Category: Євросоюз

Pakistan’s parliament began debating a resolution Tuesday on whether the French ambassador should be ordered to leave the country over the publication of anti-Islam caricatures in France.    The proposed resolution is the outcome of a deal Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government negotiated in overnight talks with leaders of the radical Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) to defuse days of deadly, nationwide anti-France demonstrations.  A supporters of Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan, a banned Islamist party, prepares to hurl back a tear gas canister fired by police to disperse protests over the arrest of their party leader Saad Rizvi, in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, April …

READ MORE

The hulking, horned bison has long been an iconic symbol for people from the United States to eastern Europe. They were worshipped as deities by the Native Americans and for the Polish, they are the most important animal after the double-headed eagle which adorns the national flag. Cave paintings in Spain show they were an essential part of life on the Iberian Peninsula about 1.2 million years ago. After being hunted nearly to extinction in the United States and Europe alike, the bison is undergoing a resurgence in terms of numbers. Conservationists now believe that far from being a historical symbol, the bison may …

READ MORE

The European Union says roughly 150,000 Russian troops are massed along the border of Ukraine and in Crimea — calling it the highest such military deployment.EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described Russia’s military buildup on the Ukraine border and annexed Crimea as very worrying.”The military deployment of Russian troops, with all kinds of materials — deploying campaign hospitals and all kinds of warfare — has been continuing. I cannot tell you where this figure comes from, but it is my reference figure. It is the highest military deployment of Russian army in Ukrainian borders ever,” he said.But Borrell said for now …

READ MORE

Russia is continuing to build up its naval presence in the Black Sea, and The Sunday Times newspaper, quoting British naval sources, said Britain is also deploying two warships to beef up NATO’s presence, as tensions over Ukraine escalate.Access to the Black Sea is through Turkey’s Bosphorus and Dardanelles waterways which are controlled by the 1936 Montreux Convention.Retired Turkish Ambassador Mithat Rende, a maritime law analyst, said the current tensions underlines the treaty’s importance.“Maritime powers, which are not are riparian states, they have limited access to the Black Sea,” Rende said. “Because of the limited tonnage that each country cannot …

READ MORE

A year ago, Boris Johnson’s tenure as Britain’s prime minister looked to some like it might be short-lived. Brexit woes and a string of missteps and abrupt U-turns in the government’s handling of the pandemic prompted Conservative lawmakers to hazard privately that his days would likely be numbered.And they were betting on his likely departure date.That kind of talk has evaporated now. Johnson has bounced back — characteristically, grumble his naysayers, who see him as a fortunate opportunist who gets saved by being lucky. Johnson largely has a successful and quick coronavirus vaccine rollout to thank for his current approval …

READ MORE

Fans of the Premier League clubs named as part of the breakaway Super League launched on Sunday have joined forces to condemn the move with Chelsea’s Supporters’ Trust describing it as the “ultimate betrayal.”   The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust said it was “deeply concerned” at their club’s involvement while Arsenal’s Supporters’ Trust described it on Twitter as “the death of the club as a sporting institution.”   Manchester United’s Supporters’ Trust (MUST) also stood firm against the Super League which would have the club’s co-chairman, American Joel Glazer, as it’s vice-chairman.   “These proposals are completely unacceptable and will …

READ MORE

Authorities in northeast Syria handed over 44 children of Islamic State fighters in Syria to the Russian government, Kurdish officials said Sunday.  The handover of the children, between the ages of three and 14, took place after a meeting in the city of Qamishli between local officials and a Russian government delegation.  “These were orphaned children whose identities were confirmed through DNA analysis by the Russian side,” said Abdulkarim Omar, co-chair of foreign relations at the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES). The AANES is a governing body affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led military alliance …

READ MORE

U.N. human rights experts on Monday rejected a review commissioned by Britain’s government into race inequality as an attempt to “normalize white supremacy despite considerable research and evidence of institutional racism.”   The report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, issued on March 31, said that Britain should be seen as a “model for other white-majority countries” – a conclusion that provoked fury from domestic critics who branded it a “whitewash.”   “In 2021, it is stunning to read a report on race and ethnicity that repackages racist tropes and stereotypes into fact, twisting data and misapplying statistics …

READ MORE

Israel and Greece have signed their biggest ever defense procurement deal, which Israel said Sunday would strengthen political and economic ties between the two countries as their air forces launched a joint exercise.The agreement includes a $1.65 billion contract for the establishment and operation of a training center for the Hellenic Air Force by Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems over 22 years, Israel’s defense ministry said.The training center will be modeled on Israel’s flight academy and will be equipped with 10 M-346 training aircraft produced by Italy’s Leonardo, the ministry said.Elbit will supply kits to upgrade and operate Greece’s T-6 …

READ MORE

Twelve of Europe’s top football clubs launched a breakaway Super League on Sunday, launching what is certain to be a bitter battle for control of the game and its lucrative revenue.The move sets up a rival to UEFA’s established Champions League competition and was condemned by football authorities and political leaders.Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus are among the leading members of the new league, but UEFA has threatened to ban them from domestic and international competition and vowed to fight the move.French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson both issued statements condemning the breakaway and supporting …

