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☆ Poland, Czech Republic extend border controls with Slovakia
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Polish soldiers guard along a temporary checkpoint at the Slovakia-Poland border, as seen from the village Skalite, Slovakia, October 4, 2023. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWARSAW, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Poland and the Czech Republic will extend temporary controls on their borders with Slovakia into November as countries seek to restrict the flow of illegal migrants. The Polish government has decided to extend the controls by 20 days to Nov. 2, the interior ministry said in a statement. On Wednesday, Slovakia extended its own border controls with Hungary until Nov. 3. Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Germany are all part of the EU's Schengen open-border zone.

Persons: Radovan Stoklasa, Mariusz Kaminski, Kaminski, Slovakia's, Anna Wlodarczak, Jason Hovet, Deborah Kyvrikosaios, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Union, Justice, Thomson Locations: Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Czech, Austria, East, Afghanistan, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, EU, Europe, Warsaw, Prague

[1/3] Dmitry Muratov, editor of the now-banned independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, stands in a courtroom before a hearing of the case of Russian veteran human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov, accused of discrediting Russia's armed forces, in Moscow, Russia October 11, 2023. Orlov, 70, was defending himself in a case based on a November 2022 article in which he wrote that Russia under President Vladimir Putin had descended into fascism. "Where is it defined that our commander-in-chief (Putin) always rightly understands not only the interests of Russia, but the interests of its citizens?" Orlov asked in his closing speech at a trial which began in June. "And if the ideas of a part of Russia's citizens about their own interests don't match those of the commander-in-chief, don't they have the right to talk about this?"

Persons: Dmitry Muratov, Oleg Orlov, Russia's, Evgenia, Orlov, acquit, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Alexei Navalny, Gareth Jones Organizations: Novaya Gazeta, REUTERS, Memorial, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Poland set for high-stakes election amid disputes over EU, democracy
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Alan Charlish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Donald Tusk, the leader of the largest opposition grouping Civic Coalition (KO), walks towards an election convention in Lodz, Poland, October 10, 2023. "I know... that they are planning systematically, in cold blood, to take Poland out of the European Union," Donald Tusk, leader of the largest opposition grouping Civic Coalition (KO) told supporters. He repeated these words very often," PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski told a campaign rally, hammering home his party's message that Tusk is a German stooge. The KO leader said he would unblock billions in funds withheld by the EU over rule-of-law concerns on day one after winning the election. Opinion polls suggest that PiS will remain the largest party in parliament but may fall short of a majority.

Persons: Donald Tusk, Kacper, PiS, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Tusk, Andrzej Duda, Szymon Holownia, Alan Charlish, Jan Strupczewski, Gareth Jones Organizations: Civic Coalition, REUTERS, Sunday, Ukraine WARSAW, European Union, Law and Justice, European, PiS, NATO, Confederation, Thomson Locations: Lodz, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, German, European, Belarus, Warsaw, Brussels

☆ Putin says U.S. is inflaming Middle East by sending aircraft carrier group
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the plenary session at the 2023 Russian Energy Week international forum at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall in Moscow, Russia October 11, 2023. Sputnik/Kristina Kormilitsyna/Kremlin via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Wednesday of inflaming the Middle East by sending an aircraft carrier group to the region, saying "compromise solutions" were needed and that he hoped common sense would prevail. "I don't understand why the U.S. is dragging aircraft carrier groups into the Mediterranean Sea. "Of course, it will not affect (energy) production, but it could affect all other components that determine the state of the world's energy markets." Reporting by Reuters Writing by Andrew Osborn Editing by Gareth Jones and Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Kristina Kormilitsyna, Lloyd Austin, Gerald R, Ford, Putin, Tayyip Erdogan, Washington, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones, Toby Chopra Organizations: Energy, Exhibition Hall, Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Kremlin, Saturday, . Defense, West, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, United States, Israel, U.S, Lebanon, Ukraine, Iran, Tehran, Palestinian

