Category: Євросоюз

Catalonia’s parliament made a second attempt Monday to put forward as the region’s new leader a pro-independence politician awaiting trial on charges of rebellion, after a U.N. rights group said he should be allowed to run for office. Lawmakers first selected Jordi Sanchez in March, but that bid was dropped as he was unable to attend the investiture ceremony, the government in Madrid having jailed him for helping orchestrate pro-independence protests last year. The investiture that parliament’s speaker announced for Friday — but which Spain’s Supreme Court seems likely to block — would mark Catalonia’s fourth attempt to choose a …

READ MORE

Armenia’s ruling party is set to nominate ex-president Serzh Sarksyan to be prime minister, the government’s press service said on Monday. Armenia is in the process of shifting power to the prime minister after parliament chose a new president in March. “We have decided to propose to our party colleagues to keep an existing governing configuration and to submit the candidacy of Serzh Sarksyan as prime minister,” the press service quoted Acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan as saying. The ruling party is expected to nominate Sarksyan at its party gathering on Thursday. Parliament, dominated by the ruling party, will make …

READ MORE

Russia said Monday it will support companies hit by fresh U.S. sanctions as Russian stocks dropped and shares in aluminum producer Rusal plummeted.   Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said in comments reported by state news agencies that Russia is prepared to back the companies if their positions worsen. “We have a very attentive approach to our leading companies. They mean thousands of employees and very important jobs for our country,” he was quoted as saying by the TASS agency.   Shares in Rusal, which is controlled by billionaire businessman Oleg Deripaska, plunged just over 50 percent on the Hong …

READ MORE

Syria and Russia say two Israeli war planes operating in Lebanese air space carried out an attack early Monday on an air base in central Syria. Israel’s military did not comment on the strikes against the T4 base in Homs province.  The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 people were killed, including Iranian forces. In February, Israel accused Iranian forces of using the same site to send a drone to Israeli territory. It responded by attacking Syrian air defense and Iranian military targets within Syria, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to “continue to harm anyone who …

READ MORE

U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Russia, as well Iran, for enabling an alleged poisonous attack in Syria late Saturday. Syrian activists and medical sources say at least 40 people have died. The suspected chlorine attack came during a government offensive to retake rebel-held areas near Damascus after the collapse of a truce with the Army of Islam rebel group. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more. …

READ MORE

As Orthodox Christians around the world celebrated Easter on Sunday, a town on Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula observed the holy day by burning an effigy of Judas at sea.   The ritual burning of Judas is a custom also observed by Roman Catholics in parts of Latin America as a symbolic punishment for Judas’ betrayal of Christ for a monetary reward.   The tradition dates back centuries in some places. In the Greek town of Ermioni, it has been observed the past 25 years.   About 20 small boats circled around a raft bearing a wire model of Judas that floated …

READ MORE

Prosecutors said Sunday they still do not know why a 48-year-old German national drove a van into a crowd of people in the western city of Muenster, killing two and injuring 20 more. The man, whose name was not released, then shot himself in the van. Officials said six of those injured were in critical condition. Police also said Sunday that they believe he acted alone. They said the driver was well-known to police, had a history of run-ins with the law and had expressed suicidal thoughts to a neighbor last month. Muenster Police President Hajo Kuhlisch said the man’s …

READ MORE

German authorities said six people have been detained Sunday allegedly in connection with a plan to carry out an extremist attack on Berlin’s half-marathon. In a joint statement, prosecutors and police said, “There were isolated indications that those arrested, aged between 18 and 21 years, were participating in the preparation of a crime in connection with this event.” Berlin police tweeted that six people were arrested after a joint operation with the Berlin’s prosecutor’s office. The German daily Die Welt first reported that police was able to stop a plan to attack race spectators and participants with knives. The paper …

READ MORE

U.S. President Donald Trump blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran on Sunday for a “mindless chemical attack” in Syria that killed at least 40 people, vowing there would be a “big price to pay.” In a rare direct condemnation of the Russian leader, Trump declared, “President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible” for their support of “Animal Assad,” Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “Big price to pay,” Trump said in one of a string of Twitter comments. “Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!” Trump did not say how the U.S. …

READ MORE

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is celebrating what he calls a “great victory” for Hungary after his anti-immigration Fidesz party won a large majority in Sunday’s parliamentary election. With almost all the votes counted, Fidesz and its Christian Democrat allies are expected to wind up with 133 seats in the 199-seat parliament. The nationalist Jobbik party will finish with 26 seats, while the Socialists will control 20 seats. Orban will serve his third straight term as Hungary’s prime minister and his fourth overall. “There is a big battle behind us. We have won a crucial victory, giving yourself a chance …

