europe
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage as first Orthodox Christian country
Greece on Thursday became the first Orthodox Christian country to legalize same-sex civil marriage, despite opposition from the influential, socially conservative Greek Church.
A cross-party majority of 176 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament voted late Thursday in favor of the landmark bill drafted by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis ' center-right government. Another 76 rejected the reform while two abstained from the vote and 46 were not present in the house.
Mitsotakis tweeted after the vote that Greece "is proud to become the 16th (European Union) country to legislate marriage equality."
"This is a milestone for human rights, reflecting today's Greece — a progressive, and democratic country, passionately committed to European values," he wrote.
Scores of supporters of the reform who had gathered outside parliament and were watching the debate on a screen cheered loudly and hugged as the vote result was announced.
"This took a long time to be adopted in our country … but at least it happened and that's what is important," said a man who only gave his first name, Nikolas. "We are no longer invisible."
Earlier, people opposed to the bill had also protested nearby, holding prayer books and religious icons.
Opinion polls suggest that most Greeks support the reform by a narrow margin, and the issue has failed to trigger deep divisions in a country more worried about the high cost of living.
The bill was backed by four left-wing parties, including the main opposition Syriza.
"This law doesn't solve every problem, but it is a beginning," said Spiros Bibilas, a lawmaker from the small left-wing Passage to Freedom party, who is openly gay.
It was approved despite several majority and left-wing lawmakers abstaining or voting against the reform. Three small far-right parties and the Stalinist-rooted Communist Party rejected the draft law from the start of the two-day debate.
"People who have been invisible will finally be made visible around us. And with them, many children (will) finally find their rightful place," Mitsotakis told lawmakers ahead of the evening vote.
"Both parents of same-sex couples do not yet have the same legal opportunities to provide their children with what they need," he added. "To be able to pick them up from school, to be able to travel, to go to the doctor, or take them to the hospital. ... That is what we are fixing."
The bill confers full parental rights on married same-sex partners with children. But it precludes gay couples from parenthood through surrogate mothers in Greece — an option currently available to women who can't have children for health reasons.
Many LGBTQ+ rights advocates have criticized that limitation, as well as the absence of any provision for transgender people.
Psychologist Nancy Papathanasiou, scientific co-director of Orlando LGBT+, which advocates for LGBTQI mental health, echoed that concern but said the new law confers a very important sense of equality.
"Discrimination is the most pervasive risk factor for mental health," she said. "So just knowing that there is less discrimination is protective and promotive for LGBTQI mental health."
Maria Syrengela, a lawmaker from the governing New Democracy, or ND, said the reform redresses a long-standing injustice for same-sex couples and their children.
"And let's reflect on what these people have been through, spending so many years in the shadows, entangled in bureaucratic procedures," she said.
Dissidents among the governing party included former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, from ND's conservative wing.
"Same-sex marriage is not a human right … and it's not an international obligation for our country," he told parliament. "Children have a right to have parents from both sexes."
Polls show that while most Greeks agree to same-sex weddings they also reject extending parenthood through surrogacy to male couples. Same-sex civil partnerships have been allowed in Greece since 2015. But that only conferred legal guardianship to the biological parents of children in those relationships, leaving their partners in a bureaucratic limbo.
The main opposition to the new bill has come from the traditionalist Church of Greece — which also disapproves of heterosexual civil marriage.
Church officials have centered their criticism on the bill's implications for traditional family values, and argue that potential legal challenges could lead to a future extension of surrogacy rights to gay couples.
Church supporters and conservative organizations have staged small protests against the proposed law.
Far-right lawmaker Vassilis Stigas, head of the small Spartans party, described the legislation Thursday as "sick" and claimed that its adoption would "open the gates of Hell and perversion."
Politically, the same-sex marriage law is not expected to harm Mitsotakis' government, which won easy re-election last year after capturing much of the centrist vote.
A stronger challenge comes from ongoing protests by farmers angry at high production costs, and intense opposition from many students to the planned scrapping of a state monopoly on university education.
