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☆ Putin congratulates 'dear friend' Erdogan for winning Turkish election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, May 28 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his "dear friend" Tayyip Erdogan who claimed victory in Turkey's presidential election on Sunday, saying the win was evidence the Turkish people appreciated Erdogan's independent foreign policy. "The election victory was a natural result of your selfless work as the head of the Republic of Turkey, clear evidence of the support of the Turkish people for your efforts to strengthen state sovereignty and conduct an independent foreign policy," Putin said in a message to Erdogan, according to the Kremlin. "We highly appreciate your personal contribution to the strengthening of friendly Russian-Turkish relations and mutually beneficial cooperation in various areas," Putin said. Putin said he attached great importance to joint projects such as Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant, which is being built by Russia's state energy group Rosatom, and a gas hub which Putin has proposed in Turkey. Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Giles ElgoodOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'May December' director: women pay higher price than men for breaking rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Mindy Burrows | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] The 76th Cannes Film Festival - Press conference for the film "May December" in competition - Cannes, France, May 21, 2023. Director Todd Haynes and cast member Natalie Portman attend. REUTERS/Eric... Read moreCANNES, May 21 (Reuters) - Todd Haynes' new romantic drama "May December" shines a critical spotlight on the way women who break society's rules are held to much stricter standards than badly behaving men. Haynes told Reuters on Sunday. "There are incredibly problematic aspects to how this relationship began, which this film works toward a confrontation of toward the end," Haynes told journalists.

☆ Pro-government rally in Moldovan capital draws tens of thousands
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Alexander Tanas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] People wave flags of European Union and Moldova during a rally to support the European path of the country, in Chisinau, Moldova May 21, 2023. President Maia Sandu has accused Russia of seeking to sabotage its European integration by fuelling anti-government protests and propaganda. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, on a visit to Chisinau, also addressed the rally, saying Europe would welcome Moldova "with open arms and open hearts". "This is about the both of us: You will bring a piece of Moldova to Europe, and you will make Europe stronger," she said. "I believe in a European Moldova and want for my country a future with advanced economic and socio-political development," said 18-year-old attendee Alexandrina Miron.

☆ UN official criticised after meeting Russian sought by ICC
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Rights groups and the top U.S. official for global justice denounced the meeting. As a senior official, Gamba should avoid contact with persons subject to ICC warrants and that "Lvova-Belova belongs only in one place – in the dock at the ICC," Jarrah said. Ambassador for Global Justice Beth van Schaack, said on social media Friday night that such a meeting would be "deeply concerning." The United States, Britain, Albania and Malta walked out on her address. Britain and the United States had also blocked the meeting from being webcast.

☆ Russia's Wagner claims Bakhmut; Kyiv says situation critical
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

But meanwhile, to the north and south, they have made their most rapid gains for six months in the surrounding area, seizing swathes of territory from Russian troops. "Wagner troops climbed into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap," Oleksander Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, told troops at the Bakhmut front this week. The battle for Bakhmut has revealed a deepening split between Wagner, a mercenary force that has recruited thousands of convicts from Russian prisons, and the regular Russian military. For two weeks, Prigozhin has been issuing daily video and audio messages denouncing Russia's military leadership, often in expletive-laden rants. Moscow has long claimed that capturing Bakhmut would be a stepping stone towards advancing deeper into the Donbas region it claims to have annexed from Ukraine.

☆ Meloni to leave G7 a day early to tackle Italy flood crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attend a meeting during the G7 leaders' summit in Hiroshima, Japan May 20, 2023 Ukrainian Presidential Press... Read moreHIROSHIMA/ROME, May 20 (Reuters) - Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is set to leave the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima a day earlier than scheduled to lead the response to flooding which hit the north of her country this week, two sources said on Saturday. Torrential rains devastated the eastern side of the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, killing 14 people, causing billions of euros worth of damage and hitting agriculture particularly hard. Italy's government will hold a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to decide on measures to help people to cope with the emergency. Earlier in the day, Meloni thanked the G7 leaders and everyone from other countries who had expressed solidarity with Italy and those affected by the flooding. Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Angelo Amante, writing by Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Gavin Jones and Giles ElgoodOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Outreach to the so-called "Global South", shorthand for some low- and middle-income countries including India, has been a focus at this year's Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima. Some of China's lending has left developing countries "trapped in debt", U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said. China, which has lent hundreds of billions of dollars to build infrastructure in developing countries, has called those remarks "irresponsible" and said the United States should take practical action to help developing countries. Japan and Germany have for years been pushing for a reform of the Security Council. The initiative comes as Japan and other G7 members try to engage the Global South, as the G7 nations struggle to stay relevant amid growing Chinese influence in developing countries.

