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☆ His Skull Was Taken From Congo as a War Trophy. Will Belgium Finally Return It?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Monika Pronczuk | Koba Ryckewaert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Once a powerful local Congolese leader, Lusinga Iwa Ng’ombe fought back against Belgian colonial invaders in the late 19th century. He was such a thorn in their side that Émile Storms, who commanded Belgian troops in the region, predicted his head would “eventually end up in Brussels with a little label — it would not be out of place in a museum.”That is exactly what happened. Troops of Mr. Storms killed and decapitated Mr. Lusinga in 1884, and his skull ended up in a box in the Brussels-based Institute for Natural Sciences, along with over 500 human remains taken from former Belgian colonies. His descendants are struggling to have his remains returned, their efforts unfolding against the backdrop of a larger debate about Europe’s responsibility for the colonial atrocities, reparations and restitution of plundered heritage.

Persons: Iwa Ng’ombe, “, Storms, Mr, Lusinga Organizations: Iwa, Belgian, Natural Sciences Locations: Congolese, Belgian, Brussels

☆ Czechs Accuse Men of ‘Russian Influence Operation’ in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Monika Pronczuk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Czech Republic has frozen the assets of two men and a news website it accuses of running an influence operation in Europe that supports “the foreign policy interests of the Russian Federation,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry identified the men as Viktor Medvedchuk, a high-profile, pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and the leader of the effort, and Artem Marchevskyi, a Ukrainian-Israeli citizen who allegedly ran the website, the Czech-registered Voice of Europe. Long known as an ally of the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, Mr. Medvedchuk was arrested in Ukraine and handed over to Russia in a prisoner exchange in 2022. “We cracked down on a Russian influence operation that was directed by Viktor Medvedchuk directly from Russia,” Jan Lipavsky, the Czech foreign minister, said in a statement. “The aim was to spread pro-Russian narratives undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty while infiltrating the European Parliament.”While the Czech authorities refused to provide immediate comment on how expansive the effort was or how richly financed, officials promised further revelations.

Persons: Viktor Medvedchuk, Artem Marchevskyi, Long, Vladimir V, Putin, Medvedchuk, ” Jan Lipavsky Organizations: Russian Federation, Foreign, Europe Locations: Czech Republic, Europe, Russian Ukrainian, Ukrainian, Czech, Ukraine, Russia

The first shipment of aid to reach Gaza by sea in almost two decades was fully unloaded on Saturday on a makeshift jetty in the Mediterranean, marking a milestone in a venture that Western officials hope will ease the enclave’s worsening food deprivation. The ship, the Open Arms, towed a barge from Cyprus loaded with about 200 tons of rice, flour, lentils and canned tuna, beef and chicken, supplied by the World Central Kitchen charity. José Andrés, the Spanish American chef who founded the World Central Kitchen, said his team would begin dispatching the food by truck, including to Gaza’s north, an area gripped by lawlessness and badly damaged by Israeli airstrikes. But the distribution was set to unfold in the shadow of a series of attacks that have killed or wounded Palestinians scrambling for desperately needed food. United Nations aid groups had to largely suspend deliveries in northern Gaza last month, and its human rights office has documented more than two dozen such attacks.

Persons: José Andrés Organizations: United Locations: Gaza, Cyprus, Spanish American, United Nations

A ship hauling more than 200 tons of food for the Gaza Strip left Cyprus on Tuesday morning, in the first test of a maritime corridor designed to bring aid to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who the United Nations says are on the brink of starvation. The United Arab Emirates was providing financing and logistical support for the operation, he said. “We may fail, but the biggest failure will be not trying!” Mr. Andrés said on Tuesday on social media. With no end in sight to the war in Gaza, clashes flared anew along another front, Israel’s northern border, between Israeli forces and the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies, both backed by Iran, and the fighting along the Israel-Lebanon border has raised fears of a wider regional conflict.

Persons: Ursula von der Leyen, José Andrés, “, Andrés Organizations: Gaza, United Nations, United, Hezbollah Locations: Cyprus, United, Gaza, Spanish, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Lebanon, Iran

A day after President Biden announced plans for maritime aid delivery to the Gaza Strip, European leaders said Friday they would deliver aid by ship as early as the weekend. But aid groups and Gaza officials criticized shipments by air or sea as too cumbersome, urging that vastly more food and medicine be supplied by trucks. The complications of delivering aid to the hungry residents of Gaza were underlined on Friday when the authorities in Gaza said at least five Palestinians were killed and several others were wounded after they were struck by packages of humanitarian aid that were dropped from an aircraft. Israel insists on inspecting all supplies going into Gaza, and aid trucks have been allowed in through just two border crossings — one from Egypt and one from Israel — in southern Gaza. President Biden on Thursday night outlined a U.S. military plan to build a floating pier on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to supply food, water, medicine and other necessities to civilians, saying the operation would “enable a massive increase” in the assistance entering the territory.