Nevertheless, parliament is expected to approve the university bill later this month, and opinion polls indicate that most Greeks support it.
Russia tightens the noose on Ukraine's city of Avdiivka where outnumbered defenders are holding out
Ukrainian troops in Avdiivka struggled Friday with severe ammunition shortages as Russian forces tightened the noose around the strategic eastern city in an intense Kremlin push for a battlefield win.
The timing is critical as Russia is looking for a morale boost ahead of the second anniversary on Feb. 24 of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the March presidential election in Russia.
The four-month battle in Avdiivka appeared to be coming to a head as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday made another trip to Europe, hoping to press his country’s Western allies to keep providing military support.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday that Russian forces are beginning to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses in the eastern city. He said Avdiivka is at risk of falling to Russia, a development he blamed “in very large part” on the fact that Ukrainian forces are running out of artillery ammunition.
The United States is Ukraine’s biggest single supporter but some $60 billion for Kyiv is being held up by political disagreements among American lawmakers.
Street fighting was underway in the bombed-out city, where Ukrainian troops are outnumbered 7-to-1, according to Oleksandr Borodin, press officer of the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Ukraine Armed Forces.
The 3rd Brigade said on its social media account Friday that its soldiers are holding out at the huge Avdiivka Coke Plant. Russian warplanes have been dropping about 60 bombs a day, relentlessly shelling the area and launching assaults with armor and infantry, the brigade said.
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A video showed dense black smoke over the factory, said to be caused by burning fuel oil reservoirs. The post said: “Poisonous smog spreads all over the plant.”
Russian troops conducted 33 assaults in Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours, Ukraine’s General Staff said Friday. The Russians have been trying to capture the city since last October but made only incremental progress before a recent push.
The Ukrainian defenders prepared for “any possible scenarios,” according to Brig. Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, head of the Ukrainian forces in Avdiivka.
Ukrainian officials have not ruled out a withdrawal from the city.
Heavily fortified with a web of tunnels and concrete fortifications, Avdiivka lies in the northern suburbs of Donetsk, a city in a region of the same name that Russian forces partially occupy. Capturing Avdiivka could be a timely boost for Moscow and serve as a possible springboard for Russia to drive deeper into the region.
Fewer than 1,000 people remain in the city, according to the Donetsk regional governor, Vadym Filashkin. The city, with a prewar population of about 31,000, is today a bombed-out shell of what it once was.
Read: Russia's imprisoned opposition leader Navalny has died: prison service
Aerial footage of Avdiivka obtained by The Associated Press last December showed an apocalyptic scene and hinted at Russia’s staggering losses, with the bodies of about 150 soldiers — most wearing Russian uniforms — lying scattered along tree lines where they sought cover.
However, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said that taking Avdiivka would be more of a symbolic win for the Kremlin and would not bring significant changes to the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) front line that has barely budged in recent months.
“The potential Russian capture of Avdiivka would not be operationally significant and would likely only offer the Kremlin immediate informational and political victories,” the institute said in an assessment late Thursday.
“Russian forces would be highly unlikely to make rapid operationally significant advances from Avdiivka if they captured the settlement, and the potential Russian capture of Avdiivka at most would set conditions for further limited tactical gains,” it added.
Read more: Russia launches barrage of 45 drones over Ukraine as Kyiv changes more military leaders
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy tells top general it’s time for someone new to lead the army
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Ukraine’s top general on Friday and told him it’s time for someone new to lead the army.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy said he thanks Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi for his two years of service and discussed possible replacements for the top military job. “The time for such a renewal is now,” Zelenskyy said.
The statement followed days of speculation spurred by local media reports that Zelenskyy would sack Zaluzhnyi, a move that would amount to the most serious shakeup of the top military brass since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces claimed to have shot down a Russian attack helicopter in eastern Ukraine near the city of Avdiivka, where soldiers are fighting from street to street as Russia’s army steps up its four-month campaign to surround Kyiv’s defending troops.