☆ Thousands join Israeli judicial protests in shadow of attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Rami Amichay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] People wearing red, stand in a line during a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel, April 8, 2023. REUTERS/Ilan RosenbergTEL AVIV, April 8 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Israelis joined protests on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to tighten controls on the Supreme Court, despite heightened security worries after two deadly attacks a day earlier. In central Tel Aviv, crowds waving the blue and white Israeli flags that have become a hallmark of the protests over the past three months gathered in a show of defiance against plans they see as an existential threat to Israeli democracy. "We're still going to come here and say loud and clear that we will not let this reform pass." Before the protests, police had urged people to leave roads clear to allow emergency services to move freely following Friday's car-ramming on a popular shoreline promenade in Tel Aviv.

☆ Forty-four dead in two attacks in Burkina Faso
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OUAGADOUGOU, April 8 (Reuters) - Unknown assailants killed 44 people in two attacks in northern Burkina Faso overnight on Thursday, authorities said. It is not clear which group carried out Thursday's attacks. More than 2 million people are displaced and thousands have been killed by the violence in Burkina Faso, one of the world's poorest countries. The violence has since spread into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger and threatens to destabilise coastal countries further afield. Reporting by Thiam Ndiaga; Writing by Edward McAllister, Editing by Angus MacSwan and Giles ElgoodOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Blinken to visit Vietnam next week, US senator says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HANOI, April 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Vietnam next week, Senator Jeff Merkley told a news conference in Hanoi on Saturday, as part of Washington's efforts to move diplomatic relations with Hanoi on to a higher level this year. The United States is hoping to upgrade relations with Hanoi this year, ideally to coincide with the 10th anniversary in July of its comprehensive partnership with Vietnam. "Next week the Secretary of State will be here," Senator Merkley told reporters during a visit to Vietnam by a delegation of U.S. lawmakers aimed at boosting relations with Hanoi. Blinken is expected to visit Vietnam, likely on Saturday, before he heads to a meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries in Japan on April 16-18. Before the call, multiple analysts had said Vietnam was cautious about an upgrade this year fearing that could cause tensions with China.

☆ Houthi official says Saudi Arabia freed 13 detainees
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Mohammed Alghobari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aden, April 8 (Reuters) - An official of Yemen's Houthi movement said on Saturday the group had received 13 detainees released by Saudi Arabia in exchange for a Saudi detainee freed earlier, ahead of a wider prisoner exchange agreed by the warring sides. Houthi official Abdul Qader al-Mortada said on Twitter the 13 detainees had arrived in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, which is held by the Iranian -aligned Houthi group that has been battling a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia since 2015. At talks in Switzerland last month attended by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, Yemen's Saudi-backed government and the Houthis agreed to free 887 detainees. A visit by Saudi officials would indicate progress in Oman-mediated talks between Riyadh and the Houthis, which run in parallel to U.N. peace efforts, as well as a reduction in tensions after Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to restore relations. The Yemen conflict is widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

☆ UK PM Sunak to meet President Biden in Northern Ireland
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Phil Nobel/PoolLONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet Joe Biden in Northern Ireland next week when the U.S. president flies in to take part in events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord. Sunak will greet Biden on Tuesday evening when Air Force One lands for what will be a closely watched visit to both sides of the Irish border at a time of heightened political uncertainty in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement - signed on April 10, 1998 - largely ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed that had convulsed Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. However the anniversary has been overshadowed by a year-long boycott by Northern Ireland's largest pro-British unionist party of the power-sharing devolved government central to the peace deal. Although that deal has so far failed to restore the devolved government in Northern Ireland, Sunak will seek to bolster his support for the province by announcing a summit later in the year to stimulate international investment.

