List of All Articles with Tag 'europe'

Imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed new charges by Russian prosecutors. The 47-year-old is already serving more than 30 years in prison after being found guilty of crimes including extremism — charges that his supporters characterize as politically motivated. In comments passed to his associates, Navalny said he had been charged under article 214 of Russia’s penal code, which covers crimes of vandalism. “I don’t even know whether to describe my latest news as sad, funny or absurd,” he wrote in comments on social media Friday via his team. “I have no idea what Article 214 is, and there’s nowhere to look. You’ll know before I do.” He said that the charges were part of the Kremlin’s desire to “initiate a new criminal case against me every three months.” Never before has a convict in solitary confinement for more than a year had such a rich social and political life,” he joked. Navalny is one of President Vladimir Putin’s most ardent opponents, best known for campaigning against official corruption and organizing major anti-Kremlin protests. The former lawyer was arrested in 2021, after he returned to Moscow from Germany where he had recuperated from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. He has since been handed three prison terms and has faced months in solitary confinement after being accused of various minor infractions. Several Navalny associates have also faced extremism-related charges after the politician’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and a network of regional offices were outlawed as extremist groups in 2021, a move that exposed virtually anyone affiliated with them to prosecution. Most recently, a court in the Siberian city of Tomsk jailed Ksenia Fadeyeva, who used to run Navalny’s office in Tomsk, prior to her trial on extremism charges. Fadeyeva was initially placed under house arrest in October before later being remanded in pre-trial detention. If found guilty, she faces up to 12 years in prison. Read More Russia-Ukraine war: Kremlin paying soldiers’ wives not to protest Putin orders Russian military to increase troop numbers by 170,000 Iceland volcano: Eruption ‘imminent’ as 120 earthquakes strike - live

Heavy snowfall disrupted travel in southern Germany and Switzerland, with hundreds of flights delayed or canceled so far.

The European Investment Bank will pledge €5 billion in counter-guarantees to help support the region’s ailing wind energy

The Upper West high-rise overlooking Berlin’s bustling Kurfürstendamm shopping boulevard is one of many glittering trophies in the

Housing prices in Sweden have resumed a decline as the Nordic nation’s economy is in a recession and

Thames Water’s parent company may run out of money by April if shareholders don’t inject more equity into

COP28 Daily Reports: Sign up for the Green Daily newsletter for comprehensive coverage of the climate summit right

Rishi Sunak joked as he switched on the Christmas tree outside 10 Downing Street that it would be

Even before the US government demanded that Binance Holdings Ltd. pay $4.3 billion in fines and accused its

Fitch Ratings upgraded Greece to investment grade, opening the door of a multitrillion-dollar investment pool to the nation’s

The International Red Cross on Friday suspended the Belarusian chapter after its chief stirred international outrage for boasting that it was actively ferrying Ukrainian children from Russian-controlled areas to Belarus. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies halted the membership of the Belarus branch after it refused to oust its leader Dzmitry Shautsou. He is accused of having breached the Red Cross' much-vaunted and much-defended standards of neutrality and integrity. The board of IFRC had given the Belarus Red Cross until Nov. 30 to dismiss him, and said it would suspend the branch if it didn't. “The suspension means that the Belarus Red Cross loses its rights as a member of the IFRC,” the Geneva-based international organization said in a statement Friday. "Any new funding to the Belarus Red Cross will also be suspended.” Shautsou, in comments to the state Belta news agency, called the decision to suspend the Belarus Red Cross from the IFRC “absolutely politicized.” He said he went to the occupied areas in eastern Ukraine “to prove that children that undergo health improvement in Belarus return home safely.” Last year, the Belarus Red Cross received nearly 1.7 million Swiss francs ($1.9 million) from the the IFRC for services like HIV prevention, support for migrants near the border with Poland, “clown therapy” and help for people fleeing neighboring Ukraine. This year, the outlay has been more than 1 million francs. Shautsou was seen publicly wearing military fatigues with the “Z” insignia of Russian forces, and he claimed publicly that he favored deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus. He also told Belarusian television that the Belarus Red Cross was actively involved in bringing Ukrainian children to Belarus for “health improvement” purposes. Belarus has been Moscow’s closest ally since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, when its authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko allowed the Kremlin to send troops and weapons into Ukraine from Belarus. Russia has also deployed tactical nuclear weapons there. More than 2,400 Ukrainian children aged 6-17 have been brought to Belarus from four Ukrainian regions that have been partially occupied by Russian forces, according to a recent study by Yale University. The Belarusian opposition is seeking an international probe into the effort and says Lukashenko and his officials should be held accountable for it. The Belarus Red Cross has maintained that it did not take part in the removal of the children from Ukraine, and that the transfers were arranged by a Belarusian charity founded by state-backed Paralympic athlete Alexei Talai. Shautsou, however, in a report aired by the state TV channel Belarus 1 was seen visiting the occupied Ukrainian region of Luhansk and said that his organization took “an active part” in the transfers. An internal IFRC probe found that the Belarus Red Cross said Shautsou was “found to be solely responsible for the allegations.” It also determined that another organization was responsible for moving children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, and the Belarus Red Cross’ involvement was only within Belarus. It did not specify the other organization. The IFRC spells the name of the secretary-general of Belarus Red Cross as Dmitry Shevtsov. The Belarus Red Cross told The Associated Press on Friday that Shautsou will continue to run the group and that its board gathered on Friday to discuss financials and plans for 2024 “with the current situation taken into account.” Read More Indiana coroner identifies remains of teen girl found buried on land of man charged in her death A Kansas woman died in an apartment fire. Her family blames the 911 dispatch center's mistakes 5 takeaways from AP's Black attorneys general interviews about race, justice and politics Putin orders the Russian military to add 170,000 troops for a total of 1.32 million Man pleads guilty to 2022 firebombing of Wisconsin anti-abortion office Kenyan cult leader sentenced to 18 months for film violations but still not charged over mass graves

Italy was kept at three steps above junk by Scope Ratings, extending Premier Giorgia Meloni’s victory lap after