Ukrainian soldiers used a portable anti-aircraft missile to take down the Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter, one of the Russian air force’s deadliest weapons, according to Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, the commander of Ukrainian units fighting on the southeastern front line.
The roughly 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) line of contact has shifted little during recent months of wintry weather. But as the war in Ukraine nears its two-year anniversary, Avdiivka has become “a primary focus” of Moscow’s forces, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in an assessment Thursday.
Street-to-street combat is taking place in the city as Ukrainian troops seek to keep open their main supply route amid intense bombardment, the ministry said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces reported Thursday that its troops had fended off 40 enemy assaults around Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours. That is roughly double the number of daily Russian assaults at other points along the front line.
Russia’s Pravda newspaper reported Thursday that the Russian army was attempting to cut a key logistics supply route for Ukraine in the village of Lastochkyne, about 6 kilometers (4 miles) west of Avdiivka.
The Russian military has used electronic warfare to take out the Starlink communications system which Ukrainian troops use to communicate, Pravda said.
Ukraine has built multiple defenses in Avdiivka, complete with concrete fortifications and a network of tunnels. Despite massive losses of personnel and equipment, Russian troops have slowly advanced since October.
The fight has evolved into a gruesome effort for both sides. It has been compared to the nine months of fighting for Bakhmut, the Ukraine war’s longest and bloodiest battle. It ended with Russia capturing the bombed-out, deserted city last May in what Moscow hailed as a major triumph.
Both Bakhmut and Avdiivka are located in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Moscow-backed rebels seized part of the region in 2014 and Russia illegally annexed all of it in 2022 with three other Ukrainian regions.
Russia wants to capture the entire Donetsk region, where it currently holds just over half of the territory.
Key events in the life of King Charles III
King Charles III has been diagnosed with an unspecified type of cancer. Buckingham Palace says the 75-year-old king has begun outpatient treatment.
Some key dates in Charles' life:
Nov. 14, 1948 — Charles is born on the royal estate at Sandringham, the first child of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
Feb. 6, 1952 — Princess Elizabeth becomes Queen Elizabeth II upon the death of her father, King George VI.
July 1, 1969 — Charles is formally invested as the Prince of Wales.
July 29, 1981 — He marries Lady Diana Spencer to become the first royal heir since 1660 to marry an Englishwoman.
June 21, 1982 — Birth of first son, William Arthur Philip Louis.
Sept. 15, 1984 — Birth of second son, Harry (Henry Charles Albert David).
June 15, 1992 — Andrew Morton’s book “Diana: Her True Story” says Charles has had a long-term affair with a married woman, Camilla Parker Bowles.
Dec. 9, 1992 — He separates from Princess Diana.
Aug. 28, 1996 — Charles and Diana divorce.
Aug. 31, 1997 — Diana is killed in a Paris automobile crash.
Feb. 10, 2004 — Charles announces his engagement to marry Camilla Parker Bowles.
April 8, 2005 — He marries Camilla in a civil ceremony; she takes title of Duchess of Cornwall.
April 29, 2011 — His son, Prince William, is married to Kate Middleton.
December 2011 — Charles is hospitalized for treatment for a blocked coronary artery.
June 2013 — He is admitted to a hospital for an exploratory operation on his abdomen.
July 22, 2013 — He becomes a grandfather for the first time with the birth of Prince George, William and Kate’s oldest child. Two more children — Charlotte and Louis — follow for the couple.
May 19, 2018 — His second son, Harry, marries American actor Meghan Markle.
April 9, 2021 — Charles' father, Prince Philip, dies at 99.
May 10, 2022 — Charles stands in for Queen Elizabeth II for the first time during the state opening of Parliament, after she had to pull out of the event, citing mobility problems. The delegation of the role, one of the queen’s most important duties, was seen by many as the clearest sign that a transition of the monarchy was underway.
