Category: Євросоюз

Amnesty International’s country chairman in Turkey is to remain in custody on terrorism charges related to the use of a phone app, the human rights group said. Amnesty announced the Turkish court’s decision to keep chairman Taner Kilic behind bars in its Twitter feed, saying it “won’t stop until he is free.” Kilic has been in prison for five months, facing up to 15 years in prison for downloading ByLock, a popular encrypted messaging app. Turkish authorities say the messaging app is used by supporters of Fetullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric whom Turkey blames for a failed coup attempt last …

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The cold-call pope is setting his sights heavenward by ringing astronauts aboard the International Space Station.   Pope Francis’ imminent hookup Thursday will mark the second papal phone call to space: Pope Benedict XVI rang the space station in 2011, and peppered its residents with questions about the future of the planet and the environmental risks it faced.   Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli was aboard the orbiting lab for that call and will be on hand to chat with Francis, who considered a career in chemistry before becoming a priest.   For his latest trip into space, Nespoli brought along …

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Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has ruled out the possibility of holding a regional snap election and has asked parliament to decide how to move forward as the secession crisis from Spain continues. During an announcement which was delayed, cancelled, and rescheduled Thursday, Puigdemont said that there were not enough guarantees from Madrid that a snap election would stop the imposition of direct rule in Catalonia. “I was ready to call an election if guarantees were given.  There is no guarantee that justifies calling an election today,” he said. Earlier Thursday, Puigdemont said the Spanish government will worsen the political crisis …

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The democratic opposition and political prisoners in Venezuela have won the European Union’s Sakharov Prize for human rights.    The European Parliament said Thursday that it wanted to reward the courage of students and politicians fighting for freedom in the face of a repressive government.    Guy Verhofstadt of the ALDE liberal group said that “this award supports the fight of democratic forces for a democratic Venezuela.’’ He urged “the international community to join us in this fight for the freedom of the people of Venezuela.’’  …

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An explosion in Kyiv on Wednesday killed a bodyguard and wounded three people, including Ukrainian lawmaker Ihor Mosiychuk, Ukrainian officials said, describing the incident as a deliberate attack. Mosiychuk, a member of the opposition Radical Party, was hospitalized but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, while his bodyguard was killed, according to party leader Oleh Lyashko. Interior Ministry adviser Zoryan Shkiryak said investigators were at the scene of the incident, where it appeared a motorcycle had been blown up near the entrance to a TV station. “Unfortunately, one [blast victim] could not be saved. He died on the way to the …

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European counterterror officials say they are taking no solace in the liberation of Raqqa from Islamic State, with some warning that the terror group’s communication and planning units remain “very active.” The fall of IS’s Syrian capital this month has been heralded as a crushing blow to the group’s aspirations, with U.S. President Donald Trump calling it a “critical breakthrough.” But counterterrorism officials say there is broad consensus that IS still has considerable reach, especially in the near term. “We all share the same opinion. The military defeat, the so-called caliphate being scattered, does not mean that the terrorist organization …

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A top U.S. State Department official on Wednesday urged Kosovo officials to ratify a border demarcation agreement with Montenegro, the last remaining criteria to be fulfilled before Kosovo can benefit from visa-free travel to the European Schengen zone. Shortly after meeting with Kosovar President Hashim Thaci in Pristina, Hoyt Brian Yee, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told VOA’s Albanian Service that he encouraged the new government “to seize the opportunity where the last government was not able to.” Kosovo’s opposition prevented the previous parliament from voting on the border agreement, which was signed with …

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All incoming flights to the United States will be subject to new security screening procedures before takeoff, including both American citizens and foreigners possibly facing security interviews from airline employees, the U.S. government said Wednesday. Both American air carriers and global airlines must comply, affecting all the 2,100 flights from around the world entering the U.S. on any given day. The directive is far broader than an earlier Trump administration ban on laptops inside the cabins of some airliners, which only targeted 10 Mideast cities and their airlines. Carriers confused   Confusion greeted the new rules. While five global long-haul …

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France’s famed film institute La Cinematheque Francaise says it will go ahead with a retrospective of works by director Roman Polanski despite opposition by feminist groups.   La Cinematheque said Wednesday that calls to cancel the Polanski screenings – attended by the director – only began “in the last few days” as the sexual harassment accusations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein gained force. The statement said it would not change the program that begins Monday.   Weinstein denies the allegations.   The institute said its role was not to moralize – in regard to the Polish-born director who in the …

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Three-quarters of the world’s people live in countries that either restrict the right to religion or belief or have “a high level of social hostility involving religion or belief,” the U.N. special investigator on religious rights said Tuesday. Ahmed Shaheed told the General Assembly’s human rights committee that religious intolerance is prevalent globally – and rising around the world. He said over 70 countries currently have anti-blasphemy laws that can be used to suppress dissenting views, in violation of international human rights standards. Shaheed, a former politician and human rights expert from the Maldives, urged those countries to repeal the …