☆ Hundreds attend Moscow funeral of pro-war blogger
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russia charged Darya Trepova, 26, on Tuesday with terrorist offences over the killing of Tatarsky in the St Petersburg cafe where he had been due to talk. [1/5] People attend the funeral of Russian military blogger Maxim Fomin widely known by the name of Vladlen Tatarsky, who was recently killed in a bomb attack in a St Petersburg cafe, in Moscow, Russia, April 8, 2023. Tatarsky made extensive reporting trips to the front lines in Ukraine and had ties to Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who on Saturday thanked the blogger on behalf of his fighters. The Wagner group has been spearheading efforts in recent months to capture the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Ukraine has not taken responsibility for the cafe bomb blast and instead blamed "domestic terrorism" in Russia.

☆ Explainer: After COVID and drug shortages, EU revamps drug laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Maggie Fick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Commission aims to publish a draft - the biggest overhaul of existing medical laws in two decades - on April 26. A Commission spokesperson said: "The Commission will put forward a balanced and patient-centred proposal, whilst fully supporting an innovative and competitive industry." If the EU health regulator approves a new use for the medicine, they get another year, bringing the total to 11. Fourteen member states have written to the Commission, criticising the idea as costly and harmful for consumers as it could disrupt the generic drugs market. Once the Commission publishes the draft, the European Parliament, Commission and member states will thrash out final details.

☆ Zelenskiy says Russian UN Security Council presidency is absurd
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERSKYIV, April 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said it was absurd Russia had assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council, adding this showed the institution's "total bankruptcy". On Saturday Russia took over the presidency of the U.N.'s top security body, which rotates every month. "And at the same time Russia is chairing the U.N. Security Council. Zelenskiy said it was time for a general overhaul of global institutions, including the Security Council. "It is very telling that on the holiday of one terror state – Iran - another terror state – Russia – begins to preside over the U.N. Security Council," Yermak wrote on Twitter, referring to Iran's Islamic Republic Day holiday.

☆ Pakistan army says 'terrorists' from Iran side kill four soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

QUETTA, Pakistan, April 1 (Reuters) - Pakistan's army said on Saturday that attackers from Iran killed four of its border patrol soldiers. "A group of terrorists operating from Iranian side attacked a routine border patrol of Pakistani security forces operating along Pakistan-Iran Border," the army said in a statement. The incident took place in Kech district in southwestern Baluchistan province, which shares a long lawless border with Afghanistan and Iran. The army said Pakistani authorities were making contact with Iran to seek ways of preventing such incidents in future. The Baluch groups operate on both side of the border.

☆ Raisi says hijab is the law in Iran as unveiled women face 'yoghurt attack'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 1 (Reuters) - President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday that the hijab was the law in Iran after a viral video showed a man throwing yoghurt at two unveiled women in a shop near a holy Shi'ite Muslim city. They were also the subject of arrest warrants for flouting Iran's strict female dress rules, state media reported. Videos of unveiled women resisting the morality police have flooded social media. Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei earlier threatened to prosecute "without mercy" women who appear in public unveiled, Iranian media reported. It urged citizens to confront unveiled women.

☆ Brazil's Energisa wins Espirito Santo gas firm at privatization auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SAO PAULO, March 31 (Reuters) - Brazilian energy company Energisa Transmissao de Energia SA (ENGI11.SA) won ownership of natural gas firm ESGas at a privatization auction on Friday, buying stakes from the state government and Vibra Energia (VBBR3.SA). Energisa offered 1.42 billion reais ($280 million) for Companhia de Distribuiçao de Gas do Espirito Santo, as it is formally known, marking a 7.28% premium from its minimum fixed grant value. ESGas is responsible for the distribution of piped natural gas to more than 60,000 consumer units in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo, with residential, commercial, industrial, automotive, air conditioning and thermoelectric businesses. ($1 = 5.0744 reais)Reporting by Letícia Fucuchima; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Giles Elgood Editing by Sarah MorlandOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate are escorted by police officers outside the headquarters of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, February 1, 2023. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERSBUCHAREST, March 31 (Reuters) - Social media personality Andrew Tate will be moved to house arrest on Friday evening after a Romanian court overturned prosecutors' request to keep him in police custody until late April, his lawyer said on Friday. Earlier this week, the same Bucharest court of appeals denied the Tate brothers' request to be released on bail. In previous rulings that extended their stay in police custody, judges have said the Tate brothers posed a flight risk and that their release could jeopardise the investigation. Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their alleged victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage.