Persons: Biden, Israel Organizations: United Nations Locations: Gaza, Egypt, Israel, U.S

☆ U.N. Aid Agency Researchers Allege Abuse of Gazans in Israeli Detention
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( Monika Pronczuk | Patrick Kingsley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An unpublished investigation by the main United Nations agency for Palestinian affairs accuses Israel of abusing hundreds of Gazans captured during the war with Hamas, according to a copy of the report reviewed by The New York Times. The authors of the report allege that the detainees, including at least 1,000 civilians later released without charge, were held at three military sites inside Israel. The report said the detainees included males and females whose ages ranged from 6 to 82. Some, the report said, died in detention. The document includes accounts from detainees who said they were beaten, stripped, robbed, blindfolded, sexually abused and denied access to lawyers and doctors, often for more than a month.

Persons: Israel, Gazans Organizations: United Nations, The New York Times, UNRWA Locations: Israel

☆ Watchdog Finds E.U. Border Agency Too Weak to Prevent Migrant Disasters at Sea
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Monika Pronczuk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Eight months after hundreds of migrants died in a capsizing on the Mediterranean, investigators said Wednesday that the European Union’s border agency lacks the ability to prevent future maritime disasters. watchdog office into the border agency, Frontex, was prompted by the deaths of more than 600 men, women and children who drowned off the coast of Greece last June under the eyes of dozens of officials and coast guard crews. “Frontex includes ‘coast guard’ in its name, but its current mandate and mission clearly fall short of that,” the head of the E.U. watchdog agency, Emily O’Reilly, said on Wednesday. “If Frontex has a duty to help save lives at sea, but the tools for it are lacking, then this is clearly a matter for E.U.

Persons: Emily O’Reilly, Frontex, Adriana Organizations: ”, Hellenic Coast Guard Locations: Greece, ‘

☆ Hungary and E.U. Lock Horns, This Time Over Foreign-Interference Law
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | Monika Pronczuk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just days after a major showdown between the European Union and Hungary over aid to Ukraine, the European Commission on Wednesday announced it was opening a new disciplinary procedure against the Hungarian government over a recently passed piece of legislation that focuses on activities by foreigners deemed subversive. The move comes on top of several other open disciplinary procedures against Hungary that the European Commission, the E.U. executive branch, has been pursuing against the government of the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban. Mr. Orban has long denounced the battles with Brussels, which he says pits a “woke globalist Goliath” against Hungary’s “David.” He has maintained that the European Union is out to punish him for pursuing a Christian conservative agenda, which he says is in line with the wishes of the Hungarian people. The action by the commission centers on recently passed legislation in Hungary that seeks to punish interactions between Hungarian individuals or organizations, and foreigners or foreign groups that a newly created Office for the Defense of Sovereignty deems subversive.

Persons: Viktor Orban, Mr, Orban, globalist Goliath, Hungary’s “ David, ” Organizations: European Union, European Commission, Wednesday, European, Defense, Sovereignty Locations: Hungary, Ukraine, Hungarian, Brussels

☆ Hungary Is Blocking E.U. Money for Ukraine. Here’s What You Need to Know.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | Monika Pronczuk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The European Union’s leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday to try and strike a deal with Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, who is blocking a multibillion euro fund aimed at securing Ukraine’s financing for the next few years. Talks are gridlocked and the mood toward Mr. Orban is negative, with European leaders, unusually united against one of their peers, fed up with his stance on Ukraine and his anti-E.U. A 50-billion euro ($54 billion) fund to support Ukraine through to the end of 2027. Ukraine is facing one of is most difficult moments since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly two years ago, with U.S. aid held up and virtually no progress on the battlefield. aid, to be dispensed in the form of loans and grants over the next four years, would both cover immediate needs and allow Ukraine to plan its long-term budget.

