Category: Євросоюз

Євросоюз

Pentagon says Russia launched space weapon in path of US satellite 

Washington — Russia has launched a likely space weapon and deployed it in the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite, the Pentagon said. “Russia launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we assess is likely a counter-space weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit,” Pentagon spokesman Air Force Major General Pat Ryder told a press briefing late Tuesday. The Russian “counter-space weapon” launched on May 16 was deployed “into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite,” he said. Ryder added that Washington would continue to monitor the situation and was ready to protect its …

READ MORE

Євросоюз

Blinken: Gaza cease-fire still possible, but ICC’s move complicates efforts  

state department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas militants in return for the release of hostages remains possible, but the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli leaders hindered ongoing efforts.   “There’s been an extensive effort made in recent months to get that agreement. I think we came very, very close on a couple of occasions. Qatar, Egypt, others participating in the efforts to do this — we remain at it every single day. I think that there’s still a possibility,” Blinken told lawmakers during a hearing at the …

READ MORE

Євросоюз

Behind Putin and Xi’s embrace, Russia is junior partner, analysts say

LONDON — Chinese President Xi Jinping is not known for public displays of affection. So Xi’s double embrace of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, last week — broadcast by Chinese and Russian state television — was widely seen as a calculated signal to the world of a blossoming personal and geopolitical relationship. Putin’s visit to China underlined burgeoning economic ties between Moscow and Beijing as the two countries signed a series of agreements aimed at forging closer cooperation, even as the West tries to isolate Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine. Personal warmth The show of personal warmth was matched by …

READ MORE

Євросоюз

German prince on trial in far-right coup plot 

Frankfurt, Germany — A prince, a former MP and several ex-army officers went on trial on Tuesday, accused of masterminding a plot driven by conspiracy theories to attack the German parliament and topple the government. In one of the biggest cases heard by German courts in decades, prosecutors accuse the group of preparing a “treasonous undertaking” to storm the Bundestag and take MPs hostage. The defendants, including one who covered his face with a file, took their seats in a specially built high-security courtroom in Frankfurt. Eight suspected members of the coup plot will take the stand in Frankfurt, as well …

READ MORE

Євросоюз

Russian director, playwright on trial over play authorities say justifies terrorism

TALLINN, Estonia — A Russian court on Monday opened the trial of a theater director and a playwright accused of advocating terrorism in a play, the latest step in an unrelenting crackdown on dissent in Russia that has reached new heights since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have been jailed for over a year. Authorities claim their play “Finist, the Brave Falcon” justifies terrorism, which is a criminal offense in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have both repeatedly rejected the accusations against them. …

READ MORE

Євросоюз

Nine accused of ‘Reichsbuerger’ coup plot go on trial in Germany 

frankfurt, germany — A would-be prince, a former judge and parliamentarian, and retired military officers are among nine alleged conspirators who will stand trial on Tuesday for a suspected “Reichsbuerger” plot to overthrow Germany’s democracy.  Prosecutors say they were ringleaders in a terrorist plot to topple the German government and install property investor Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss, scion of a now throneless dynasty, as a caretaker head of state.  The case, to be held in a maximum-security courtroom on the outskirts of Frankfurt, is the second to open against members of a conspiracy involving at least 27 people.  The defendants taking …

READ MORE

Євросоюз

‘The Apprentice,’ about a young Donald Trump, premieres in Cannes

CANNES, France — While Donald Trump’s hush money trial entered its sixth week in New York, an origin story for the Republican presidential candidate premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday, unveiling a scathing portrait of the former president in the 1980s.  “The Apprentice,” directed by the Iranian Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, stars Sebastian Stan as Trump. The central relationship of the movie is between Trump and Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the defense attorney who was chief counsel to Joseph McCarthy’s 1950s Senate investigations.  Cohn is depicted as a longtime mentor to Trump, coaching him in the ruthlessness of New …

READ MORE

Євросоюз

Britain slammed in inquiry for infecting thousands with tainted blood, covering up scandal

LONDON — British authorities and the country’s public health service knowingly exposed tens of thousands of patients to deadly infections through contaminated blood and blood products, and hid the truth about the disaster for decades, an inquiry into the U.K.’s infected blood scandal found Monday. An estimated 3,000 people in the United Kingdom are believed to have died and many others were left with lifelong illnesses after receiving blood or blood products tainted with HIV or hepatitis in the 1970s to the early 1990s. The scandal is widely seen as the deadliest disaster in the history of Britain’s state-run National Health …

READ MORE

Євросоюз

UN watchdog urges ‘vigilance’ against nuclear material theft

Vienna — The UN nuclear watchdog on Monday called for “vigilance” against trafficking of nuclear and other radioactive material, saying it has recorded more than 4,200 thefts or other incidents over the past 30 years. Last year, 31 countries reported 168 incidents “in line with historical averages,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. Six of those were “likely related to trafficking or malicious use,” it added. Since 1993, the IAEA has recorded 4,243 incidents, with 350 of them connected or likely to be connected to trafficking or malicious use. “The reoccurrence of incidents confirms the need for vigilance and continuous …

READ MORE

Євросоюз

London court rules WikiLeaks founder Assange can appeal US extradition order 

London — A British court has ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal against an order that he be extradited to the U.S. on espionage charges. Two High Court judges on Monday said Assange has grounds to challenge the U.K. government’s extradition order. The ruling sets the stage for an appeal process likely to further drag out a years-long legal saga. Assange faces 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over his website’s publication of a trove of classified U.S. documents almost 15 years ago. The Australian computer expert has spent the last five years in a British …

READ MORE

Євросоюз

UK and Finland to deepen ties in face of ‘Russian aggression’

LONDON — Britain and Finland will sign a new strategic partnership on Monday to strengthen ties and counter the “threat of Russian aggression,” the U.K. foreign minister said. The two countries will declare Russia as “the most significant and direct threat to European peace and stability,” according to a Foreign Office press release. The agreement will be endorsed by U.K. foreign minister David Cameron and his Finnish counterpart Elina Valtonen in London. “As we stand together to support Ukraine, including through providing military aid and training, we are clear that the threat of Russian aggression, following the war it started, will …

READ MORE