Category: Євросоюз

The United States on Tuesday designated a major anti-Pakistan militant organization conducting deadly attacks against local and foreign targets in the South Asian nation as a global terrorist.  Islamabad promptly welcomed the move, which prohibits U.S. citizens from engaging in any transactions with members of the so-called Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA), and all of their property in the U.S. are blocked. “BLA is an armed separatist group that targets security forces and civilians, mainly in ethnic Baloch areas of Pakistan,” according to a U.S. State Department announcement. The militant group operates in Baluchistan, a southwestern province rich with natural resource …

READ MORE

New polls show California Senator and Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris surging after her performance in last week’s first Democratic candidates’ debate. The surveys also show Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren gaining ground while the current Democratic frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden, is slipping. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has also lost ground, according to the new surveys. A new Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday showed Biden still leading the Democratic primary field at 22 percent, followed closely by Harris at 20 percent. Warren is in third place with 14 percent followed by Sanders at 13 percent. Harris also saw dramatic …

READ MORE

Why does the US celebrate July 4th? …

READ MORE

OPEC members sat down Tuesday with other major oil producing nations to finalize a plan to cut production for another nine months in a bid to shore up prices at a time of waning demand.   Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed on Monday to the extension of the cut and key non-OPEC member Russia has urged others to agree as well.   “In the current unstable market and the huge uncertainty we are seeing, our coordinated action aimed at consecutive and stable supply to the market and ensuring its stability are key to give us …

READ MORE

Ethiopia has begun restoring internet access Tuesday, 10 days after it was cut following the assassinations of six top government officials. On June 22, attackers shot and killed the Amhara governor and two other officials. On the same night in Addis Ababa, the country’s army chief and his close friend, a retired army general, were assassinated inside his residence by his bodyguard. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the killings in Amhara were a coup attempt. The internet was shut following the killings. The internet shutdown affected the entire country but in recent days a few locations were able to function. …

READ MORE

China is condemning Monday’s violent protests in Hong Kong as an outright “challenge” to the “one country, two systems” formula under which the autonomous city is ruled by the mainland. Thousands of demonstrators used the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong’s reunification with China to break into the city’s legislative building.  Once inside, they roamed the hallways and defaced walls with spray paint and anti-Beijing graffiti.  The break-in ended after riot police arrived on the scene and used tear gas to disperse the protesters.   A statement by the Chinese government’s Hong Kong affairs office released through state-run media said the …

READ MORE

Ethiopia has begun restoring internet access 10 days after it was cut following the assassinations of six top government officials. The internet shutdown affected the entire country but in recent days a few locations were able to function.   No official explanation has been given for the internet cut but many Ethiopians suspect it was aimed at preventing government critics from communicating to wide audiences and to protect the country from fake news and disinformation.  Ethio Telecom, the country’s state-owned monopoly of telecommunications services, also cut internet access two weeks ago during the national school exams.  NetBlocks, an internet monitoring …

READ MORE

Iran announced Monday that it has exceeded the limit on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium it agreed to in the 2015 international accord restraining its nuclear weapons development. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the semi-official news agency ISNA, “Iran has crossed the 300-kilogram limit …,” which curtailed its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 3.67%. The United Nations atomic watchdog agency confirmed Monday that Iran had exceeded the limits imposed by the deal. Iran’s announcement is believed to be the first time that Iran has broken one of the provisions of the pact it agreed to with six world …

READ MORE

Hundreds of riot police in Hong Kong used tear gas to break up protestors near the city’s legislative complex after thousands of demonstrators stormed the building earlier Monday.    The latest reports say that protestors have dispersed and police are in complete control of the legislative complex.    Earlier, the protesters had battered their way into the building as major demonstrations rocked the city on the 22nd anniversary of its reunification with China. Police try to disperse protesters near a flag raising ceremony for the anniversary of Hong Kong handover to China in Hong Kong, July 1, 2019. Once inside, …

READ MORE

Reports from Sudan say at least 11 people were killed in the latest mass protests demanding a transition to civilian rule in the country. Police fired tear gas as tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Sunday in the capital Khartoum and other areas in the first such demonstration since a June deadly crackdown on protesters.  More demonstrations were reported Monday. Protest organizers took to Facebook to decry the actions by the military on Sunday. “The military council is completely responsible for these lives lost,” Mohamed Naji al-Assam, a prominent protest leader, said in a video on …

