Category: Євросоюз

Italy reported a measles epidemic Wednesday following a fall-off in vaccinations, as the United States issued a warning to visitors about the outbreak of the potentially fatal disease. The Health Ministry said there had been almost 1,500 registered cases of measles so far this year, compared with 840 in all of 2016 and 250 in 2015. “Italy and Romania have an epidemic at the moment,” said Walter Ricciardi, president of the Higher Health Institute, adding that he understood why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had issued an advisory this week. Ricciardi told Radio 24 that the United …

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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague has rejected Kyiv’s call to impose provisional measures against Russia for its support of rebels in eastern Ukraine, while acknowledging Kyiv has a case against Moscow for discrimination in Russia-annexed Crimea. “At this stage of the proceedings, Ukraine has not put before the court evidence which affords a sufficient basis to find it plausible that these elements are present,” said Presiding Judge Ronny Abraham. “Therefore, the court concludes that the conditions required for the indication of provisional measures in respect of the rights alleged by Ukraine on the basis of ICSFT …

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Turkey’s prime minister hit back Tuesday at European monitors who said more than 2 million votes could have been manipulated in Sunday’s closely contested referendum on expanding presidential powers. Binali Yildirim, responding to criticism from the Council of Europe’s observer mission, said debate over the outcome of the referendum was “over,” and that “the people’s will had been reflected at the ballot box.” He spoke in response to calls from the council to investigate alleged vote irregularities that several official observers said allowed as many as 2.5 million uncertified ballots to be counted. Alev Korun, an Austrian member of the …

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The U.S. military says it intercepted two Russian bombers in international airspace off Alaska’s coast. Navy Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said a pair of F-22 Raptor aircraft intercepted the Russian TU-95 Bear bombers on Monday. Ross said the intercept was “safe and professional.” North American Aerospace Defense Command monitors air approaches to North America and defends the airspace. Fox News said Tuesday that the Russian planes flew within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of Alaska’s Kodiak Island. It said the American jets escorted the Russian bombers for 12 minutes. The bombers then flew back to eastern Russia. …

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Warm weather and calm seas usually spur smugglers to send migrants across the Mediterranean come spring. But aid groups say another timetable might be behind a weekend spike: the looming start of beefed-up Libyan coast guard patrols designed to prevent migrants from reaching Europe. Over Easter weekend, rescue ships plucked some 8,360 people from 55 different rubber dinghies and wooden boats off Libya’s coast, Italy’s coast guard said. Thirteen bodies were also recovered. While such numbers are not unheard-of for this time of year, they come as Italy is preparing to deliver patrol boats to Libya as part of a …

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A flamboyant Indian business tycoon, wanted in India on charges of fraud and defaulting on loans worth over one billion dollars, was arrested Tuesday in Britain on behalf of Indian authorities. Vijay Mallya was released on bail by a London court a few hours later. His arrest came a year after he quietly left the country and went to live in London after state-owned banks sued him to recover loans amounting to $1.4 billion. In New Delhi, the government hailed the arrest of the one-time liquor and aviation baron, saying they will pursue his extradition back to India. Junior Finance …

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The crowd of diehard supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cheered at a referendum-eve rally in the Umraniye district of Istanbul when Turkey’s Islamist leader called on them to drive the West, as well as terrorists, mad by voting “yes” in the next day’s plebiscite. “Let’s pass such a reform that the West goes crazy,” he said. Western officials may not be going crazy, but they are alarmed by Sunday’s vote. The slim majority that backed Erdogan’s bid to dramatically expand his executive power has set Ankara and the European Union on a collision course, European officials fear. On …

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British Prime Minister Theresa May announced Tuesday she will seek an early election on June 8. Three weeks after officially launching the process for Britain to exit the European Union, May said opposition parties are threatening to derail the process and that parliament is not coming together in the same way as the nation. “Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country, so we need a general election and we need one now,” May said. The House of Commons must approve the call for …

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U.S. President Donald Trump has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his “referendum victory,” in a narrow vote that would create a powerful executive presidency from the current parliamentary system. The White House said in a statement the two leaders spoke by phone, with their conversation also including the need to hold Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable for a recent chemical attack, the ongoing fight against Islamic State and “the need to cooperate against all groups that use terrorism to achieve their ends.” Erdogan’s opponents are seeking a revote of Sunday’s referendum, and international monitors have questioned the fairness …

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Turkey’s president has rejected international monitors’ criticism of the referendum that approved expanded presidential powers Sunday, saying the vote was the “most democratic election” seen in any Western country. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told supporters Monday outside his palace in Ankara that international election monitors should “know their place.” He said Turkey will ignore findings by monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, calling the reports “politically motivated.” Fairness questioned The monitors have questioned the fairness of Sunday’s referendum, saying it was contested on an uneven playing field. At a news conference in Ankara, monitors from the …

