Category: Євросоюз

Would a 15-year-old girl be married off by her parents in violation of the law? Would another girl, who looks even younger, get justice after an alleged statutory rape at the hands of an older man? In their impoverished communities in Uganda, the answers hinged on the fact that one girl had a birth certificate and the other didn’t. Police foiled the planned marriage after locating paperwork that proved the first girl was not 18 as her parents claimed. The other girl could not prove she was under the age of consent; her aunt, who’s also her guardian, has struggled …

READ MORE

It was a Friday in June, a short workday before a public holiday weekend in Ukraine, and cybersecurity expert Victor Zhora had left the capital, Kyiv, and was in the western city of Lviv when he got the first in a torrent of phone calls from frantic clients. His clients’ networks were being crippled by ransomware known as Petya, a malicious software that locks up infected computers and data. But this ransomware was a variant of an older one and wasn’t designed to extort money — the goal of the virus’ designers was massive disruption to Ukraine’s economy. “I decided …

READ MORE

London police say they are “chasing down suspects” in their investigation to determine who is responsible for the rush-hour bomb attack on a city subway. Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said police have the remnants of the improvised explosive device that was partially detonated Friday morning on a subway car at the Parsons Green station. Images of the bomb posted on social media appear to show a bucket on fire that had been placed inside a plastic bag close to a railcar door. Prime Minister Theresa May said after the attack that the country’s Joint Terrorism Analysis Center decided to raise …

READ MORE

The Roman Catholic Church and U.S. officials confirm that a high-ranking diplomat at the Vatican’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., has been recalled to Vatican City over accusations he possessed child pornography. The Holy See released a statement Friday saying U.S. State Department officials had informed the Vatican on August 21 of evidence the diplomat may have violated child pornography laws in the United States. The statement said the official, a priest, has been recalled to Vatican City and an investigation is underway. The statement does not give the priest’s name and says that the investigation is “subject to investigative confidentiality.” …

READ MORE

Iceland’s nine-month-old, center-right government collapsed Friday after a small coalition member quit and the country’s prime minister called for a new election “as soon as possible,” according to Icelandic media. The centrist Bright Future Party quit over an attempt by the prime minister’s father to help clear a convicted pedophile’s name. It said in a Facebook post that there was “a serious breach of trust” behind its departure. Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson took office in January with his Independence Party, the Reform Party and the centrists. Together the three parties held the slimmest of majorities — 32 of the 63 …

READ MORE

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim warned Friday that the Iraqi Kurdish plan to hold an independence referendum was a “grave mistake.”  Iraqi Kurdistan regional President Masoud Barzani has called for the referendum on Sept. 25 in the semi-autonomous area. Turkey, which borders the Iraqi Kurdish region, has strong ties with Barzani, but Ankara has been stepping up its pressure to call off the vote. “There are 10 days left (to the referendum). Therefore, I want to repeat our friendly call to Masoud Barzani:  Correct this mistake while there is still time,” Yildirim said Friday to supporters. The warning was followed …

READ MORE

President Donald Trump has responded to North Korea’s most recent missile launch with a vow that the United States and its allies will not be intimidated. Trump made the remark Friday during a speech to military personnel and their families at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, just outside Washington. He said North Korea’s launch hours earlier showed Pyongyang’s “utter contempt for its neighbors and for the entire world community.” Earlier in the day, NATO called for a global response to North Korea’s latest launch of a missile, which flew over northern Japan just days after the United Nations imposed new …

READ MORE

The Kremlin appears to be touting a major shift in policy on east Ukraine and possibly preparing local pro-Russian separatists for the reintegration of the disputed region of the Donbas into Ukraine. A local news site in separatist-controlled Donetsk reported midweek that the Kremlin is likely to engineer the replacement of the current military-tilted Donbas leaders with two former Ukrainian lawmakers, both onetime allies of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, currently in exile in the Russian capital. The news site, Novosti Donbassa, also reported that Vladislav Surkov, a key member of the inner circle of advisers of Russian President Vladimir Putin, …

READ MORE

A decision by the BRICS nations to name and denounce specific terrorist organizations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere is sparking debate among academics and analysts in China. Earlier this month, the group, comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, extended their support to Kabul’s counterterrorism efforts during a meeting in China. The move caused some nervousness in Islamabad, forcing Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to first visit Beijing and then fly to Tehran, canvassing support for his country. This was the first time China had publicly denounced Pakistan-based terror groups, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, which had earlier been censured by …

READ MORE

At least 18 people were injured, many with burns, following a blast early Friday on a packed rush-hour commuter train in London that police are treating as a terrorism incident. Armed police descended on the Parsons Green underground subway station after commuters reported an explosion and a fire. London police say an improvised explosive device was the source of the fire. The police say their investigation is being supported by input from MI-5, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency. British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson appealed for calm and said it was important not to speculate.  London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the British …