Sept. 8, 2022 — Charles becomes king upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
May 6, 2023 — He is crowned alongside Queen Camilla in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
March 29, 2023 — Charles travels to Berlin on his first state visit as king.
Nov. 7, 2023 — He delivers the King's Speech for the first time at the state opening of Parliament.
Jan. 26, 2024 — Charles enters a London hospital for a three-day stay for treatment of a benign enlarged prostate.
Feb. 5, 2024 — Buckingham Palace announces that Charles has cancer and will receive outpatient treatment.
Diagnosed with cancer: What we know about King Charles III’s health history
The announcement Monday that King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer has come as a shock to many in Britain, largely because the 75-year-old monarch has generally enjoyed good health through the years.
Palace officials did not specify what kind of cancer the king has, or how serious his condition is. They only said that it was discovered during the king’s recent hospital treatment for an enlarged prostate, but isn’t prostate cancer.
Charles — who came to the throne after his mother Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 — has started a schedule of regular treatments and will postpone public-facing duties, officials said.
Here is a look at Charles’ health history, from contracting COVID-19 to a series of injuries sustained from playing polo and hunting over the decades:
PROSTATE TREATMENT
Charles was discharged from a private London hospital a week ago after undergoing treatment on an enlarged prostate.
Officials said the condition was benign, though the king canceled engagements and was urged to rest before the procedure.
An enlarged prostate is common in men over age 50 and affects thousands in the U.K. The condition affects how one urinates and isn’t usually a serious health threat. It’s not cancer and doesn’t lead to an increased risk of developing prostate cancer.
Read: Key events in the life of King Charles III
Palace officials said the king publicized details about his condition in an effort to encourage other men to have their prostates checked in line with public health advice.
COVID-19
Charles had COVID-19 twice, but officials said that he only suffered mild symptoms both times.
He isolated at home in Scotland in March 2020, during the early days of the pandemic in the U.K. and before vaccines were available. He remained in good health, though he lost his sense of taste and smell for a time. Charles later spoke of the “strange, frustrating and often distressing” experience of being isolated from friends and family during lockdown.
Charles contracted the coronavirus a second time in February 2022. He had been triple-vaccinated at the time.
SPORTS INJURIES
Charles was a keen polo player and suffered an array of injuries over years of sports and exercise.
In 1980 he was thrown and kicked by his pony during a polo match at Windsor and needed six stitches on his cheek.
In the 1990s he underwent several operations after he broke his right arm in a fall during a polo match and injured his left knee during another game.
Read: Diagnosed with cancer: What we know about King Charles III’s health history
In 2001 he was knocked unconscious and taken to the hospital in an ambulance when his horse threw him during a polo match he was playing with his sons Prince William and Prince Harry.
Charles also had various injuries from hunting accidents. He broke a rib when he fell from his horse in 1998, and in 2001 he fractured a small bone in his shoulder after another tumble.
The king retired from playing polo after more than 40 years in 2005.
‘SAUSAGE FINGERS’?
There has long been speculation about Charles’ swollen “sausage fingers,” with some suggesting they may be due to fluid build-up, arthritis or other conditions.
Whether the puffy digits are due to a health condition remains unexplained, but Charles has on more than one occasion jokingly referenced them himself.
In a BBC documentary on Charles’ coronation, the king was seen reassuring his son Prince William when he struggled to fasten one of the ceremonial robes. He jokingly told William not to worry, because “you haven’t got sausage fingers like mine.”
MINOR TREATMENTS
Charles has had other minor medical treatments over the years.
Read: King Charles III's image to appear on Australian coins this year
In 2008 he had a non-cancerous growth removed from the bridge of his nose in a minor, routine procedure. He had a hernia operation at a private hospital in 2003, and joked “hernia today, gone tomorrow” to waiting reporters when he was discharged the next day.
Charles, who has a degenerative disc at the base of his spine, has also spoken about his back pain. He is known to travel on royal tours with a cushion, and a velvet cushion is usually placed on his chair during state banquets at Buckingham Palace.
