Category: Євросоюз

China’s foreign ministry accused the American and German embassies on Thursday of interfering in its affairs after they objected to the prosecutions of an activist and a lawyer who handled sensitive cases. Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters a joint statement by the embassies calling for Wu Gan’s release and for lawyer Xie Yang to be allowed to return to work was irresponsible. Wu, who criticized Chinese officials online, was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison on subversion charges. Xie was convicted of inciting subversion but spared a prison term after he admitted committing the offense. “The embassies of …

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Russia is planning to begin shipments of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to Turkey in March 2020, a senior official says of a deal that has raised eyebrows because Turkey is a NATO member. Sergei Chemezov, head of the Russian state conglomerate Rostec, told the newspaper Kommersant in an interview published on Wednesday that the $2.5 billion deal will consist of four batteries of S-400 missiles. “They are paying 45 percent of the total contract amount as an advance. Fifty-five percent is Russian credit,” Chemezov told Kommersant. Turkey’s move to acquire the S-400s has been regarded in some Western capitals as …

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A bus carrying Chinese tourists has skidded off the road in Iceland, killing one and injuring 12 others. Iceland police said the crash occurred after the bus rear-ended a car near the Eldhraun lava field, about 250 kilometers east of Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital. The driver and a passenger in the car were not hurt. Many of the injured were transported to a Reykjavik hospital by helicopters and a relief station was set up for the other passengers in nearby Kirkjubaejarklaustur village. The owner of the tour company, Fjalar Ulfarsson, said the group was on the fourth day of a weeklong …

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Airbus is drawing up contingency plans to phase out production of the world’s largest jetliner, the A380 superjumbo, if it fails to win a key order from Dubai’s Emirates, three people familiar with the matter said. The moment of truth for the slow-selling airliner looms after just 10 years in service and leaves one of Europe’s most visible international symbols hanging by a thread, despite a major airline investment in new cabins unveiled this month. “If there is no Emirates deal, Airbus will start the process of ending A380 production,” a person briefed on the plans said. A supplier added …

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Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Wednesday that the failed launch of a 2.6 billion-ruble ($44.95 million) satellite last month was due to an embarrassing programming error. Russian space agency Roscosmos said last month that it had lost contact with the newly launched weather satellite — the Meteor-M — after it blasted off from Russia’s new Vostochny cosmodrome in the Far East. Eighteen smaller satellites belonging to scientific, research and commercial companies from Russia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Japan, Canada and Germany were on board the same rocket. Speaking to Rossiya 24 state TV channel, Rogozin said the failure had been caused by human error.  The rocket carrying the …

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Ten people were injured and sent to hospitals when a homemade bomb detonated in a supermarket in St. Petersburg, Russia, officials said Wednesday. “According to preliminary information, an explosion of an unidentified object occurred in a store,” Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement. The blast was caused by a “homemade explosive device with the power equivalent to 200 grams of TNT filled with lethal fragments,” she said. Investigators said they have opened a criminal case on the grounds of attempted murder. Health officials said none of the 10 victims suffered life-threatening injuries. The motive for the attack …

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After lurching from one crisis to the next over the past 10 years, the European Union has survived a series of seemingly existential threats – and its leaders claim the bloc is ascendant. Economic growth in the Eurozone is forecast to be higher than in the United States and Britain, while the migrant influx appears to be easing. But analysts warn that the underlying problems haven’t been solved – and the EU can’t afford to get complacent. From the 2008 euro debt crisis that nearly bankrupted several European states, to the chaotic arrival of millions of migrants fleeing war and …

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The global fight over land and resources is getting increasingly bloody and the race for control of valuable assets is expanding from forests and indigenous territories to the seas, space and databanks. Here are five hotspots for property rights in 2018: 1. Rising violence: From Peru to the Philippines, land rights defenders are under increasing threat of harassment and attack from governments and corporations. At least 208 people have been killed so far this year defending their homes, lands and forests from mining, dams and agricultural projects, advocacy group Frontline Defenders says. The tally has exceeded that of 2016, which …

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Romania’s ruling Social Democrats have filed a slew of new changes to the criminal code that would decriminalize several graft offenses, including some abuse of office crimes, their second attempt this year to weaken a crackdown on corruption. Transparency International ranks Romania as one of the European Union’s most corrupt states and Brussels keeps its justice system under special monitoring, although it has praised magistrates for their efforts to root out high-level graft. A draft bill released on Tuesday showed a group of Social Democrat lawmakers are proposing that abuse of office offenses that cause financial damage of less than …

