Category: Євросоюз

A comedian who plays the role of Ukraine’s president on television is set to take on the job for real, pushing out the man who currently holds the office, according to public opinion surveys ahead of Sunday’s election. Saturday was a so-called “day of quiet,” on which electioneering is forbidden, a respite from a campaign of heated statements and unexpected moments. Dismayed by endemic corruption, a struggling economy and a five-year fight against Russia-backed insurgents in the country’s east, Ukrainian voters appear poised to strongly rebuke incumbent Petro Poroshenko and replace him with Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Despite never having held political …

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Police in Northern Ireland have arrested two men in connection with the fatal shooting of a journalist. The unidentified 18-year-old and 19-year-old men were arrested in Londonderry Saturday under anti-terrorism laws. They have not been charged, but were taken to Belfast for questioning, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said. Police say they believe that at least one of the gunmen may be connected with the New IRA, a republican paramilitary group that opposes the shift towards non-violent tactics to form a united Ireland. Journalist Lyra McKee, who was 29, was shot in the head late Thursday during rioting in …

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British agriculture is going high-tech. Farmers recently tested cutting-edge technology like robots that autonomously tend fields and wireless cattle that may connect faster to the farm than you to your favorite app. Incoming message from Arash Arabasadi. …

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U.S. prosecutors say a Russian gun-rights activist who admitted being a secret agent for the Kremlin should serve an 18-month prison sentence. The request came in a sentencing memo filed late Friday in Maria Butina’s case. Prosecutors say Butina was “not a spy in the traditional sense” and wasn’t formally trained as an intelligence officer. Instead, they say she tried to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump rose to power. She pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with prosecutors. Butina is scheduled to be sentenced next week. Butina admitted she was …

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Last minute preparations are underway for voters in the Eastern European country of Ukraine to select their next president on Sunday. They will choose between President Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a standup comic who plays a fictional president in a popular television series. The 41-year-old Zelenskiy, who has no political experience, is heavily favored to defeat Poroshenko, polls show. Zelenskiy’s once long-shot bid for the presidency gained momentum amid voter frustration over corruption, economic woes and an ongoing conflict in the country’s east. Poroshenko tried to energize his supporters at a rally Friday in Kiev’s Independence Square, just hours …

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The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) reports 163 refugees from sub-Saharan Africa, who were detained in horrific conditions in Libya, have been flown out of the battle-scarred country to safety in Niger. The plane landed in Niger’s capital, Niamey, early Friday. This was the first such flight out of Libya since fighting in the capital, Tripoli, escalated two weeks ago. The U.N. refugee agency reports the refugees aboard the plane had been detained in facilities close to the conflict frontlines. UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said his agency was able to secure their release, along with that of more than 300 other …

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Britain’s governing Conservative Party faces an historic loss in next month’s European Parliament elections, warn party insiders and pollsters, as a result of its handling of Brexit and the delay of the country’s departure from the European Union. Half-a-dozen opinion polls suggests the Conservative government of Prime Minister Theresa May could fall off a cliff and the center of British politics could be eroded, benefiting a new Brexit party founded in January by populist Nigel Farage and the Labour Party, which, under the leadership of socialist Jeremy Corbyn, has moved significantly to the left. “Populist parties are resurgent, politics is …

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On Good Friday, Pope Francis presides over the Passion of the Lord service in Saint Peter’s Basilica taking part in the candle-lit Way of the Cross procession, attended by thousands of faithful at Rome’s ancient Colosseum. The meditations for this celebration have been written by Sister Eugenia Bonetti, an 80-year-old nun who, along with her missionary sisters, has spent the last quarter century fighting human trafficking.   Pope Francis has called forcing women into prostitution “a crime against humanity” and has urged Catholics “to open their eyes” to victims. The aim of Sister Bonett’s meditations will be to show the …

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French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting officials from the United Nations’ cultural agency, where he is expected to set out ideas for the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral.  He will meet with state delegates from UNESCO, which oversees global heritage issues, in the Elysee Palace Friday.  Macron’s push for a speedy rebuild indicates he wants the fire-ravaged monument’s reconstruction to be part of his legacy, and is seizing the moment to try to move on from the divisive yellow vest protests. His initial wish for it to be rebuilt in just five years was met with incredulity. Macron had been …

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In a show of solidarity, the foreign ministers of Germany and Portugal laid two wreaths near the site where 29 German tourists died on Wednesday after their bus overturned on the Portuguese island of Madeira. The bus — carrying 55 tourists, a guide and a driver — veered off a steep road in the coastal town of Canico, near Madeira’s capital city, Funchal, and came to a halt next to a house, which was damaged in the crash, authorities said. Portugal’s public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into the accident, the cause of which authorities said they could not yet …

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As tensions escalate between Turkey and the United States over the procurement of Russian missiles, Ankara is looking to NATO, which it sees as taking a more nuanced stance on the controversial weapons purchase. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s warning this month that Turkey’s future in NATO could be at risk if Ankara takes delivery of Russian S-400 missiles drew an angry response from Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin. “We are one of the members. We are a country that has a say in all decisions,” Kalin said. “Therefore, we will not allow the questioning of Turkey’s position in NATO.” …