READ MORE

A chemical attack on a rebel-held town in eastern Ghouta killed dozens of people, a medical relief organization and a rescue service said, and Washington said the reports — if confirmed — would demand an immediate international response. Medical relief organization Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said 41 people had been killed, with other reports putting the death toll much higher. The civil defense rescue service, which operates in rebel-held areas of Syria, put it as high as 150 in a report on one of its Twitter feeds. The Russian-backed Syrian state denied government forces had launched any chemical attack …

READ MORE

The 2018 World Cup of freestyle wrestling opened Saturday in the U.S. state of Iowa without Russia and Iran, two traditionally strong teams in the sport. Iran, the six-time defending champ, pulled out in March without citing a reason, although many tied it to the resignation of the Iranian federation president, Rasoul Khadem, over issues related to the country’s state policy of refusing to compete against Israeli competition. Khadem quit in protest after United World Wrestling (UWW) ruled that an Iranian wrestler threw a match at the Under-23 World Championships in November to avoid having to face an Israeli opponent …

READ MORE

Outspoken Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban ramped up his anti-migrant rhetoric ahead of parliamentary elections Sunday, when the ruling Fidesz party is expected to score a straightforward win. The European Union and the United Nations have voiced alarm at the tone of the campaign, and fears over alleged attacks on the media and judiciary. Speaking at a recent campaign rally, Orban accused the EU of “trying to take away our country.” “Brussels wants to dilute the population of Europe and to replace it, to cast aside our culture, our way of life,” he told supporters in Budapest March 15. Close …

READ MORE

Russia’s embassy in London has requested a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Salisbury, saying its dealings with Britain over the issue had been “utterly unsatisfactory.” The Russian Embassy said in a statement that it was “high time” for a meeting between Johnson and Ambassador Aleksandr Yakovenko to discuss the investigation into the Sergei Skripal poisoning and “the whole range of bilateral issues.” Britain’s Foreign Office said it had received the request and would be “responding in due course.” But, in a statement, it accused Russia of employing a “diversionary …

READ MORE

Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont called again on the Spanish government to begin negotiations over Catalonia’s secession declaration. The former separatist leader renewed the call Saturday at a news conference in Berlin, one day after being released from a German prison in Neumuenster after two weeks of detention. “The path for political negotiations based on mutual respect, this is what Europe expects. This is what the Catalan people ask for. This is what the Catalan economy, society and culture need,” Puigdemont said. Puigdemont was arrested in Germany as he travelled from Finland to Belgium, where he had been in self-imposed …

READ MORE

Millions of people worldwide face financial ruin; their assets wiped out because of a catastrophic illness or accident that saddles them with staggeringly high health bills they are unable to pay. This nightmare scenario rarely, if ever, occurs in countries that have universal health coverage. Such systems insulate people from the financial disasters that occur in countries where national health schemes do not exist. “Today, about 100 million people fall into poverty because of health expenditure,” said Rudiger Krech, World Health Organization director for health systems and innovation. He told VOA that every country, poor and rich alike, can afford …

READ MORE

The Catholic Easter custom of hunting brightly colored eggs and chocolate bunnies may be over now, but in the Orthodox world, Easter comes one week later. And it brings with it, its own unique traditions. One of them is the centuries-old practice of drawing elaborate patterns on Easter eggs decorated and painted using hot wax. Mariia Prus and Konstantin Golubchik produced this report from Alexandria, Virginia that is narrated by Katherine Gypson. …

READ MORE

The White House has announced sanctions against 38 Russian individuals and companies, saying it is standing up to ongoing “malign activity” by the Russian government against Western democracies in Crimea, Ukraine, Syria and around the world. Russia denies any wrongdoing. VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington on a move that may deepen the divide between Washington and Moscow. …

READ MORE

The United States imposed sanctions on Friday against Russian businessmen, companies and government officials. Below are the names of the most prominent businessmen targeted along with their main assets/connections and extracts from the U.S. Treasury statement. Designated Russian oligarchs OLEG DERIPASKA, main owner of En+, co-owner of Rusal and Norilsk Nickel Deripaska, is ranked by Forbes magazine as Russia’s 19th-richest businessman with a net worth of $6.7 billion. Deripaska holds regular meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, invested heavily in Russia’s 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, and has said his own interests are indivisible from the state’s. En+ has a 48 …

READ MORE

The United Nations human rights office is echoing a recent call by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for an independent investigation into Israel’s use of force against Palestinians who staged protests in Gaza on March 30. The call came Friday as Israeli troops again clashed with Palestinians staging “right of return” border protests. What began as a peaceful demonstration along the Gaza-Israeli border Friday turned deadly shortly after the U.N. human rights office in Geneva called for restraint by both the Israeli security forces and Palestinians. Spokeswoman Liz Throssell told reporters U.N. officials feared a repeat of last month’s riots, which resulted …

READ MORE