Persons: Viktor Orban of Hungary, Orban, What’s Organizations: European Locations: Brussels, Ukraine, Kyiv

☆ What to Know About the U.N. Aid Agency for Palestinians
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Monika Pronczuk | Richard Pérez-Peña | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The U.N. agency that provides aid to Palestinians has been a vital lifeline in the Gaza Strip for generations — and it was a point of contention with Israel long before some of the agency’s employees were accused of involvement in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 assault on Israel. The allegation, made by Israel, is a serious blow to the reputation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, generally known as UNRWA. The claim was acted on by both the United Nations, which said on Friday that it had fired the accused workers and was investigating, and the United States, which said it was suspending some funding for the agency. The agency looms especially large in Gaza, where most of the population of more than two million people are registered as refugees. Gaza has been under a longstanding Israeli blockade, and Hamas — considered a terrorist group by much of the world — wields control.

Persons: Here’s, — Organizations: Israel, United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, United Nations, UNRWA, West Bank, Palestinian Authority Locations: Gaza, Israel, United States, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria

European foreign ministers pressed their Israeli counterpart on Monday to agree to the creation of a Palestinian state, in a meeting that left European diplomats bewildered about postwar Israeli plans for the Gaza Strip and reinforced the deep disconnect between Israel and much of the world. The two sides appeared to be having two different conversations. Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union’s top diplomat, said after the meeting in Brussels that European nations were resolute that “sustainable, lasting peace” must include Palestinian statehood, an option that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has doubled down on opposing in recent days. Israel’s foreign minister, Yisrael Katz, presented to the Europeans a plan involving an artificial island off Gaza’s coast — a plan that did not address the future governance of the territory, according to officials in the meeting. While the diplomats talked past each other, heavy fighting intensified in southern Gaza on Monday, with medical personnel reporting major exchanges of gunfire and a surge of Israeli tanks and troops into areas around hospitals.

Persons: Josep Borrell Fontelles, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Yisrael Katz Organizations: Gaza Locations: Palestinian, Israel, Brussels, Gaza

Crowded together with 90 other migrants on a rickety fishing vessel bound for Spain, Moustapha Diouf watched 10 of them die, one by one, from heat and exhaustion. Worried about health risks posed by the corpses, Mr. Diouf had to throw the bodies overboard. Five were friends. “If we don’t do anything, we become accomplices in their deaths,” said Mr. Diouf, 54, sitting in a dusty office of the nonprofit he co-founded, empty but for one desk and a couple of chairs. “I will fight every day to stop young people from leaving.”

Persons: Moustapha Diouf, Diouf, ”, Mr, “ Locations: Spain, Europe

Liberia’s president, George Weah, conceded defeat on Friday night in his bid for a second term, after a tight runoff against Joseph Boakai, a 78-year-old political veteran, in an election that was considered a test of democracy in the West African nation. Mr. Boakai, who had served as vice president for 12 years under the former president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, defeated Mr. Weah, a 57-year-old former soccer star, by a razor-thin margin. The country’s national election commission stopped short of declaring a winner on Friday afternoon, but announced that with more than 99 percent of the ballots counted, Mr. Boakai held 50.89 percent of the votes, and Mr. Weah 49.11 percent. It was the nation’s tightest election in two decades, and a rematch of the election in 2017, when Mr. Weah handily beat Mr. Boakai. Mr. Weah said in a radio address broadcast late on Friday evening that while his party had lost the election, “Liberia has won.”

Persons: George Weah, Joseph Boakai, Boakai, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Weah, ” Organizations: “ Locations: West African, “ Liberia

☆ Ukraine Gets an Encouraging Sign in Its Bid to Join the E.U.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Monika Pronczuk | More About Monika Pronczuk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The European Union’s executive arm recommended on Wednesday that the bloc open membership talks with Ukraine, an encouraging step for the government in Kyiv in what remains a long and arduous joining process. The recommendation from the executive, the European Commission, comes with the caveat that Ukraine must take steps to address corruption, protect minorities and limit the power of oligarchs. The final decision on opening the talks rests with the leaders of the 27 E.U. member nations, and they are expected to discuss the question at a summit meeting next month, potentially clearing the way for the start of detailed negotiations. Such a move would represent a strong political signal about the European Union’s support for Ukraine, which is battling to maintain backing from its allies in the face of a stagnating counteroffensive against Russia while much of the world’s attention turns to Israel’s war with Hamas.