☆ Johnson & Johnson unit loses bid to stay in bankruptcy during Supreme Court appeal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Johnson & Johnson FollowMarch 31 (Reuters) - A U.S. court on Friday declined to delay the dismissal of a Johnson & Johnson company's (JNJ.N) bankruptcy, directing the bankruptcy to be dismissed despite a planned U.S. Supreme Court appeal that could revive the company's effort to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits over its talc products in bankruptcy. J&J maintains its consumer talc products are safe and asbestos-free. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Philadelphia ruled that LTL's bankruptcy should be dismissed because neither LTL nor J&J had a legitimate need for bankruptcy protection because they were not in "financial distress." LTL asked the 3rd Circuit to delay its ruling from taking effect until the company has time to pursue an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The 3rd Circuit denied that request in a brief written order Friday, instead directing the a U.S. bankruptcy judge to close LTL's bankruptcy case.

PRETORIA/CAPE TOWN, March 31 (Reuters) - South Africans took to the streets of Pretoria and Cape Town on Friday to protest against a Ugandan law passed last week that makes it a criminal offence to be openly LGBTQ. Singing and waving flags, demonstrators called on Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, not to sign it. "Queer people don't owe anyone anything, but we also deserve to live just like everyone else. You can't strip all our rights. Reporting by Catherine Schenck and Esa Alexander, Writing by Rachel Savage Editing by Giles ElgoodOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elderly Swiss women bring European court's first climate case
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

STRASBOURG, March 29 (Reuters) - Thousands of elderly Swiss women have joined forces in a groundbreaking case heard on Wednesday at the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that their government's "woefully inadequate" efforts to fight global warming violate their human rights. More than 100 supporters and climate activists from Greenpeace gathered outside the courtroom, holding banners and flowers. Stefanie Brander, a member of the association Senior Women for Climate Protection, said that she felt the government had underestimated the group until now. [1/8] A group from the Senior Women for Climate Protection association hold banners outside the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France March 29, 2023. The Swiss government, which twice won in domestic courts in a six-year legal battle, has argued that the case is inadmissible.

Shops and banks closed early on Wednesday as the West African nation braced for fresh protests over a court case that has fuelled tension and violence ahead of presidential elections next year. Violence broke out on the day of Sonko's last court appearance on March 16, as police fired tear gas at supporters accompanying his motorcade to the courthouse. Sonko has called for more nationwide protests on Wednesday, Thursday and April 3. Police fired several rounds of tear gas and stun grenades forcing mostly student protesters to retreat into the campus from where they hurled rocks. He is also on trial for allegedly raping a beauty salon employee in 2021 and making death threats against her.

☆ Equatorial Guinea confirms 13 Marburg cases after WHO comments
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, March 29 (Reuters) - Equatorial Guinea has confirmed 13 cases of Marburg disease since the beginning of the epidemic, its health officials said on Wednesday after the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) urged the Central African country's government to report new cases officially. Marburg virus disease is a viral haemorrhagic fever that can have a fatality rate of up to 88%, according to the WHO. Marburg is passed on to people from fruit bats and is from the same virus family responsible for the deadly Ebola disease. "WHO is aware of additional cases and we have asked the government to report these cases officially to WHO," its director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said earlier on Wednesday. There is also an outbreak of Marburg virus in Tanzania, where eight cases including five deaths have been reported in the northwest Kagera region, WHO has said.

☆ French prosecutors search bank offices over dividend stripping
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The PNF financial prosecution office said in a statement the probe was linked to so-called "cum-ex" dividend stripping, a trading scheme whereby banks and investors swiftly trade shares of companies around their dividend payout day. The searches by French prosecutors are the latest to hit global banks as similar investigations have been conducted in other European countries, including Germany. It was the highest-profile prosecution and longest sentence to date in a series of trials that have also convicted British bankers. It said six German prosecutors were also assisting the investigations. Reporting by Tassilo Hummel, Blandine Hénault and Sudip Kar-Gupta; writing by Silvia Aloisi, Editing by Giles ElgoodOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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