In his memoir “Spare,” Prince Harry wrote about Charles’ exercises at home to keep his “constant” neck and back pain in check.
A look at events surrounding the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria a year ago
A year ago, a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, causing widespread destruction and the loss of over 59,000 lives.
A massive rebuilding effort is still trudging along a year later but many questions remain about the future of the devastated areas.
WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED?
The Feb. 6, 2023, quake struck shortly after 4 a.m. and lasted for 85 seconds. It was followed by more than 570 aftershocks within 24 hours — including a magnitude 7.5 temblor to the north of the original epicenter in Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province.
According to the latest government figures released on Friday by Turkey's Environment and Urbanization Minister Mehmet Ozhaseki, some 680,000 homes either collapsed or were left too damaged to live in, leaving hundreds of thousands in desperate need of shelter.
The disaster led to a massive international rescue and aid operation involving dozens of countries and organizations. Early on, the hardest-hit areas were hard to get to, forcing residents to grab what tools they could to dig through the rubble. Rescue efforts in both countries were hampered by a lack of manpower and equipment. Damage to roads and airports, as well as bad weather, also obstructed the arrival of rescuers and aid.
In Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, the White Helmets rescue organization blamed the international community for the delays while the Turkish government faced criticism for its slow response, with many people waiting days for help.
Aid to Idlib, an opposition-held enclave, was initially restricted to one border crossing between Turkey and Syria, with the first aid shipment following the quake taking three days to reach survivors.
MOUNTING CASUALTIES AND DESTRUCTION
While TV images of survivors being pulled from the rubble raised hopes, the death toll climbed inexorably. The final count in Turkey reached 53,537 dead, the Interior Ministry said on Friday. The quake displaced some 3 million people and 11 provinces in Turkey were declared emergency zones.
In Syria, the United Nations said 6,000 people lost their lives, the majority in Idlib. Other estimates put the number higher. The earthquake followed more than a decade of civil war that had severely damaged Syria’s infrastructure. Some of the worst quake-hit areas were also those most devastated by the conflict, including the city of Aleppo.
Read: Turkey's parliament approves Sweden's NATO membership
The World Bank estimated the damage caused at $34.2 billion in Turkey and $5.1 billion in Syria. However, the cost of rebuilding and the impact on the economy was much greater — at least $100 billion in Turkey’s case.
CONSTANT SEISMIC RISKS
Turkey is crisscrossed by fault lines, making it one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries. The East Anatolian fault system, where the disaster occurred, is near where the Anatolian, Arabian and African tectonic plates come together.
The deadliest quake to hit Turkey in recent memory prior to last February’s was the 1999 magnitude 7.6 tremor that struck south of Istanbul, killing an estimated 18,000 people.
In 2020, the country suffered several major quakes, including the last serious one on the East Anatolian fault — a magnitude 6.7 quake in the city of Elazig that killed 41.
The East Anatolian fault had last seen a quake of magnitude 7 or greater in 1822, when at least 10,000 were killed in Syria’s Aleppo.
WHY WAS THE DESTRUCTION SO HUGE?
Turkey strengthened building codes after the 1999 Istanbul quake but experts say that lax enforcement, poor planning and alleged irregularities since then aggravated the 2023 disaster. Also, use of substandard material and lack of proper inspections during Turkey’s construction boom in the past years made matters worse, according to experts.
In Hatay, the worst-hit province, many settlements there were built on risky alluvial ground. Additionally, government amnesties for shoddy construction allowed transgressors to pay fines rather than tear down or fix dangerous buildings.
The delayed search and rescue operation also led to a greater loss of life, according to critics.
MONTHS LATER, LITTLE AID TRICKLED INTO SYRIA
In the weeks after the earthquake, humanitarian aid started flowing into Syria and a U.N. appeal raised nearly $387 million in pledges.
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But months later, as other crises emerged, priorities for Syria appeared to fall by the wayside. To this day, humanitarian agencies are struggling to draw the world’s attention back to the war-ravaged country as they face donor fatigue and shrinking budgets.
