Ukraine is set to receive close to €4.2 billion in funds after the Council greenlighted the first regular payment of grants and loans under the EU’s Ukraine Facility, to support Ukraine’s macro-financial stability and the functioning of its public administration, EU Council press office reports. In a decision adopted today, the Council concluded that…
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed by the national security team on developments in the Middle East on Monday (5 Aug). From the White House Press Office: Today, President Biden and Vice President Harris were briefed by the national security team on developments in the Middle East. The…
Russia supports the process of normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stated Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu during a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Shoigu emphasized the successful development of Moscow and Baku’s relations in the fields of regional security, military-technical cooperation, transportation, and economy. Aliyev noted that the relations between…
Reuters. Bulgaria’s small There Is Such a People (ITN) party returned the mandate to form a government to President Rumen Radev on Monday (August 5) after failing to build a stable coalition, putting the country on course for its seventh legislative election in three years. ITN, which came sixth in an inconclusive June 8…
Reuters. Protesting students in Bangladesh have called for a march to the capital Dhaka on Monday (August 5) in defiance of a nationwide curfew to press Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and leave the country, a day after deadly clashes in the South Asian country killed nearly 100 people. At least 91 people…
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke today with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, Pentagon press service reports. Austin reiterated “ironclad U.S. support for Israel’s security and right to self-defense against threats from Iran, Lebanese Hizballah, Houthis, and other Iranian-backed terrorist groups, the press handout said. They discussed U.S. force posture…
Reuters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday (August 4) blamed Hamas for a long-stalled deal to end the war in Gaza and release Israeli hostages, more than 300 days after it began with an attack on Israeli border communities on Oct. 7. Speaking at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem,…
US Vice-President Kamala Harris said she is going to accept the nomination to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States next week. “I am honored to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. I will officially accept the nomination next week. This campaign is about people coming…
Nicolas Maduro criticizes White House chief diplomat Antony Blinken for backing opposition allegations of fraud, after the U.S. official said in a statement that there was “overwhelming evidence” of a victory by opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia in the presidential elections, AFP reports. Venezuelan authorities on Friday ratified Nicolas Maduro’s election victory as a…
Vice President Kamala Harris has won enough votes from Democratic delegates to win the party’s nomination for president, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison announced Friday, CNN reports. Harris will become the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead a major-party ticket. The announcement came during a virtual event with supporters…
Baku expects an apology from Paris for the “unacceptable expressions” made on the France-2 TV channel, said Aykhan Hajizada press secretary of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. He said that the International Olympic Committee has already responded to Azerbaijan’s official letter of protest and apologized. Hajizada noted that a campaign of slander is being…
The European Union (EU) is considering the possibility of suspending its assistance to Georgia amid the entry of the law “on transparency of foreign influence” into force in the country. This was stated by Peter Stano, Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Commission of the EU, in an interview with…
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday appointed former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as vice president for strategic affairs and head of the Center for Strategic Studies, the official news agency IRNA reported. Pezeshkian made the appointment in a decree after taking oath of office before the Iranian parliament on Tuesday, the report said….
Turkey on Friday blocked access to the Instagram social media network, the national communications authority said without explanation, following censorship accusations against the US company by a high-ranking Turkish official, AFP reports. The BTK communications authority said in a post on its website that “instagram.com has been blocked by a decision on the date…
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission for the 1 September early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, following an official invitation from the national authorities, OSCE reports. The mission is headed by Ditmir Bushati and consists of a core team of 11 international experts based in…
The Israeli military said Thursday that it has confirmed that the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July. The announcement comes a day after an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital killed Hamas’ top political leader, AP reports. The rapid events this week have…
The White House said on Wednesday (July 31) it does not see an escalation of conflict as inevitable following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and the U.S. is still working to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Speaking at a daily briefing, White House national security spokesperson John…
Reuters. Aerial video footage on Tuesday (July 30) showed the scene of a knife attack in north west England that left two children dead, and six others critically injured. A 17-year-old male is in police custody on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after the incident at the “Taylor Swift yoga and dance workshop”…
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has voiced Tehran’s readiness to promote relations with France based on honesty and trust, IRNA reports. Pezeshkian who was answering a phone call from his French counterpart Emanuel Macron on Monday, expressed serious concern over tightened tensions in southern Lebanese borders with the Zionist regime, warning about the repercussions of…
A fire that broke out at German chemicals giant BASF’s (BASFn.DE), opens new tab plant in Ludwigshafen has been extinguished, a company spokesperson and police said on Monday, Reuters reports. Fourteen workers sustained minor injuries in the incident, which occurred when an explosion set off a blaze in a southern section of the company’s…
There are no grounds for a deterioration of relations between the West and Georgia. Such a statement made the Mayor of Tbilisi. He commented on the scheduled hearing at the US on relations with Georgia following the adoption of the Law on Transparency, Rustavi 2 reports. “I would like to emphasise once again that…
Israeli drone attacks have reportedly killed two people in southern Lebanon as conflict spirals between the bordering states, Al Jazeera reports. The Israeli attack was the first lethal action following a rocket attack on Saturday that Israel says killed 12 children and youths in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The strike has increased concern that…
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski expressed doubt about Hungary’s membership in the EU and NATO after controversial remarks by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s about Poland, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported on July 28. Giving a speech at the Tuscanos Summer University on July 27, Orban had criticized Poland’s “hypocrisy,” as…
Ukrainian diplomats in the United States are working to increase the extent of F-16 fighter pilot training and training of aircraft maintenance personnel, Ukrinform reports. Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, announced this on Ukrainian television, commenting on what might be transferred to Ukraine shortly from the military aid package announced by…
Hungary borrowed €1 billion — the largest loan ever taken out by Budapest — from three Chinese banks this spring, data from the government’s debt agency website revealed, Politico reports. The loan, provided by the China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China and the Hungarian branch of the Bank of China, was fully…
California’s largest active fire exploded in size on Friday evening, growing rapidly amid bone-dry fuel and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to meet the danger, AP reports. The Park Fire’s intensity and dramatic spread led fire officials to make unwelcome comparisons to the monstrous Camp Fire, which burned out of control in…
“Belgium welcomes the Council’s decision to support Armenia through the European Peace Facility.” It was mentioned in the X microblog of the Belgian MFA.
The Council appointed Magdalena Grono as EUSR for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia. Ms Grono succeeds Toivo Klaar whose tenure of over 6 years comes to an end on 31 August. She will take up her duties on 1 September 2024 for an initial period of 12 months. As new EUSR,…
Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Army General Dmitry Bulgakov who was in charge of troop logistics support has been apprehended on corruption charges and taken into Moscow’s Lefortovo pretrial detention facility, the press office of the Federal Security Service (FSB) told TASS on Friday. “The Federal Security Service jointly with the Interior Ministry and…
Vice President Kamala Harris met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (July 25) in her ceremonial office at the White House, Reuters reports. The meeting will be closely watched for signs of how Harris, who was the first top U.S. official to call for a ceasefire, could shift American policy toward Israel if…