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The fires are out, millions of dollars are being pledged, and the political will is there to begin restoring Notre Dame. But the cathedral is not only an ecclesiastical building, it is also a cultural and UNESCO heritage site.  Experts around the world are discussing the best way forward.  What will it take to restore the iconic church? Should it be restored to what it was, or should it be changed?   The cathedral’s stone vault protected much of the building’s interior, but the lead-clad timber roof and the 19th-century Neo-Gothic spire have been destroyed. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe …

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Ukraine’s new president could regain control over the separatist-controlled east of his country within months and get cheap gas and major investment from Russia if he does a deal with Moscow, the Kremlin’s closest ally in Ukraine said.  Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent figure in Ukraine’s Russia-leaning opposition, outlined the prospect in an interview before a presidential election runoff in Ukraine on Sunday, which polls show political novice Volodymyr Zelenskiy should easily win.  He said the Kremlin was keen to know more about Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old Russian-speaking TV comedian who has no political experience, to understand if he is someone it could strike a deal with, something it failed to do with incumbent Petro Poroshenko.  “They …

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A Greek anarchist group on Thursday claimed responsibility for exploding a grenade outside the Russian Consulate in Athens in March.    In a statement on anti-establishment website Indymedia validating the hit, the group calling itself “FAI/IRF Revenge Plot” accused Moscow of torturing arrested anarchists.    They dedicated the attack to Mikhail Zhlobitsky, a 17-year-old anarchist killed in a suicide bombing at the regional offices of federal security service FSB in Arkhangelsk in October.    The Athens grenade explosion on March 22 caused no injuries. The consulate was closed at the time.     Domestic far-left outfits regularly carry out acts of violence …

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After 17 days of recounts and controversies, Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was confirmed the official winner Wednesday in the Istanbul mayoral election. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to overturn the historic vote, which ends his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP), and other Erdogan-affiliated parties’, 25-year control of Turkey’s largest city.  Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s new mayor, addressed thousands of jubilant supporters outside the city’s mayoral building. “I take this victory for Turks, Kurds, Greeks and Armenians,” Imamoglu said, referring to Istanbul’s diverse population.  Imamoglu’s victory speech included a theme of inclusivity that underpinned his winning campaign, which secured …

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At least 29 people, most of them German tourists, were killed and 27 others injured Wednesday when their bus veered off a steep narrow road on the Portuguese island of Madeira, authorities said. The white tourist bus, which was carrying 55 passengers and a tour guide in addition to the driver, overturned in a residential area in the coastal town of Canico around 6:30 p.m. (1730 GMT), its mayor, Filipe Sousa, told reporters. TV images showed the vehicle on its side on a bank next to a small road and surrounded by rescuers. The driver reportedly lost control of the …

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Bells tolled across France Wednesday, marking the moment flames began demolishing parts of Notre Dame Cathedral. The focus is now on rebuilding the Paris cathedral — and finding the cause of the inferno that ravaged one of the world’s most iconic landmarks. The unity forged by the fire may be short-lived. From village churches to Saint Sulpice in Paris, the sound was of bells. Notre Dame is badly damaged by Monday’s fire but still standing. Some of its biggest treasures have been saved: the bell towers and rose windows, along with priceless artifacts – like a crown of thorns said …

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France on Wednesday announced it would invite architects from around the world to submit designs for replacing the spire of Notre-Dame cathedral after a devastating blaze, as the government braced for a mammoth restoration challenge. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the contest would decide whether the monument should have a new spire at all and if so, whether it should be identical to the fallen 19th-century model or be a wholly new design. The world looked on in horror Monday as flames engulfed the 850-year-old gothic masterpiece seen as encapsulating the soul of Paris and the spire came crashing down. …

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“Is your boss working for Moscow?” It isn’t a question any Western counter-intelligence officer wants to be asked by counterparts in agencies from allied NATO countries, but for Ferenc Katrein it wasn’t such an infrequent query during his decade-and-a-half at Hungary’s Constitution Protection Office. Worst of all, there were grounds for suspicions about Hungary’s civilian intelligence services, doubts Katrein himself harbored. Five-and-half years ago Katrein left Hungary’s counter-espionage agency, where he’d risen to become executive head of operations and later chief adviser to the director. “There comes a point when you have to say no,” he told me as we …

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Authorities on Wednesday arrested an Italian convert to Islam and a Moroccan resident who met over the Internet and were preparing to fight with Islamic State in Syria.   Sicilian prosecutors who ordered the arrests said investigators had identified the Italian suspect, 25-year-old Giuseppe Frittatta, from social media posts. They included extremist propaganda as well as photos of himself holding a knife with a 26-centimeter (10-inch) blade calling for deaths to “‘all westerners.”   The 18-year-old Moroccan, Ossama Gafhir, is alleged to have induced Frittatta toward extremism, and was following stringent fitness routine to prepare for combat.   Frittata — a …

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