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Syrian rebel fighters and opposition groups on Tuesday rejected Russia’s proposed peace talks, accusing Moscow of failing to pressure its ally, President Bashar Assad, to end the conflict. In a series of statements, 40 rebel groups, including some of Syria’s most prominent, as well as political opposition umbrella groups, said the talks expected next month are an attempt to “circumvent” the U.N.-led process, which has made virtually no progress since it began in 2014.   The rebel groups said Moscow has asked them to give up their demand for Assad to step down.   “We reject this, and we affirm …

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A British woman has been convicted in Egypt of trying to smuggle a banned prescription painkiller into the country. A court sentenced 33-year-old Laura Plummer to a three-year prison term Tuesday. Plummer was arrested in October when she arrived in Hurghada, a resort city along the Red Sea, and customs officers found hundreds of Tramadol pills in her luggage.   Tramadol is banned in Egypt because it can be used as a recreational drug. Plummer has maintained the drugs were for her Egyptian boyfriend who suffers from chronic back pain.   The verdict can be appealed. …

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The U.N. children’s fund warns that 220,000 children in the area of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed rebels are at risk of being killed or maimed by landmines and other explosive remnants of war. Eastern Ukraine is one of the most mine-contaminated places on earth. Well into its fourth year of war, the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are riddled with deadly explosives that are taking a heavy toll on the lives and well-being of its children. The U.N. children’s fund estimates landmines and other explosive weapons kill or maim one child a week along eastern Ukraine’s contact line. This is …

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A Kremlin spokesman suggested Tuesday that a call by Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalny to boycott next year’s presidential election may be illegal. Navalny urged supporters to boycott the March 18 vote after election officials on Monday barred him from running. Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) voted to ban the anti-corruption blogger from running because of his conviction on criminal charges. Navalny and his followers say those charges were politically motivated. Following the CEC decision, Navalny released a video declaring a “voter’s strike,” because — according to Navalny — the March contest would not really be an election. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman …

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The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia stands ready to act as a mediator between North Korea and the United States in talks aimed at reducing tensions, if both parties are willing for Moscow to take on this role. “Russia’s readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a phone call with reporters. …

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A British naval frigate escorted a Russian warship through the North Sea near UK waters on Christmas Day, the Royal Navy confirmed. The HMS St. Albans monitored the Russian vessel Admiral Gorshkov as it made its way across the North Sea close to Britain.  Although such crossings are fairly routine, there has been a rise in the number of Russian ships passing close to British territorial waters in recent days. The Royal Navy said there had been a recent “upsurge in Russian units transiting UK waters.” Britain recently warned of a new threat posed by Russia to internet cables under …

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Lawyers and politicians in Turkey are warning that a new emergency decree could incite violence, and encourage formation of vigilante groups. Turkey’s main lawyers’ group, the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, says the decree is vaguely-worded and could lead to violence. The new law, passed Sunday, grants immunity to civilians who acted to stop an attempted coup in July 2016. Previously, the government gave immunity to law enforcement and government officials who took actions to thwart the coup. Turkey’s former president Abdullah Gul, a longtime ally of President Tayyip Erdogan also expressed concern about the measure, in a rare show …

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Russian authorities say a bus careened off a road and onto steps leading into an underground passageway in Moscow, killing at least four people and leaving 13 others injured.   Moscow police said passengers and pedestrians were among those killed in Monday’s crash. Police immediately ruled out a possibility of it being an attack, saying that they suspect a mechanical fault or that the driver lost control of the vehicle. Police were questioning the driver.   Photos taken at the scene show the bus on the steps leading into the underground passageway.   Russian news agencies reporting from the scene …

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Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is calling for a boycott of the country’s next presidential ballot after election officials barred him from running. Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) voted Monday to bar Navalny from running in the March 2018 presidential election because of his conviction on criminal charges that the anti-corruption blogger and his followers say were politically motivated. The commission’s decision came a day after Navalny declared he had collected the required number of endorsements nationwide to become a presidential candidate. Following Monday’s CEC decision, Navalny released a video calling on his supporters to boycott the presidential vote. “We …

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Pope Francis calls for “peace for Jerusalem” and “mutual trust” on the Korean peninsula as he focused on the suffering of children in conflicts across the world, in his traditional Christmas Day address “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the City and to the World”) from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. …

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Pope Francis called for peace in Jerusalem and “mutual trust” on the Korean peninsula in his traditional Christmas Day address “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the City and to the World”) from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. Francis spoke of “growing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians,” expressing his hope that the “will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached, one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two states.” Palestinians were angered with President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.   The pope also focused on …

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