Category: Євросоюз

Germany’s president bowed his head and asked for forgiveness for the suffering his nation inflicted on Poland and the rest of Europe during World War II. “This war was a German crime,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Poland’s leaders, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others Sunday at a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II. “I bow in mourning to the suffering of the victims,” Steinmeier said. “I ask for forgiveness for Germany’s historical debt. I affirm our lasting responsibility.” The ceremony, which was also attended by President Andrzej Duda of …

READ MORE

Indonesian police have arrested dozens of people in the easternmost region of Papua following protests last week in which buildings were set ablaze, a police spokesman said Sunday. The area has been racked by civil unrest for two weeks over perceived racial and ethnic discrimination. Some protesters are also demanding an independence vote, although authorities have ruled out such a possibility. Reports of Racism by Indonesian Police Spark Riots in West Papua video player. Embed Copy WATCH: Reports of Racism by Indonesian Police Spark Riots in West Papua In the provincial capital of Jayapura, 28 people have been arrested and …

READ MORE

A team of researchers and humanitarian professionals have developed a unique approach to combat domestic violence in the refugee camps of Dollo Ado in Ethiopia. The approach involves the co-creation of a podcast series called Unite for a Better Life, together with Somali refugees living in the camp to target the underlying factors that contribute to intimate partner violence in this setting. Theodros WoldeGiorgis, research manager and intervention specialist in humanitarian crisis, told VOA displacement and the breakdown of social structures is driving intimate partner violence in the refugee camps. “People are always on the move, they are suffering from …

READ MORE

Using water cannons, gunshots, batons and tear gas, Hong Kong police pursued protesters through city streets and into subway stations, seeking people who defied and blocked police in several districts on a tense and chaotic Saturday. The demonstrations coincided with the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s denial of free, unimpeded elections in the territory. Before midnight, riot police stormed into two subway stations in the city’s Kowloon area seeking suspects. Videos aired and shared online showed officers snagging a few people, as a phalanx of police charged a train car, whipping and beating seemingly random passengers who cowered and sobbed. A …

READ MORE

For more than a century, coal has kept the lights on in the industrialized world. But coal-fired power plants are closing across the United States and Europe. Market forces have shifted to cheaper natural gas and renewables, not to mention the concerns about climate-changing carbon dioxide that the plants produce. But in the state of Wyoming, where coal is an important part of the economy, the government is trying to put the brakes on the transition. VOA’s Steve Baragona reports.   …

READ MORE

In 2018, the United States reached an agreement with Mexico and Canada — two of its biggest trading partners — to replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. The new USMCA Trade Agreement is billed as “more balanced and reciprocal,” but as VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, the lack of a vote in the U.S. Congress to ratify the agreement is a source of frustration for U.S. farmers. …

READ MORE

A Sudanese judge formally indicted former president Omar al-Bashir on charges of possessing illicit foreign currency and corruption on Saturday. Questioned in court for the first time, Bashir said that he had received $25 million from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as funds from other sources, but that he had not received or used the money for his own benefit. A lawyer for Bashir said that his client denied the charges against him and that witnesses for the defense would be presented at the next hearing. The judge denied a request for bail and said a decision …

READ MORE

The Taliban have launched a new large-scale attack on one of Afghanistan’s main cities, Kunduz, and taken hospital patients as hostages, the government said Saturday, even as the insurgent group continued negotiations with the United States on ending America’s longest war. The militants, who have demanded that all foreign forces leave Afghanistan, now control or hold sway over roughly half of the country and are at their strongest since their 2001 defeat by a U.S.-led invasion. Such attacks are seen as strengthening their negotiating position. Presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi said Afghan security forces were repelling the attack in parts of …

READ MORE

About two million people living in India’s northeastern state of Assam face the unnerving prospect of becoming stateless as authorities wind down a mammoth process to identify illegal immigrants.   Their names did not appear on an updated citizens’ register published Saturday. Human right activists say they would potentially add up to the largest number of people effectively stripped of their citizenship.   The state government has said they will be given the opportunity to prove that they are Indian citizens before foreigners’ tribunals, but many will find it difficult to navigate the legal process as they are poor and …

READ MORE

A worsening drought is pushing parts of eastern Australia towards a “Fish Armageddon,” according to senior politicians. With not much rain on the horizon, as well as record low river levels, there are fears eastern Australia will witness more fish dying at a higher rate than last summer. A million fish died in January at Menindee, 1,000 kilometers west of Sydney, when a sudden drop in temperature caused algae to die. As the algae decomposed, oxygen was sucked out of the river, suffocating marine life. Farmers and conservationists accused the state government of allowing cotton growers to drain too much …