Last June, an annual international donor conference held in Brussels for Syria saw lukewarm results and the following month, the World Food Program announced it was slashing its aid in the war-wrecked country. In January, WFP ended its main food assistance scheme for Syria.
In many places, rubble remains where it fell as people struggle to survive in tents and prefabricated containers a year after the quake. Some 4 million people rely on humanitarian assistance amid a surge in violence in northern Syria.
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King Charles diagnosed with cancer: Buckingham Palace
King Charles III has been diagnosed with a form of cancer and has begun treatment, Buckingham Palace said Monday.
The palace says the cancer is not related to the king’s recent treatment for a benign prostate condition. It did not say what form of cancer the 75-year-old monarch has.
The palace said “a separate issue of concern was noted” during Charles’ treatment for an enlarged prostate last month. “Diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer,” it said
“His Majesty has today commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties,” the palace said. “Throughout this period, His Majesty will continue to undertake State business and official paperwork as usual.”
Read: Diagnosed with cancer: What we know about King Charles III’s health history
It said Charles “remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.”
The palace added that the king “has chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer.”
Read: King Charles III's image to appear on Australian coins this year
Charles became king in September 2022 when his mother Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96.
News of the king’s diagnosis comes as his daughter-in-law Kate, Princess of Wales, recovers from abdominal surgery that saw her hospitalized for about two weeks.
U.K. political leaders sent messages of support. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted: “Wishing His Majesty a full and speedy recovery. I have no doubt he’ll be back to full strength in no time and I know the whole country will be wishing him well.”
French farmers aim to put Paris 'under siege' in tractor protest. Activists hurl soup at 'Mona Lisa'
France's interior ministry on Sunday ordered a large deployment of security forces around Paris as angry farmers threatened to head toward the capital, hours after climate activists hurled soup at the glass protecting the “Mona Lisa” painting at the Louvre Museum.
French farmers are putting pressure on the government to respond to their demands for better remuneration for their produce, less red tape and protection against cheap imports.
Speaking after an emergency meeting on Sunday evening, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 15,000 police officers are being deployed, mostly in the Paris region.
Darmanin said he ordered security forces to “prevent any blockade” of Rungis International Market — which supplies the capital and surrounding region with much of its fresh food — and the Paris airports as well as to ban any convoy of farmers from entering the capital and any other big city. He said that helicopters will monitor convoys of tractors.
Darmanin said possibly all eight highways heading to Paris will be blocked Monday from midday and urged car and truck drivers to “anticipate” blockades. “Difficulties will obviously be very important,” he said.
Farmers of the Rural Coordination union in the Lot-et-Garonne region, where the protests originated, said they plan to use their tractors Monday to head toward the Rungis International Market.
France's two biggest farmers unions said in a statement that their members based in areas surrounding the Paris region would seek to block all major roads to the capital, with the aim of putting the city “under siege,” starting Monday afternoon.
Earlier on Sunday, two climate activists hurled soup at the glass protecting the “Mona Lisa” in the Louvre museum and shouted slogans advocating for a sustainable food system.
In a video posted on social media, two women with the words “FOOD RIPOSTE” written on their T-shirts could be seen passing under a security barrier to get closer to the painting and throwing soup at the glass protecting Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece.
“What’s the most important thing?” they shouted. “Art, or right to a healthy and sustainable food?”
“Our farming system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work,” they added.
Louvre employees could then be seen putting black panels in front of the Mona Lisa and asking visitors to evacuate the room.
Paris police said that two people were arrested following the incident.
On its website, the “Food Riposte” group said the French government is breaking its climate commitments and called for the equivalent of the country's state-sponsored health care system to be put in place to give people better access to healthy food while providing farmers a decent income.
Angry French farmers have been using their tractors for days to set up road blockades and slow traffic across France. They also dumped stinky agricultural waste at the gates of government offices.