☆ Putin's Spy Master Says Issue of Ukraine Support Turning 'Toxic' in US
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign intelligence chief said on Wednesday that the issue of support for Ukraine was becoming toxic in the United States and that the divisions would deepen ahead of next year's U.S. presidential election. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, the United States and the European Union have made more than $160 billion in commitments to Ukraine, including tens of billions of dollars in weapons. Republican lawmakers' ouster of House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy has raised questions about the future of aid to Ukraine. The United States has also repeatedly urged Kyiv to do more to tackle corruption, CNN reported this month. Naryshkin, who has served as Russia's foreign spy chief since October 2016, said the ouster of McCarthy illustrated the "malignancy" of the Ukraine issue in the U.S. body politic.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Sergei Naryshkin, Naryshkin, Putin, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: European Union, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Diplomats, Republican, United, CNN Locations: MOSCOW, Ukraine, United States, Russia, Baku, Washington, Kyiv, U.S, Western, Moscow

☆ Kremlin says damage to Baltic pipeline is 'disturbing', mentions Nord Stream attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ELERING/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Oct 11 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Wednesday described news of damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland as disturbing and said that the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline last year was a dangerous precedent. The damage to the gas pipeline was believed to have taken place in Finnish waters, while the telecoms cable breach was in Estonian waters, Finnish authorities said. Peskov added that there had been dangerous precedents in the Baltic - blasts on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 that Moscow blames on the United States and Britain. It is still a mystery who was behind the attack on Nord Stream. The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines have a joint annual capacity of 110 billion cubic metres - more than half of Russia's normal gas export volumes.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Seymour Hersh, Joe Biden, Hersh's, Gareth Jones, Emelia Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Wednesday, The Washington Post, The New York Times, U.S . Central Intelligence Agency, Ukraine, White, Nord, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Paldiski, Estonia, Handout, Finland, Nord, Baltic, Estonian, Moscow, United States, Britain . Washington, London, Norway, Russia, Germany

☆ Iran's Khamenei says Tehran was not behind Hamas attack on Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reviews armed forces during a graduation ceremony for armed forces officers at the Imam Ali academy in Tehran, Iran October 10, 2023. "We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime," said Khamenei, who was wearing a Palestinian scarf, in his first televised speech since the attack. "This destructive earthquake (Hamas' attack) has destroyed some critical structures (in Israel) which will not be repaired easily ... Israel has long accused Iran's clerical rulers of stoking violence by supplying arms to Hamas. Israeli TV channels said the death toll from the Hamas attack had climbed to 900, with at least 2,600 injured.

Persons: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali, Khamenei, Israel, Parisa Hafezi, Andrew Heavens, Gareth Jones, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Iranian, West Asia News Agency, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Hamas, Zionist, United, Iran, Monday, Gaza's Health, Thomson Locations: Tehran, Iran, Rights DUBAI, Israel, Gaza, Islamic Republic, United States, Israeli, Dubai

The passage of people and goods is strictly controlled under a blockade of Gaza enforced by Egypt and Israel. Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military revised a recommendation by one of its spokespeople that Palestinians fleeing its air strikes in Gaza head to Egypt. Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry said bombardments on both Monday and Tuesday had hit an entry gate on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing. On Monday, about 800 people left Gaza through the Rafah crossing and about 500 people entered, though the crossing was closed for the movement of goods, according to the United Nations humanitarian office. So far, there has been no sign of mass gatherings of Palestinians at the Rafah crossing, with only planned departures proceeding until Tuesday.

Persons: Abu Mustafa, Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Gaza's, Sinai's, Sinai, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Yusri Mohamed, Nidal, Nadine Awadalla, Ahmed Eliman, Aidan Lewis, Alison Williams, Gareth Jones, Susan Fenton, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Hamas, Gaza's Hamas, Ministry, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Egypt, Israel, CAIRO, GAZA, Tuesday, Sinai, Gaza's, Palestinian, Sinai's, Al Arish

An employee counts Russian 1000-rouble banknotes in a bank office in Moscow, Russia, in this illustration picture taken October 9, 2023. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Illustration/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 10 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble dived towards a more than an 18-month low on Tuesday before paring most losses in a volatile session, under pressure from domestic demand for foreign currency and a drop in oil prices. By 1034 GMT, the rouble was 0.3% weaker against the dollar at 99.63 . It had lost 0.8% to trade at 105.55 versus the euro and shed 0.4% against the yuan to 13.64 . "The bank may show a record profit of 1.5 trillion roubles for the year."