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Serbia’s defense minister on Tuesday criticized remarks by the top U.S. diplomat in the region, who recently called on Belgrade to choose between aligning itself with either Washington and Brussels or Moscow if it intends to secure European Union status. Addressing Serbian news outlets, Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin, who has been known to advocate a pro-Russian stance, said comments by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Hoyt Brian Yee represent “the greatest pressure against Serbia yet.” The “statement was not made by a friend or a person respecting Serbia, respecting our right to decide independently,” Vulin said, …

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Russia used its U.N. veto Tuesday to block a resolution extending the mandate of the investigators probing chemical weapons attacks in Syria. In a Security Council vote, 11 countries supported extending the mission for another year, while Russia and Bolivia voted against the measure, and China and Kazakhstan abstained. The investigating team, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism or JIM, is expected to make public a report on Thursday that could identify the party responsible for a deadly April 4 attack in the rebel-controlled town of Khan Sheikhoun in southern Idlib that killed and sickened scores of civilians. Three days …

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A trial begins in Istanbul Wednesday for eleven prominent human rights activists, including two foreign nationals, in a case that is drawing criticism from international human rights organizations who say it is part of a campaign by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to silence criticism and scrutiny in Turkey in the wake of last year’s coup attempt.   The defendants face prison sentences of up to 15 years in prison. Amnesty International’s chairman in Turkey, Taner Kilic, and Idil Eser, Amnesty International’s Turkey director, are among those on trial. The case centers on a digital security seminar that …

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The international aid group Save the Children is suspending its efforts to rescue migrants making the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing from Libya. Tuesday, the organization said the combination of falling numbers of crossings and worsening security forced it to stop sending its ship, the Vos Hestia, out from its port in Italy. Save the Children said the ship rescued as many as 10,000 migrants over the past year after the smugglers’ vessels they were in foundered at sea. The announcement comes just a day after Italian authorities searched the Vos Hestia as part of Rome’s efforts to deter people smuggling …

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As far as political revolutions go the independence bid by Catalan separatists to tear away from Spain must rank as one of the most surreal in recent memory. There are no Molotov cocktails or barricades or other trappings of insurgency. In fact, there is no geographical flashpoint — no Maidan or Tahrir Square. But there are hordes of tourists thronging the alleys of the Gothic Quarter, sampling the flavors of Barcelona, a prosperous, sun-blessed city — and that despite a reported 20 percent drop in tourist numbers. Wedged between the Mediterranean and the Montserrat, a multi-peaked mountain range, Barcelona boasts …

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When Britain’s Cambridge University put physicist Stephen Hawking’s 1966 thesis on line for the first time Monday, the university’s website collapsed. Professor Hawking’s “Properties of Expanding Universes” has been the most requested item in the university’s library. To meet the demand, and with Hawking’s encouragement, Cambridge made it available on line. About 60,000 people sought to access it, causing the system to periodically shut down throughout the day Monday. Hawking is the world’s best-known physicist and expert on the cosmos. His landmark 1988 work “A Brief History of Time” has sold more than 10 million copies. With his thesis now …

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Britain’s democracy is one of the most secure in the world and will remain so, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday in response to a question about a suggestion that there may have been foreign interference in the Brexit vote. Opposition lawmaker Ben Bradshaw last week urged the government to look into reports by an advocacy group suggesting that the origin of some Brexit campaign funds was unclear. Bradshaw said in parliament the issue should be investigated “given the widespread concern over foreign and particularly Russian interference in Western democracies.” At a regular briefing with reporters, …

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The building that houses EU summits, where toxic fumes forced EU leaders to switch venues last week, will be closed for a further week as investigators seek to resolve the problem. The fumes leaking from the drains have forced the Europa Building, also known as “The Egg,” to be evacuated twice this month, including before a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday. The new building was opened in January amid controversy over its 321-million-euro ($378 million) price tag. Staff and meetings will be temporarily transferred to the next door Justus Lipsius building until the issue is resolved. About …

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U.S. and Turkish diplomats continue talks on resolving a dispute over recent visa curbs, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan steps up his rhetoric against Washington. Bilateral relations are set to be further strained by an upcoming court case over Iranian sanction busting involving Turkish citizens. Erdogan launched a scathing attack Sunday on the country’s Western allies. He warned Turkey would respect its strategic alliances with its partners as long as those countries respected the law. Ankara has accused some of its NATO partners of conspiring against it and offering sanctuary to people it accuses of being involved in last …

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An unidentified male assailant has rushed into the Moscow headquarters of news radio station Ekho Moskvy and stabbed a deputy editor in chief and anchor, Tatyana Felgengauer. Ekho Moskvy editor in chief Aleksei Venediktov wrote on Twitter that the attacker struck Felgengauer in the throat with a knife in the October 23 attack. The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into charges of attempted murder. The attacker was detained by station security personnel, while Felgengauer was hospitalized in serious, but non-life-threatening condition. He said that police are working at the scene. No more details were immediately available. Venediktov said …

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