READ MORE

The German captain of a migrant rescue ship made her first court appearance in an Italian court on Monday, following an incident in which her vessel hit and damaged a police boat as she was docking without permission. No injuries were reported. Authorities have accused Carola Rackete of endangering the lives of the four police officers who were on board the smaller boat at the time of the incident. The captain maintains the docking process was carried out in a safe manner. If convicted, Rackete faces up to 10 years in prison. Last month, Rackete’s Sea-Watch picked up more than …

READ MORE

Mauritania’s constitutional council confirmed Mohamed Ould Ghazouani as president, amid concerns of election impropriety by opposition leaders. On Monday, the West African country’s constitutional council announced Ghazouani had won the June 22 presidential elections with 52% of the vote, rejecting a challenge by the opposition.   “The candidate Mohamed Ould Cheikh Lohaled Ahmed Ould Ghazwani is proclaimed president, having acquired an absolute majority in the first round,” said Haimond Ba, a council member. Ghazouani will take office on August 2, succeeding Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. Aziz, an ally of Ghazouani, who had served two five-year terms, the maximum in Mauritania. …

READ MORE

National security hawks who normally side with U.S. President Donald Trump on foreign policy issues are up in arms over his announcement on Saturday that he would indefinitely delay the imposition of tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods and relax restrictions on U.S. firms doing business with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. In a news conference Saturday that followed a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Trump said: “U.S. companies can sell their equipment to Huawei. We’re talking about equipment where there’s no great national security problem with it. ‘Entity …

READ MORE

Turkey said Sunday that six of its nationals were being held by a Libyan force and vowed to respond to any attacks on its vessels or interests. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement it would consider Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter’s “illegal militia forces” to be “legitimate targets” if the Turks are not released. Earlier, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said there would be “heavy” consequences to any “hostile attitude or attacks.” His comments came after a spokesman for Hifter’s self-styled Libyan National Army called Turkish assets in Libya “legitimate targets,” accusing Turkey of helping rival militias allied with …

READ MORE

Thousands of people rallied to the support of a German captain of a migrant rescue ship who was arrested after she defied orders to stay out of Italian waters. Carola Rackete remained under house arrest Sunday after her ship, the Sea-Watch 3, rammed the Italian border police motorboat that was blocking the entry to the port at Italy’s Lampedusa island. The Sea-Watch 3 picked up the migrants adrift in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya on June 12 and had remained on open waters after being denied entry by several European countries. On Wednesday, Rackete ignored Italian warnings and headed to …

READ MORE

A Sudanese doctors group says five people have been killed and several seriously wounded in a day of demonstrations against continued military rule in Sudan. Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the country Sunday calling for a civilian government nearly three months after the army forced out the long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir. Marchers demand the generals who took over power from al-Bashir make way for civilians. The protesters, some of them waving Sudanese flags, chanted “Civilian rule! Civilian rule!” and “Burhan’s council, just fall,” targeting General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of the military council. Security forces fired tear gas …

READ MORE

Five Japanese whaling ships are set on Monday to begin the first commercial whale hunt in more than 30 years. Japan stopped commercial whaling in 1988 after the International Whaling Commission (IWC) imposed a moratorium on killing the giant mammals. But despite the global ban, Japan continued to hunt whales for what it claimed was scientific research. Critics have long disputed that claim, calling it commercial whaling in disguise. In the 2017-2018 whaling season, Japanese sailors killed 333 minke whales in Antarctic waters. More than 120 were pregnant females. In December, Japan announced it was leaving the IWC on June …

READ MORE

U.S. President Donald Trump visited the demilitarized zone on Sunday, announcing that “all the danger went away” because of his diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.  Ahead of what is expected to be a brief, handshake with Kim at the DMZ, Trump defended his policy during a briefing at a lookout point at the Panmunjom border village.  “It used to be dangerous, very very dangerous,” Trump said. “But after our first summit, all the danger went away.”  Trump also blasted media outlets that have questioned whether Trump should meet with Kim, given that talks with North Korea are stalled.   …

READ MORE

Professors at the University of Maryland are looking to dramatically improve basic artificial intelligence as they attempt to teach robots how to think and use their past experience to perform new tasks. Nastassia Jaumen visited the University to find out more. …

READ MORE

Mexican immigration officials say they have returned 81 migrants to Haiti after attending to “technical” considerations and seeing to the security of the captain of the plane taking them to the Caribbean nation. Local media reported that several Haitians tried to flee the plane parked at an airport in the southern state of Chiapas on Saturday. El Sol de Mexico newspaper said the uprising took four hours to control and that 10 Mexican police were injured.  Dozens of Haitians were removed from the deportation plane before it took off for Port-au-Prince. Mexico is under intense pressure to reduce the flow …

READ MORE