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Retired Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his 90th birthday on Monday with a mug of beer and a small gathering with family and friends. Footage by Vatican TV showed Benedict sitting with guests on a sunny day outside his home on Vatican grounds where he has lived since he resigned as pontiff in 2013.  He was joined by his elder brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, as well with other visitors from his native Bavaria in Germany. Pope Benedict turned 90 on Sunday, but since his birthday coincided with Easter this year, he celebrated the occasion Monday. On Thursday, Benedict’s successor, Pope Francis, …

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Turkey’s status as a bridge between East and West was clear  and shaky after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan carved out a narrow victory in a referendum that raises questions about democracy’s future in the country. Erdogan’s steady path toward authoritarian rule was bolstered by the Sunday election that drew 80 percent of eligible voters. It was decided by support from the rural countryside and Turks living abroad, while the country’s three largest cities voted against the package that will reduce the role of parliament and give most of its powers to the presidency. The result left Turkey embraced by the …

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The U.S. State Department said Monday it had taken note of concerns by European monitors of Turkey’s referendum and looked forward to a final report, suggesting it will withhold comment until a full assessment was completed. An initial assessment by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Sunday’s referendum, which granted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers, did not meet democratic norms. “We look forward to OSCE/ODIHR’s final report, which we understand will take several weeks,” acting spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement. …

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As France’s unpredictable presidential campaign nears its finish with no clear front-runner, centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen hope to rally big crowds in Paris with their rival visions for Europe’s future. Meanwhile, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, enjoying a late poll surge, is campaigning on a barge Monday floating through the canals of Paris. And conservative candidate Francois Fillon is taking his tough-on-security campaign to the southern French city of Nice, which was scarred by a deadly truck attack last year that killed 86 people. The race is being watched internationally as an important gauge of …

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Germany said on Monday the close result in Turkey’s referendum on expanding Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers was a big responsibility for him to bear and showed how divided Turkish society was. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel also said Turkish authorities needed to address concerns about the content and procedure of Sunday’s referendum raised by a panel of European legal experts. Erdogan declared a narrow victory in the vote, which marked the biggest overhaul of modern Turkish politics. Opponents said it was marred by irregularities and they would challenge the result. Merkel and Gabriel, whose country …

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 It is an image those who saw it will never forget: Prince William and Prince Harry — just boys, really — walking silently behind their mother’s cortege as the world mourned Princess Diana’s death in 1997. Now Harry has revealed for the first time that losing his mother when he was only 12 left him in emotional turmoil for 20 years, filling him with grief and rage he could only manage after he sought counseling.   Breaking sharply with the royal tradition of maintaining a stoic silence about mental health, the 32-year-old prince told The Daily Telegraph in an interview published Monday …

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Turkey’s ruling party is celebrating victory after a referendum granting sweeping new powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The opposition says it will contest Sunday’s vote, which it says was riddled with fraud. Erdogan’s victory would give him new powers undermining the parliament, and Cabinet ministers would be directly appointed by the president and accountable to him. …

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Easter dawned in Jerusalem with a sunrise service at the Garden Tomb, where the faithful sang hymns of the resurrection. This holy site seeks to recreate the setting of the burial place of Jesus according to biblical accounts: “Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid” (John 19:41). Facing an empty tomb carved into a rock in antiquity, the congregation proclaimed that “The Lord is risen!” A short time later, bells rang out in the narrow cobblestone alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old …

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Millions of Orthodox Christians around the world have celebrated Easter in overnight services and with “holy fire” from Jerusalem, commemorating the day followers believe that Jesus was resurrected nearly 2,000 years ago.   This year the Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on the same Sunday that Roman Catholics and Protestants mark the holy festival. The Western Christian church follows the Gregorian calendar, while the Eastern Orthodox uses the older Julian calendar and the two Easters are often weeks apart.   Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who is the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christian faithful, delivered a message of peace during …

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Christians around the world on Sunday celebrated Easter – the day they believe Jesus arose from the dead.  It is the holiest day of the Christian calendar.   Throngs of the faithful endured heavy security checks to secure a place in the Vatican’s flower-filled Saint Peter’s Square for Pope Francis’ celebration of Easter Mass and his delivery of his annual “Urbi et Orbi” –  “to the city and to the world” – Easter address. Pope Francis denounced how migrants, the poor and the marginalized are treated.  He said they see their “human dignity crucified” every day through injustice and corruption. …

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