READ MORE

A company in Wales has found a way to repurpose discarded personal protective equipment, or PPE, to help keep it out of landfills amid the coronavirus pandemic. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …

READ MORE

Moscow expelled 20 Czech diplomats on Sunday in a confrontation over Czech allegations that two Russian spies accused of a nerve agent poisoning in Britain in 2018 were behind an earlier explosion at a Czech ammunition depot that killed two people.On Saturday, Prague ordered 18 Russian diplomats to leave the country, prompting Russia to vow Sunday to “force the authors of this provocation to fully understand their responsibility for destroying the foundation of normal ties between our countries.”Moscow gave the Czech diplomats just a day to leave, while Prague had given the Russians three days.The Czech Republic said it had …

READ MORE

Clashes between a recently banned Islamist party and police in Pakistan’s second-largest city, Lahore, reportedly left at least two people dead and scores of others wounded Sunday.Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) was demanding that Pakistan expel the French ambassador over the French president’s remarks defending freedom of expression regarding caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Police from Punjab province said Sunday’s action was in response to the TLP attacking a police station, trapping officers and Rangers, members of a paramilitary force, inside, kidnapping a senior police officer, and stealing an oil tanker containing 50,000 liters of fuel.  “The miscreants were armed and attacked Rangers/Police …

READ MORE

Allies of jailed Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny announced nationwide protests for this Wednesday — after the opposition figure’s family and personal doctors released blood analysis results that suggested Navalny was at high risk of cardiac arrest or kidney failure barring immediate care.  The planned protests fall on the same day that President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual state of the nation address from just outside the Kremlin — all but ensuring a tense standoff between Navalny supporters and police in the capital, Moscow. Navalny’s chief strategist, Leonid Volkov, announced the protests in a post to YouTube — arguing there was …

READ MORE

World powers should draw “clear red lines” with Russia and consider possible sanctions against Moscow when they’re crossed, French President Emmanuel Macron told U.S. news network CBS in an interview.”We have to define clear red lines with Russia,” Macron said, according to a video excerpt of the interview to be aired later on Sunday.”This is the only way to be credible. Sanctions are not sufficient in themselves but sanctions are part of the package,” he said, adding that he also agreed with U.S. President Joe Biden’s willingness to open a dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a time of …

READ MORE

A judge on Saturday ordered former Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini to stand trial on kidnapping charges for having refused to let a Spanish migrant rescue ship dock in an Italian port in 2019, keeping the people onboard at sea for days.Judge Lorenzo Iannelli set September 15 as the trial date during a hearing in the Palermo bunker courtroom in Sicily.Salvini, who attended the hearing, insisted that he was only doing his job and his duty by refusing entry to the Open Arms rescue ship and the 147 people it had saved in the Mediterranean Sea.”I’m going on trial for …

READ MORE

Russia’s main security agency says it has arrested two Belarusians who it said were preparing a plot to overthrow Belarus’ government and kill authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.One of the men arrested, Aleksandr Feduta, is a former Lukahsenko spokesman who later joined the opposition. The other, lawyer Yuras Zyankovich, has dual Belarusian-U.S. citizenship.The Federal Security Service said Saturday that the two had been handed over to Belarus. Russian authorities were alerted to information about the men’s plans by the Belarusian security service, the KGB.The Russian agency said the two suspects came to Moscow to meet with opposition-minded Belarusian generals, whom they …

READ MORE

Russia accused a Ukrainian diplomat Saturday of trying to obtain classified information and ordered him to leave the country by April 22, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Ukraine as border tensions simmer.   Russia’s FSB security service said Oleksandr Sosoniuk had been detained when he tried to access information from Russian law enforcement databases during a meeting with a Russian citizen.   The foreign ministry gave Sosoniuk 72 hours to leave, and Ukraine then did likewise to a Russian diplomat in Kyiv. Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Sosoniuk had been held for several hours before being allowed to return to his …

READ MORE

Iran’s top negotiator at talks to rescue a nuclear deal said Saturday progress had been made but that much work remains to be done before a final agreement is reached.   Iran and world powers resumed talks in Vienna that began earlier this month to revive a 2015 nuclear deal the U.S. abandoned three years ago.   “A new understanding appears to be emerging and there is a common ground between the parties on the ultimate goal,” Iranian negotiator Abbas Araqchi told state media. “But the path ahead is not an easy one and there are some serious disagreements.”   …

READ MORE

Queen Elizabeth will bid a final farewell to Prince Philip, her husband of more than seven decades, at a ceremonial funeral on Saturday, with the nation set to fall silent to mark the passing of a pivotal figure in the British monarchy.While the ceremony will include some of the traditional grandeur of a significant royal event, there will be just 30 mourners inside St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for the funeral service because of COVID-19 restrictions.There will be no public procession, all the congregation will wear masks, and the queen, who says the death has left a “huge void,” …

READ MORE