Persons: Maxim Shemetov, Sber, Yevgeny Kogan, Alexander Marrow, Ed Osmond, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Bank of Russia, Russia's Higher, of Economics, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Russian, Brent

[1/4] A Palestinian on a wheelchair passes by ruins of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip October 9, 2023. On Tuesday, the Israeli military revised a recommendation by one of its spokespeople that Palestinians fleeing its air strikes in Gaza head to Egypt. Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry said bombardments on both Monday and Tuesday had hit an entry gate on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing. So far, there has been no sign of mass gatherings of Palestinians at the Rafah crossing, with only scheduled departures proceeding until Tuesday. Hamas, which has run the Gaza Strip since 2007, shares the Islamist ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement outlawed in Egypt.

Persons: Abu Mustafa, Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Ahmed Salem, Gaza's, Sinai's, Sinai, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Yusri Mohamed, Nidal, Nadine Awadalla, Ahmed Eliman, Aidan Lewis, Mai Shams, Alison Williams, Gareth Jones, Susan Fenton, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Sinai Foundation, Human Rights, Hamas, Gaza's Hamas, Ministry, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Egypt, Israel, CAIRO, GAZA, Tuesday, Sinai, Sinai ., Gaza's, Palestinian, Sinai's, Al Arish, Hamas

Britain's Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer addresses the start of the National Annual Women's Conference, ahead of the start of Britain's Labour Party annual conference, in Liverpool, Britain, October 7, 2023. REUTERS/Phil Noble Acquire Licensing RightsLIVERPOOL, England, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Labour leader Keir Starmer will appeal directly to British voters on Tuesday, saying his revamped opposition party is best placed to boost economic growth and offer the country the hope that "things will be better for your children". Aides say Starmer knows he must try to convey a sense of reassurance that Labour can get to work on fixing a multitude of problems from poor public services to sluggish growth. "What is broken can be repaired, what is ruined can be rebuilt," he will tell hundreds of the party faithful at the conference in the northern English city of Liverpool. "We have to be a government that takes care of the big questions so working people have the freedom to enjoy what they love," he will say.

Persons: Keir Starmer, Phil Noble, Starmer, Jeremy Corbyn, Elizabeth Piper, Gareth Jones 私 Organizations: Britain's Labour, Britain's Labour Party, REUTERS, Rights, Labour, Health Service Locations: Liverpool, Britain, Rights LIVERPOOL, England, English, Scotland

Summary Russia moving fast to de-ratify nuclear test ban treatyAccuses US of nuclear testing site activitySays it won't test itself unless Washington doesSays it will keep sharing monitoring dataOct 10 (Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Tuesday of carrying out preparatory work at a nuclear testing site in Nevada but said that Moscow would not restart its own nuclear testing programme unless Washington did. A nuclear test by the United States or Russia could encourage others such as China to follow suit, starting a new nuclear arms race between the big powers, which stopped nuclear testing in the years after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. The United States last tested in 1992 and the Soviet Union in 1990. Ryabkov's comments also came days after President Vladimir Putin held out the possibility of resuming nuclear testing. Ryabkov was cited by Russian news agencies as saying that Russia felt it had no choice but to align itself with Washington's nuclear testing stance.

Persons: Sergei Ryabkov, Ryabkov, Vladimir Putin, Putin, We're, Robert Floyd, Andrew Osborn, Alexander Marrow, Gareth Jones Organizations: Washington, TASS, United, Russian Federation, West, Comprehensive, Treaty Organization, Thomson Locations: Russia, United States, Nevada, Moscow, China, Soviet, Soviet Union, Russian, Washington, Ukraine

☆ Two top Polish army commanders quit 5 days ahead of election
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Polish President Andrzej Duda and Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces General Rajmund Andrzejczak attend the military parade on Armed Forces Day, celebrated annually on August 15 to commemorate Poland's victory over the Soviet Union's Red Army in 1920, in Warsaw, Poland, August 15, 2023. REUTERS/Kacper... Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreWARSAW, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Two top Polish army commanders resigned on Tuesday, spokespeople said, days before an election in which the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has made national security a key issue in its bid for an unprecedented third term in power. On Tuesday, the armed forces operational commander, Lieutenant General Tomasz Piotrowski, and the chief of staff, General Rajmund Andrzejczak, submitted their resignations, spokespeople for the respective services confirmed to Reuters. National Security Bureau chief Jacek Siewiera said the president had accepted their resignations and new commanders would be appointed later in the day. "(It is) a complete disgrace for Minister Blaszczak, who has long crossed over the line into using the Polish army in a partisan way," Tomasz Siemoniak, a former defence minister from the opposition Civic Platform, wrote on social media platform X.