READ MORE

Among the protesters in Hong Kong, many, such as Terence Lai, are prompted by their religious faith to take part in the demonstrations. The 46-year-old community worker for the Hong Kong Christian Institute, a nongovernment organization, usually spends his time with low-income scavengers known as “cardboard grannies” — elderly female recyclers who sometimes run afoul of local sanitation laws. Hong Kong Christians Call for Reform video player. Embed Copy WATCH: Hong Kong Christians Call for Reform Between protesters and police Since June, however, Lai has worked to defuse tensions between protesters and police as Hong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrations have become increasingly …

READ MORE

Gavi, the global vaccine alliance that targets developing countries, said Friday that it was appealing for $7.4 billion to immunize 300 million children in 2021-25.  Gavi’s latest fundraising drive is its most ambitious to date. Officials said they expected huge returns from what would be the agency’s most comprehensive and cost-effective preventive health package ever.    Gavi said the vaccines would protect against 18 diseases, saving up to 8 million lives. Spokeswoman Frederique Tissandier said sustainable investment was needed for the project because there still are 1.5 million people dying every year from vaccine-preventable diseases.  “The situation is increasingly fragile because of climate change, because of wars, because of the rise of the population in the urban slums,” she …

READ MORE

U.S. President Donald Trump is facing a crowded field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. But when the president speaks, it is Barack Obama – his predecessor – who takes the brunt of Trump’s barbs and insults. Trump has criticized the former president on issues ranging from U.S. policy in Syria to trade negotiations with China to the amount of time Obama spent playing golf during his presidency. Trump’s latest criticism came at the G-7 summit press conference in France this week when he claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin had “outsmarted” Obama by annexing Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Trump …

READ MORE

This Monday is Labor Day in the United States — a holiday linked to workers’ rights and wearing white. That may sound strange, but it is true. Many Americans put away their white clothes on Labor Day and do not wear them again until the following May, after Memorial Day. One reason for the clothing custom relates to the season. In the United States, the months between June and September are summer. The weather is usually hot, including in Northeast cities like Boston, Massachusetts and New York, New York. Many people there historically wore light-colored clothing in the summertime to …

READ MORE

British lawmakers will next week pull the trigger on their plans to stop Prime Minister Boris Johnson leading the country out of the European Union without an exit deal. Johnson says he still wants to convince Brussels to give him an improved exit agreement, but will leave without one on Oct. 31 if he has to. A narrow majority of lawmakers in parliament has previously voted to try to stop this outcome, known as a “no-deal” Brexit. But, with only a few weeks left before the deadline and limited time in parliament to play with, what options do they have …

READ MORE

Marking the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances on Aug. 30, several human rights groups called on China to stop using the practice of disappearances to silence human rights defenders, dissidents and other members of civil society.   They are urging the government in Beijing to immediately release those being held, including Yang Hengjun — an Australian writer of Chinese origin, whom Beijing has officially charged with espionage after a months-long detention. The former government official was detained in January as he prepared to head to Shanghai after traveling to Guangzhou from New York with family. He has been held without access …

READ MORE

Uber, Lyft and DoorDash threatened Thursday to spend $90 million on a California ballot measure if they can’t reach a deal with unions and lawmakers on legislation that would change the rights of their drivers and other so-called gig workers.    “We remain focused on reaching a deal, and are confident about bringing this issue to the voters if necessary,” Adrian Durbin, senior director of communications at Lyft, said in a statement.   FILE – The Lyft Driver Hub is seen in Los Angeles, California, March 20, 2019. The companies’ team-up comes as California lawmakers debate a bill that would make …

READ MORE

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed nearly 900 cases of mumps among people at adult migration detention facilities across the United States in the last year.    The virus swept across 57 detention centers in 19 states, sickening 898 migrants between Sept. 1, 2018, and Aug. 22, the CDC said Thursday.     Thirty-three staff members were also infected.     The CDC said the virus continues to spread as more migrants are arrested or transferred between facilities.     Mumps is a contagious virus that causes swollen glands, puffy cheeks, fever, headaches and, in severe cases, hearing loss and meningitis.    Mumps outbreaks …

READ MORE

Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer made well over a billion dollars over the last decade from holdings that not only include the hedge fund he founded, but also investments in Chinese private equity firms, tech startups, pharmaceutical companies and nursing homes, his tax filings show. The California hedge fund founder and liberal activist had promised to release his tax forms once he entered the race. He also challenged President Donald Trump, the only president since Richard Nixon who hasn’t released his, to follow suit. On Thursday, Steyer followed through by posting more than 2,600 pages of records to his website. …

READ MORE

Police have identified another person who was wounded during the mass shooting at a California garlic festival last month.     Gilroy police said Thursday that a 58-year-old man had been grazed on his head by a bullet in the July 28 attack, bringing the number of injured to 17. Media reports did not give the victim’s name.    Another three people, including two children, died when Santino William Legan opened fire. Legan killed himself at the festival.     The food festival, held annually in the agricultural city of Gilroy, about 170 kilometers (106 miles) southeast of San Francisco, attracts about 100,000 people, and attendees were required to go through screening with metal detectors …

READ MORE