Organizations: European Commission, Ukraine Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Russia

Aid convoy trucks waiting at the Rafah border crossing to enter Gaza from Egypt on Thursday. As Gaza grapples with an escalating humanitarian crisis, the prospect of getting aid through the closed Rafah border crossing with Egypt has taken on particular urgency. Hopes are high that the aid trucks would be able to cross into Gaza on Friday, according to European Union officials coordinating aid from the bloc. The American, U.N. and Egyptian officials are discussing who would carry out those cargo inspections, a person directly familiar with the matter said, requesting anonymity to speak about the delicate negotiations. “All of Gaza is waiting for the aid,” Wael Abu Omar, the spokesman for Hamas’s interior ministry, said Thursday.

Persons: Biden, Israel, ”, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “, António Guterres, Martin Griffiths, Samar Abu Elouf, Wael Abu Omar, Israel readies, Abood, Okal, ” Iyad Abuheweila, Yazbek Organizations: Diplomats, European Union, World Health Organization, International Committee, The New York Times, Palestinian Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Egypt, Israel, Arish, Palestine, Cairo, U.S, Samar, E.U, Palestinian American, Jerusalem

On one side of the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza sit more than 100 trucks packed with desperately needed food, water and medical supplies. On the other wait more than 2 million Gazans now scraping by on dwindling stocks of basic human necessities. Officials and aid workers on Thursday were hammering out the logistics of opening the gates, saying that a U.N.-led deal had laid the groundwork to allow trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter Gaza from Egypt, offering the renewed promise of relief to the besieged enclave. Aid organizations were told that the crossing would open on Friday morning, according to an aid official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The deal, officials said, includes the U.N. flag being raised at the crossing and international observers inspecting aid trucks before they enter Gaza.

Persons: Egypt — Organizations: Israel, Hamas Locations: Egypt, Gaza, Gazan, Rafah

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who heeded the Israeli military’s order to evacuate portions of the Gaza Strip are confronting deadly airstrikes from Israeli warplanes even after they’ve moved. And a grim question hung over the enclave on Tuesday: Was there anywhere safe to go? Last week, after the deadly Oct. 7 cross-border attacks by Hamas, Israel ordered all of Gaza’s northern residents — some 1.1 million people — to abandon their homes ahead of an expected ground invasion of the strip and to head south. Hundreds of thousands obeyed, leaving by car, motorcycle and even on foot. He added that southern Gaza was relatively safer than the north, but not entirely safe.

Persons: they’ve, Israel, Khan Younis, Nir Locations: Gaza, Rafah

An aerial view of a music festival that was the site of a Hamas attack. “At the moment I am in Gaza,” Ms. Schem says in a solemn, clipped voice. Ms. Schem’s mother, Keren Schem, said last week that she had last spoken to her on Oct. 6, the day before the attack. “She called me to say she was going to a party down south,” Keren Schem said. Keren Schem said one person who was at the show described having seen her daughter walking toward a kibbutz nearby.

Persons: Mia Schem, —, Schem, “, Ms, ”, Shem, Schem’s, Keren Schem, ” Keren Schem, Keren Schem’s, Mia, Nadav Gavrielov Organizations: Hamas, The New York Times Locations: Gaza, Israel, Tel Aviv

Days after hundreds of Hamas terrorists from Gaza rampaged through border towns in a surprise assault that killed at least 1,400 Israelis, the region is bracing for further conflict. In response to the shocking incursion, Israel has been pummeling the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, and the Palestinian Health Ministry has said that more than 2,800 Palestinians have been killed. Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists and troops are now massing at the border, leading to speculation that Israel will soon launch a ground offensive. In a region with a long history of conflict, fighting along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon escalated. And Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group, announced that it had targeted four separate Israeli locations.

Organizations: Palestinian Health Ministry, United Locations: Gaza, Israel, United Nations, Lebanon, Lebanese

He calls for a return of the Russian Empire, and has repeatedly denied the existence of a Ukrainian identity. Mr. Malofeyev has been cut off from most Western financial systems since 2014, when the Treasury Department and other international regulators accused him of financing Russian proxy forces inside Ukraine. Mr. Malofeyev, though, has continued to use his charity, the St. Basil the Great Foundation, to raise money for orphanages in the Russian-occupied Donbas and Zaporizhzhia regions. In an interview, Mr. Malofeyev said he did not know whether those orphanages hosted Ukrainian children who had been forcibly relocated, but said the resettlement effort had been unfairly demonized.