READ MORE

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged China to cut oil exports to North Korea to force Pyongyang to rein in its nuclear weapons program during his visit to London on Thursday. Tillerson’s trip to Britain comes days after the United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea. He said he had hoped for stronger measures from the U.N., and urged Beijing to use its leverage. “I am hopeful that China, as a great country, as a world power, will decide on their own and will take it upon themselves to use that very powerful tool of oil …

READ MORE

The Catalonian government on Thursday launched its official campaign for an independence referendum, which Madrid has declared illegal, buoyed by the support of the capital Barcelona. Crowds filled a bull ring in the northeastern city of Tarragona, applauding and shouting “We will vote!” as regional president Carles Puigdemont arrived to rally support for the October 1 vote. In a boost for the credibility of the referendum, the mayor of Barcelona said earlier on Thursday that the vote would go ahead in the city, having previously expressed concern that civil servants involved may lose their jobs. A town hall spokesman was …

READ MORE

In the Turkish capital, Ankara, the trial of two educators charged with terrorism has started.  The defendants have been on a hunger strike for more than five months to protest their firing as part of a government crackdown after last year’s failed coup. Their hunger strike and trial have become a focal point of government opposition. The Ankara courthouse where Semih Ozakca and Nuriye Gulmen are on trial was surrounded by a large security presence. Police outside the court prevented opposition parliamentary deputies from reading a declaration of support for the educators who are accused of supporting a prohibited left …

READ MORE

Fans of the old Latin Mass descended on Rome on Thursday for their annual pilgrimage, facing indifference to their cause, if not outright resistance, from none other than Pope Francis.   Ten years after Pope Benedict XVI passed a law allowing greater use of the Latin Mass, Francis seems to be doing everything possible to roll it back or simply pretend it never happened.   In recent weeks, he has affirmed with “magisterial authority” that the reforms of the 1960s allowing for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin were “irreversible.” Last week he gave local bishops …

READ MORE

The United States is responding to Russian propaganda with new media efforts aimed at countering “Kremlin distortions” with objective news, Broadcasting Board of Governors CEO John Lansing told a Senate panel. Lansing said Thursday he has seen a “global explosion of propaganda and lies,” and said the government agency he oversees is now actively countering that disinformation with facts. BBG is the parent organization for VOA and other broadcast entities. Lansing detailed BBG efforts to counter Russian disinformation by reaching Russian speakers around the world. Specifically, Lansing mentioned “Current Time,” a Russian-language news network, which, according to a promo video …

READ MORE

Military officials in Belarus have sought to calm Western fears about major war games with Russia involving thousands of troops, tanks and aircraft, just hours before they are due to get underway.   The Zapad (West) 2017 maneuvers, mainly in Belarus this year, have caused concern at NATO and in neighboring countries. Some members of the alliance, including the Baltic states and Poland, have criticized a lack of transparency about the exercises and questioned Moscow’s real intentions.   “We are not threatening anyone,” Oleg Voinov, an adviser to the Belarusian Defense Minister, told journalists Thursday. “We have chosen military bases …

READ MORE

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed U.S. concerns about his government’s recent decision to buy an S-400 missile defense system from Russia. In a speech Wednesday to mayors from his ruling AK Party, Erdogan said of the U.S., “They went crazy because we made the S-400 agreement. What were we supposed to do? Wait for you? We are taking and will take all our measures on the security front,” he added. The multibillion-dollar missile purchase has dealt another blow to deeply strained relations with the United States, which spent months lobbying against the deal.  “We have relayed our concerns to …

READ MORE

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in London on Thursday to discuss issues including Hurricane Irma, North Korea and Libya, his office said. Johnson, who this week visited the British territories of Anguilla and the British Virgin islands to see the devastation caused by Irma, will discuss the international response with Tillerson and French Political Director Nicolas de Riviere. “I’ve seen firsthand the devastation Hurricane Irma has caused people in the Caribbean. Close coordination with our allies is vital for both the short-term and long-term recovery efforts,” Johnson said in a statement …

READ MORE

Spain’s state prosecutor has summoned more than 700 Catalan mayors who have backed an independence referendum, in an escalation of Madrid’s efforts to block the vote that it has declared illegal. Officials engaging in any preparations for the vote could be charged with civil disobedience, abuse of office and misuse of public funds, the prosecutor said in a letter delivered to local authorities on Wednesday. If the mayors do not answer the summons, police should arrest them, it added. One mayor said the legal move was unprecedented. “We don’t think any European country has ever tried to make more than …

READ MORE

After more than a year of separation, Syrian refugee Ammar Hammasho was finally, albeit briefly, reunited with his wife and four children through a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire in Cyprus. Hammasho, who is from the war-ravaged Idlib region, fell to his knees and kissed each of his three eldest children through the three-meter-high barrier encircling a migrant reception center at Kokkinotrimithia, west of the Cypriot capital Nicosia. His youngest son, Jumah — named after their second-born who was killed in an air raid in 2015 — was held up by his wife, Shamuos. He kissed the protracted palm …

READ MORE