Persons: Andrzej Duda, Rajmund Andrzejczak, spokespeople, Mariusz Blaszczak, Tomasz Piotrowski, General Rajmund Andrzejczak, Jacek Siewiera, Blaszczak, Tomasz Siemoniak, Donald Tusk, Karol Badohal, Pawel Florkiewicz, Anna Wlodarczak, Gareth Jones, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Staff, Polish Armed Forces, Armed Forces, Soviet Union's Red Army, REUTERS, Justice, Defence, Reuters, National Security Bureau, Rzeczpospolita, Thomson Locations: Warsaw, Poland, WARSAW, Russian, Ukraine, Belarus, Moscow

REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsOct 9 (Reuters) - The rouble rebounded after slumping to a more than 18-month low against the dollar on Monday in a volatile session, still hampered by reduced foreign currency supply but eventually latching on to higher oil prices to gain ground. By 1500 GMT, the rouble was 0.7% stronger against the dollar at 99.75 , recovering from hitting 102.3450 earlier, its weakest point since March 23, 2022. The Russian currency tumbled to a record low 121.5275 in the weeks after Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The rouble had gained 0.5% to trade at 105.24 versus the euro and firmed 0.6% against the yuan to 13.64 . The rouble-based MOEX Russian index (.IMOEX) was 0.9% higher at 3,172.2 points, earlier reaching a near one-month high.

Persons: Maxim Shemetov, rouble, Alexei Antonov, Alexander Marrow, Angus MacSwan, Mark Potter, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Bank of Russia, Reuters, Brent, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Russian and Iranian emigres find haven in old Armenian factory
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Roman Churikov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Launched in 2022, the project is called Abastan - "shelter" in Armenian - and is open to participants and guests from around the world. Polina Ivanova, a co-founder of Abastan, said locals in the northern Armenian town of Tumanyan were at first bemused by the strangers in their midst. Arghavan Majd, a painter from Iran, said she found the atmosphere "more free" in Abastan and it was easier to make personal connections. Timofey Moskovkin, a Russian now working in a cafe funded by the charity, said local people in Tumanyan, a town of about 1,000 people, had treated him warmly. "We looked and saw the lights were on, it was beautiful, there was music and young people dancing," he said.

Persons: Polina Ivanova, Abastan, Majd, Mahsa Amini, Vladimir Putin, haven't, Danil, Timofey, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones 私 Organizations: Armenia Locals, Reuters, Georgian Locations: Russia, Iran, Ukraine, Tumanyan, Armenia, Soviet, revitalise, Abastan, Russian, Perm, Ararat, Soviet Union

☆ Italy's rising bond yields are a wake-up call, central bank warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Bank of Italy building is seen downtown Milan, November 25, 2011. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSummary Italy's bond spread versus Germany's widest since JanuaryCentral bank calls for 'extreme' budget prudenceSays economy remained weak in Q3 after Q2 contractionSell-off plan seems like window dressing, audit court saysROME, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Italy's rising bond yields are a "wake-up call", the country's central bank said on Monday, urging the government to handle its budgetary policy with "extreme prudence". "The high debt is a serious element of vulnerability," the Bank of Italy said in a testimony to parliament. The Bank of Italy said weakness in economic activity continued in the third quarter of this year, after GDP shrank by 0.4% in the previous one. Over the past decade, proceeds from privatisation programmes have averaged less than 0.1% of national output per year, the Bank of Italy said.

Persons: Stefano Rellandini, Giorgia, Guido Carlino, Gareth Jones, Mark Potter Organizations: of, REUTERS, Bank of, Thomson Locations: of Italy, Milan, ROME, Bank of Italy, Ukraine, Israel, Rome, Greece's

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks before a press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin following the Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 29, 2023. The army said it would soon go on the offensive after the biggest mobilisation in Israeli history. The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital - all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war. The Quartet, set up in 2002, consists of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia. He said Russia was in contact with the Palestinians to find out if any Russians had been injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Bobylyov, Lavrov, Sergei Lavrov, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Israel, Aboul Gheit, Hosni Mubarak’s, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Agency, REUTERS, Kremlin, League, Quartet, Arab League, West Bank, United Nations, European Union, Thomson Locations: Russia, Africa, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, MOSCOW, Israel, Palestinian Territories, United States, Gaza, East, Iran, Palestinian, East Jerusalem

