countries feeling the health and economic backlash of COVID-19, including a double-dip recession in the 19-member euro currency zone.The weather was cold and damp in Paris as thousands of protesters marched down Boulevard Voltaire to Place de la Nation — or Nation’s Square — a favorite guillotine spot during the French Revolution.A protester holds a sign denouncing profiteers who have enriched themselves from the COVID crisis, in Paris, May 1, 2021. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)There was no …

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High-ranking diplomats from China, Germany, France, Russia and Britain resumed talks Saturday focused on bringing the United States back into their landmark nuclear deal with Iran.The U.S. will not have a representative at the table when the diplomats meet in Vienna because former President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the country out of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2018. Trump also restored and augmented sanctions to try to force Iran into renegotiating the pact with more concessions.U.S. President Joe Biden wants to rejoin the deal, however, and a U.S. delegation in Vienna is taking part …

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Turkish police detained 212 demonstrators after scuffles broke out at May Day marches Saturday amid a coronavirus-related curfew, according to the Istanbul governor’s office and Reuters witnesses.   Riot police and plainclothes officers jostled with union leaders and other demonstrators and threw some to the ground before detaining dozens of them near Istanbul’s Taksim Square, Reuters video and images showed.   The governor’s office said some labor unions were allowed to hold memorials to mark the annual holiday, while others who had “gathered illegally” in violation of the lockdown, and ignored calls to disperse, were detained.   State-owned Anadolu Agency …

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Saturday, parties to the Iran nuclear agreement are to resume the third round of negotiations in Vienna aimed at bringing the United States back into the accord.   The deal, which curbs Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, has been on life support since then U.S. president Donald Trump bolted in 2018.   The remaining partners to the 2015 accord have been engaged in negotiations since early April to try to revive it.   The third round of talks started on Tuesday and, after several days of technical discussions between expert groups and delegations, will resume on Saturday. …

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A total of 125 Europe-bound children were among those intercepted at sea this week by Libyan authorities off the Mediterranean coast, the United Nations child welfare agency said Friday, adding that most were brought to detention centers.The children, fleeing war and poverty across the perilous maritime route to Europe, included 114 unaccompanied minors, UNICEF added in a statement.”The majority of those rescued are sent to overcrowded detention centers in Libya under extremely difficult conditions and with no or limited access to water and health services. Nearly 1,100 children are in these centers,” read the statement.UNICEF urged the Libyan authorities to …

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Russia on Friday barred eight officials from European Union countries from entering the country in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Russian citizens by the EU.Russia’s foreign ministry said those banned included Vera Jourova, vice president for values and transparency at the executive European Commission, David Sassoli, the president of the European parliament, and Jacques Maire, a member of the French delegation at the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly.”The European Union continues to pursue its policy of illegitimate, unilateral restrictive measures against Russian citizens and organizations,” the ministry said in a statement.It accused the EU of “openly and deliberately” undermining the …

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The Turkish government’s decision to ban alcohol sales as part of a nearly three-week lockdown to contain COVID-19 is causing a political storm, with opponents accusing the Islamic-rooted government of using the pandemic to pursue a religious agenda.   The alcohol ban is part of a national lockdown that took effect Thursday and will end on May 17. The ban is stoking tensions and suspicion over the Islamist roots of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who critics accuse of seeking to undermine the 90-year-old secular state, said columnist Mehves Evin of the Duvar news portal. “Erdogan’s regime, it’s like trying all the little ways …

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Russia’s defense ministry released video Friday of its warships firing rockets during military drills in the Black Sea, the Reuters news agency reported Friday.   The drills were conducted earlier this week amid rising tensions between Russia and the west over Russia’s military buildup near the border it shares with Ukraine.     Russia said the troop buildup was part of drills it planned in response to what it said was NATO’s threatening behavior. Last week, Russia ordered a pullback of some troops from the border area.     U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet with …

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Ukraine next week as Washington coordinates closely with Kyiv over Russia’s recent military buildup along Ukraine border.     Blinken will travel to Ukraine on May 5-6, “where he will meet with President Zelensky, Foreign Minister Kuleba, other officials, and representatives of Ukrainian civil society to reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Friday.   The United States is keeping a close watch on Russia’s movement after Moscow announced last Thursday that …