Persons: Konstantin Malofeyev, Malofeyev, Basil the Organizations: Hague, Treasury Department, Basil the Great Foundation Locations: Russian, Russia, Ukraine

She is too young to quit and too old to uproot her life, she said, and the authorities have not provided enough support and information on how to change what she now does. Although only nine million out of almost 400 million voters in Europe work in agriculture, they are a vocal and influential bloc that attracts the sympathy of many on a continent where a nation’s identity is often tied to the food it produces. A host of new groups are vying to displace traditional parties. They include the Farmer Citizen Movement, known by its Dutch acronym BBB, which was established four years ago. The party has just one seat in the 150-member Dutch House of Representatives, but it swept regional elections in March, and polls predict it will do well in national elections in November.

Persons: ”, Breunissen Organizations: Political, Farmer Citizen Movement, Dutch, of Locations: Europe

The United States and Europe have wrestled for months with the question of how to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction from the war. As Russia pounds cities, factories and infrastructure in Ukraine, the estimated costs have swelled to $500 billion, with some experts citing numbers as high as $1 trillion. One solution seemed brilliant in its simplicity: What better way to foot the bill, and to make a moral point, than to make Russia pay? Experts warn that it would likely violate international law and potentially set a dangerous precedent for countries to take the assets of others. The money once seemed easily within reach — since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Western nations have frozen more than $330 billion in Russian Central Bank assets held abroad.

Organizations: Russian Central Bank Locations: States, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, —

☆ 8 Men Are Convicted in 2016 Terrorist Bombings in Brussels
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Monika Pronczuk | More About Monika Pronczuk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Eight men were found guilty on Tuesday of having organized a series of bombings in Brussels in March 2016 that amounted to the deadliest terrorist assault in Belgium’s history. The verdict capped an eight-month trial, the largest ever organized in Belgium, with testimony from almost 1,000 registered survivors, witnesses and experts. Eight of the men standing trial were charged with murder and attempted murder in a terrorist context, and one was charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group. The jury, composed of Brussels residents of all ages and skin colors, pronounced six men guilty of murder and attempted murder. Two were acquitted on the murder charges, but were found guilty of participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

Persons: —, Ibrahim Farisi, Smail Farisi Locations: Brussels, Paris, Belgium, Europe

☆ As Russia Strikes on Ukraine's Ports, White House Warns Ships May Be Next
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Safak Timur | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

Russia’s moves have profound implications for the export of Ukraine’s grain, a commodity vital for its own economy and world grain markets. How have Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian ports affected the situation? Since Monday’s announcement, Russia has launched a series of nightly aerial attacks on Ukrainian ports, killing and wounding civilians. Six nations have a Black Sea coastline and it is a main conduit for Russia’s grain exports. Last summer, the European Union took steps to smooth a path for Ukraine’s overland grain exports, given the Russian Black Sea blockade.

Persons: Sal Gilbertie, Oleksandr Gimanov, Volodymyr Zelensky, António Guterres, Chris Mcgrath, Vladimir V, Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Reni, Benoît Fayaud, Arif Husain, ”, Maciek, Mateusz Morawiecki, ” Monika Pronczuk Organizations: Ministry of Defense, Initiative, World Food, ., Agence France, United Nations, Getty, Strategie, European Union, The New York Times Ministers Locations: Kushuhum, Ukraine’s, Zaporizhzhia, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, U.S, Chornomorsk, Odesa, Turkey, Istanbul, China, Poland, Izmail, Romanian, Constanta, Russian, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia

☆ In a Bid to Curb Migrants, Europe Strikes a Deal With Tunisia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Monika Pronczuk | More About Monika Pronczuk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS — The European Union has struck a deal with Tunisia to try to stem the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, amid heated debate over the fallout of the bloc’s migration policies, including a shipwreck last month that was the deadliest in years. will provide a broad package of support for the North African country’s embattled economy. Tunis, the capital, is a major port city less than 130 nautical miles from the Italian island of Sicily, and even closer to smaller Italian islands. That makes Tunisia not just a source of migrants itself but also a major transit stop for sub-Saharan Africans who are trying to reach Europe. Tunisian authorities have come under fire for alleged rights abuses of sub-Saharan migrants, including rounding up hundreds of them and abandoning them at the desert border with Libya with no food or water.

Organizations: The European Locations: BRUSSELS, Tunisia, Europe, African, Tunis, Sicily, Libya

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