☆ Spain rescues 262 migrants off Canary Islands
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A view of a wooden boat that migrants used, to reach the Canary Islands, at the port of Arguineguin, in the island of Gran Canaria, Spain April 20, 2023. Emergency services said they had brought 103 of the 262 rescued migrants to El Hierro, the westernmost and tiniest of the Canary Islands, which has received more than 1,200 migrants in the last six days alone. "We have even reinforced with volunteer personnel from other islands that perhaps are not suffering the pressure El Hierro is suffering at the moment." The other rescued migrants were taken to Los Cristianos port in Tenerife and Arguineguin in Gran Canaria. The seven islands of the Atlantic archipelago have become the main destination for migrants trying to reach Spain.

Persons: Borja Suarez, Inigo Vila, Vila, El Hierro, Fernando Clavijo, Emma Pinedo, Andrei Khalip, Gareth Jones, Nick Macfie Organizations: Gran Canaria, REUTERS, Rights, European Union, Thomson Locations: Arguineguin, Gran, Spain, Rights MADRID, Spanish, Italy, Atlantic, Madrid, El Hierro, Islands, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Saharan Africa

Wagner communications channels were silent, but some supporters and patriotic bloggers expressed disbelief. 'LAUGHABLE' EXPLANATIONWestern diplomats say Putin ordered the killing of Prigozhin after the humiliation of the mutiny. "Two heroes of great Russia died in this plane crash, just in case someone forgot, and not druggies," said the Southern Front Telegram channel. And that is why Prigozhin himself did not just die, but became a 'downed pilot'," Pastukhov wrote on Telegram. (But) he needs society to understand the hint unambiguously: this is how everyone (who betrays us) will be dealt with."

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Anton Vaganov, Putin, Vladimir Putin's intimation, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, CHVK, Vladimir Pastukhov, Pastukhov, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Embraer, Federal Security Service, Wagner, KGB, Southern Front Telegram, Zone, Thomson Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, Said, MOSCOW, St Petersburg, Moscow

☆ Ukraine heads into winter with a hobbled energy system
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Olena Harmash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine declines to share detailed data on the impact of attacks on its energy system, treating it as sensitive information during wartime. Kyiv School of Economics' research centre estimated the direct damage to Ukraine's energy infrastructure at $8.8 billion as of June. Last winter, Ukraine was helped by relatively mild weather, rapid repairs, nuclear power and electricity imports from Europe, but some officials expect tougher conditions this time. Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, head of national grid operator Ukrenergo, said the main grid, one of the most damaged parts of the energy system, was ready to transmit winter volumes of electricity. "The energy system is not as reliable and with a smaller reserve capacity than it was before the targeted strikes," he said.

Persons: Marcus Lippold, It's, it's, Andriy Sadovy, Oleksandr Kharchenko, Dmytro Sakharuk, Sakharuk, DTEK, Denys Shmyhal, Shmyhal, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Oleksiy Chernyshov, Serhiy Sukhomlyn, Julia Payne, Mike Collett, White, Gareth Jones Organizations: United Nations, Kyiv School of Economics, Lviv, Energy Industry Research Center, Reuters, Ukraine's, Naftogaz, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Brussels, Russia, Moscow, Europe, Zhytomyr, Kyiv

☆ Anger in Poland after Legia Warsaw players arrested in Netherlands
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Dutch police have arrested two players from Polish soccer team Legia Warsaw following their Europa Conference League match against AZ Alkmaar, officials said, prompting an angry reaction in Poland. The players were pulled off the team coach and taken to a police station, public broadcaster TVP reported. Legia Warsaw fans had attacked the local police force before the match, knocking one officer in riot gear unconscious as they violently stormed the stadium's entry gate, police said in a statement. "Polish players and fans must be treated in accordance with the law. Legia spokesperson Bartosz Zaslawski was quoted by RMF as saying the team would return to Poland without Josue and Pankov.