On Friday, the government announced a series of measures that farmers said don't fully address their demands. Those include “drastically simplifying” certain technical procedures and the progressive end to diesel fuel taxes for farm vehicles.
France's new prime minister, Gabriel Attal, visited a farm on Sunday in the central region of Indre-et-Loire. He acknowledged that farmers are in a difficult position because “on the one side we say ‘we need quality’ and on the other side ’we want ever-lower prices.'”
“What’s at stake is finding solutions in the short, middle and long term,” he said, “because we need our farmers.”
Attal also said his government is considering “additional” measures against what he called “unfair competition” from other countries that have different production rules and are importing food to France.
He promised “other decisions” to be made in the coming weeks to address farmers' concerns
Ukraine says corrupt officials stole $40 million meant to buy arms for the war with Russia
Employees from a Ukrainian arms firm conspired with defense ministry officials to embezzle almost $40 million earmarked to buy 100,000 mortar shells for the war with Russia, Ukraine's security service reported.
The SBU said late Saturday that five people have been charged, with one person detained while trying to cross the Ukrainian border. If found guilty, they face up to 12 years in prison.
The investigation comes as Kyiv attempts to clamp down on corruption in a bid to speed up its membership in the European Union and NATO. Officials from both blocs have demanded widespread anti-graft reforms before Kyiv can join them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected on an anti-corruption platform in 2019, long before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Both the president and his aides have portrayed the recent firings of top officials, notably that of Ivan Bakanov, former head of the State Security Service, in July 2022, as proof of their efforts to crack down on graft.
Security officials say that the current investigation dates back to August 2022, when officials signed a contract for artillery shells worth 1.5 billion hryvnias ($39.6 million) with arms firm Lviv Arsenal.
After receiving payment, company employees were supposed to transfer the funds to a business registered abroad, which would then deliver the ammunition to Ukraine.
However, the goods were never delivered and the money was instead sent to various accounts in Ukraine and the Balkans, investigators said.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general says that the funds have since been seized and will be returned to the country's defense budget.
Climate activists throw soup at glass protecting Mona Lisa in Paris as farmers' protests continue
Two climate activists hurled soup Sunday at the glass protecting the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum in Paris and shouted slogans advocating for a sustainable food system. This came amid protests by French farmers against several issues, including low wages.
In a video posted on social media, two women with the words "FOOD RIPOSTE" written on their t-shirts could be seen passing under a security barrier to get closer to the painting and throwing soup at the glass protecting Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece.
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"What's the most important thing?" they shouted. "Art, or right to a healthy and sustainable food?"
"Our farming system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work," they added.
The Louvre employees could then be seen putting black panels in front of the Mona Lisa and asking visitors to evacuate the room.
Paris police said two people were arrested following the incident.
Protests against Germany's far right draw hundreds of thousands — in Munich, too many for safety
On its website, the "Food Riposte" group said the French government is breaking its climate commitments and called for the equivalent of the country's state-sponsored health care system to be put in place to give people better access to healthy food while providing farmers a decent income.
Angry French farmers have been using their tractors for days to set up road blockades and slow traffic across France to seek better remuneration for their produce, less red tape and protection against cheap imports. They also dumped stinky agricultural waste at the gates of government offices.
On Friday, the government announced a series of measures that farmers said do not fully address their demands. Those include "drastically simplifying" certain technical procedures and the progressive end to diesel fuel taxes for farm vehicles.
Some farmers threatened to converge on Paris, starting Monday, to block the main roads leading to the capital.
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New Prime Minister Gabriel Attal visited a farm on Sunday in the central region of Indre-et-Loire. He acknowledged farmers are in a difficult position because "on the one side we say 'we need quality' and on the other side 'we want ever-lower prices'."
"What's at stake is finding solutions in the short, middle and long term," he said, " because we need our farmers."
Attal also said his government is considering "additional" measures against what he called "unfair competition" from other countries that have different production rules and are importing food to France.
He promised "other decisions" to be made in the coming weeks to address farmers' concerns.