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German officials say they have reached an agreement with Nigeria to return some of the famed Benin Bronzes that were looted from Nigeria in the 19th century.About 500 of the plundered artifacts are on display in several German museums.The handoff is expected to take place next year under an agreement reached between Germany and Nigeria on Thursday.The return of the artifacts is “a turning point in our approach to colonial history,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.In 1897, British soldiers snatched thousands of exquisitely decorated bronze and brass plaques and sculptures created by guilds in the Kingdom of Benin in …

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The trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin made headline news in France. But much of the reporting about the trial, and its underlying themes of police violence and racism, largely zoomed in on the United States.“I think it’s viewed as an American problem with some resonance in France,” said Steven Ekovich, a U.S. politics and foreign policy professor at the American University of Paris.American University of Paris professor Steven Ekovich says the French viewed the Derek Cauvin trial in the death of George Floyd as an American problem, but with some resonance in France. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)”It also feeds …

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Reports of police violence and racial injustice resonate especially strongly in France, with its large population of ethnic Africans and Arabs. Yet cautious optimism by some in the United States and elsewhere that the guilty verdict in American former police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial might trigger societal change is less shared in France. From the Paris suburb of Bobigny, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA.   Camera:   Lisa Bryant, Agencies   …

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The World Health Organization’s Europe Regional Director Hans Kluge reported Thursday the number of new COVID-19 infections in the region dropped significantly in the last week for the first time in two months. Speaking from WHO regional headquarters in Copenhagen, Kluge said hospitalizations and deaths were also down in the past week. He also said as of Thursday, 7% of Europeans have been totally vaccinated, more than the 5.5% of the population that has contracted COVID-19. Kluge cautioned that while that is good news, the virus remains a threat, as infection rates remain high in several areas. He said individual and collective …

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In his first court appearance since ending a three-week hunger strike, Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “naked, thieving king.” Navalny appeared Thursday in a video link from prison to a Moscow courtroom where he was appealing a guilty verdict for defaming a World War 2 veteran. According to news reports, Navalny appeared thin, and his head was shaved. “I looked in the mirror. Of course, I’m just a dreadful skeleton,” he said. Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, is seen in a courtroom, in Moscow, Russia, April 29, 2021, in this still image taken from video. …

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For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, crowds are expected to return on Sunday to Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, the spiritual home of this controversial spectacle. Six matadors will do battle with bulls in front of 6,000 cheering aficionados amid tight health restrictions that included limiting ticket sales to 25% of capacity.  However, for lovers of what is known in Spain as the fiesta nacional it will be a huge emotional boost after a year in which rings across the country have remained closed. The charity bullfight will raise money for matadors and some of the 200,000 people who …

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Germany’s highest court ruled Thursday that the government has to set clear goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions after 2030.   A 2019 law committed Germany to cutting emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and includes specific policies for achieving the goal such as incentivizing renewable energy, expanding electric car infrastructure and carbon trading.      The country also aims to be largely carbon-neutral by 2050.   The court said Thursday that the government lacks specificity about how it will achieve the further carbon reductions after 2030.   The government has until the end of next year …

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The United States and the European Union are urging Albania’s leaders to set aside their differences and move forward toward establishing a stable democracy after elections Sunday that gave the ruling Socialist Party a third consecutive mandate.   Prime Minister Edi Rama’s party is the first to achieve the feat since the collapse of communism more than three decades ago. It secured 74 out of 140 seats in Parliament, more than enough to govern without coalition partners, if it chooses to do so.  However, the main opposition Democratic Party has not yet accepted the results, which follow a heated and occasionally violent campaign. What comes next may determine whether …

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The decision by global media giants to comply with demands by the Turkish government to open offices in Turkey is prompting concerns about media freedoms. Press freedom advocates say because the companies will now be subject to Turkish laws, that could mean Turkey’s people will no longer have a venue to freely express their views. For VOA, Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.  …

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