Persons: Radovan Pankov, TVP, Josue, Dariusz Mioduski, RMF, Mateusz Morawiecki, Bartosz Zaslawski, Alan Charlish, Bart Meijer, Gareth Jones Organizations: Polish soccer, Legia Warsaw, Europa Conference League, AZ Alkmaar, Legia, Thomson Locations: WARSAW, Polish, Poland, Serbia, Portugal

Aslan Bzhania, the self-styled president of Russian-backed Abkhazia, said an agreement had been signed for a permanent naval base in the Ochamchira region. Three of the Black Sea littoral states are NATO members - Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania. The news of the Russian base at Ochamchira, where the Soviet Union had a naval base, could indicate Russia is seeking alternatives to Sevastopol while also expanding its military presence down the Black Sea coast towards Turkey. The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia had withdrawn the bulk of its Black Sea Fleet from its main base in annexed Crimea due to Ukrainian attacks. At his meeting with Bzhania on Wednesday, Putin did not say anything about a naval base.

Persons: Izvestiya Putin, Vladimir Putin, Aslan Bzhania, Bzhania, Izvestiya, Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: Abkhazia Abkhaz, Ukrainian, Russian Navy, NATO, Soviet, Street Journal, Thomson Locations: Abkhazia, Russia, Sevastopol MOSCOW, Georgian, Sevastopol, Moscow, Ukraine, Ochamchira, South Ossetia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, Syria, Soviet Union, Crimea

Not only in the EU but in all of Europe," Zelenskiy said on his arrival, warning of Russian "disinformation attacks". "It does worry me," Biden said on Wednesday, though he added that a majority of U.S. lawmakers continued to support funding Ukraine. In Slovakia, former prime minister Robert Fico's party came first in a parliamentary election on pledges of halting military aid to Ukraine, while Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said Warsaw was no longer arming Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday he was "very confident" that U.S. support for Ukraine would continue. Many EU leaders have condemned the Azerbaijani operation, which triggered an exodus of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians.

Persons: Zelenskiy, Spain Zelenskiy, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Joe Biden, U.N, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, Rishi Sunak, Democrat Biden, Biden, Ursula von der Leyen, Robert Fico's, Mateusz Morawiecki, Pedro Sanchez, Ilham Aliyev, Belen Carreno, Andreas Rinke, Anna Pruchnicka, Gareth Jones Organizations: Political, EU, British, U.S, Republican, Democrat, European Commission, Kyiv, Polish, European Union, NATO, Spanish, Thomson Locations: Spain, Europe, Balkans, Caucasus, Granada, GRANADA, Kyiv, Spanish, Ukraine, Norway, Albania, Russia, Poland, Brussels, U.S, Slovakia, Warsaw, EU, East, Africa, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Serbia, Kosovo, Nagorno, Karabakh, Baku, Berlin

☆ France to begin troop withdrawal from Niger this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Mahamadou Hamidou Acquire Licensing RightsPARIS, Oct 5 (Reuters) - France will begin withdrawing its troops from coup-hit Niger this week after President Emmanuel Macron said last month he refused to be "held hostage" by the putchists and was ending military cooperation with the West African country. The decision to pull 1,500 troops from Niger leaves a gaping hole in Western efforts to counter a decade-long Islamist insurgency. In a statement on Thursday, the French Armed Forces Ministry said the troops would return to France and that the military exit should be complete by the end of the year. Niger was the West's last key ally in the central Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert until a July 26 coup brought in a military junta which called for France to leave. Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Nicolas Delame; Editing by Richard Lough and Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Mahamadou, Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Nicolas Delame, Richard Lough, Gareth Jones Organizations: French Army, REUTERS, Rights, West, French Armed Forces Ministry, Thomson Locations: France, Nigerien, Niamey, Niger, Russia

☆ Central bank test lab develops global bitcoin mapping system
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - A global central bank test lab has designed a prototype bitcoin monitoring system aimed at giving authorities a clearer picture on how, when and where the cryptocurrency is used. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) project, codenamed Atlas, began at the Dutch central bank more than five years ago, but its potential value has been underscored over the last 18 months by a series of chaotic collapses across the crypto industry. Cross-border crypto flows are particularly relevant for central banks in the context of cross-border payments, economic analysis and balance of payments statistics, the BIS said. "Central banks need to gain first-hand knowledge of crypto and DeFi and the risks and opportunities they present to the financial system," the BIS said. It added the dashboards would now be made available to a group of "test" central banks to gather feedback and for further development.

Persons: Atlas, Elizabeth Howcroft, Gareth Jones Organizations: Bank for International Settlements, Atlas, BIS, Regulators, Thomson Locations: London

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