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Tag: europe

  • Czech Republic plans $19 billion nuclear expansion to double output and end fossil fuel reliance

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    DUKOVANY NUCLEAR PLANT, Czech Republic (AP) — The eight huge cooling towers of the Dukovany power plant overlook a construction site for two more reactors as the Czech Republic pushes ahead with plans to expand its reliance on nuclear energy.

    Mobile drilling rigs have been extracting samples 140 meters below ground for a geological survey to make sure the site is suitable for a $19 billion project as part of the expansion that should eventually at least double the country’s nuclear output and cement its place among Europe’s most nuclear-dependent nations.

    South Korea’s KHNP beat France’s EDF in a tender to construct a new plant whose two reactors will have an output of over 1,000 megawatts each. After becoming operational in the second half 2030s, they will complement Dukovany’s four 512-MW reactors that date from the 1980s.

    The KHNP deal gives the Czechs an option to have two more units built at the other nuclear plant in Temelín, which currently has two 1,000-megawatt reactors.

    Then, they are set to follow up with small modular nuclear reactors.

    “Nuclear will generate between 50% and 60% around 2050 in the Czech Republic, or maybe slightly more,” Petr Závodský, chief executive of the Dukovany project, told The Associated Press in an interview.

    The nuclear expansion is needed to help the country wean itself off fossil fuels, secure steady and reliable supplies at a reasonable price, meet low emission requirements and enable robust demand for electricity expected in the coming years to power data centers and electric cars, Závodský said.

    Europe’s nuclear revival

    The Czech expansion comes at a time when surging energy demand and looming deadlines by countries and companies to sharply cut carbon pollution are helping to revive interest in nuclear technology. While nuclear power does produce waste, it does not produce greenhouse gas emissions, like carbon dioxide, the main driver of climate change.

    The European Union has accepted nuclear by including it in the classification system for environmentally sustainable economic activities, opening the door to financing. That has been a boost for the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and France — the continent’s nuclear leader — that have heavily relied on nuclear.

    Belgium and Sweden recently scrapped plans to phase out nuclear power. Denmark and Italy are reconsidering its use, while Poland is set to join a club of 12 nuclear-friendly nations in the European Union after signing a deal with U.S.-based Westinghouse to build three nuclear units.

    The EU generated 24% of nuclear electricity in 2024.

    Britain signed a cooperation deal with the United States in September that Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said would lead to “a golden age of nuclear in this country.” It will also invest 14.2 billion pounds ($19 billion) to build the Sizewell C nuclear power plant, the first in the U.K. since 1995.

    CEZ, the dominant Czech power company in which the government holds a 70% stake, and Britain’s Rolls-Royce SMR have agreed on a strategic partnership to develop and deploy small modular nuclear reactors.

    Money matters

    The cost of the Dukovany project is estimated at over $19 billion, with the government agreeing to acquire an 80% majority in the new plant. The government will secure a loan for the new units that CEZ will repay over 30 years. The state will also guarantee a stable income from the electricity production for CEZ for 40 years. Approval is expected to be granted by the EU, which aims to become “climate-neutral” by 2050.

    “We’re in a good position to argue that we won’t be able to do without new nuclear units,” Závodský said. “Today, we get some 40% electricity from nuclear, but we also currently get another 40% from coal. It’s clear we have to replace the coal.”

    Uncertainty over financing has caused a significant delay in the nuclear expansion. In 2014, CEZ canceled a tender to build two reactors at the existing Temelin nuclear plant after the government refused to provide financial guarantees.

    Russia’s energy giant Rosatom and China’s CNG were excluded from the Dukovany tender on security grounds following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

    CEZ signed a deal wit h Westinghouse and France’s Framatome to supply nuclear fuel for its two nuclear plants, eliminating the country’s dependence on Russia. The contract with KHNP secures fuel supplies for 10 years.

    Opposition

    While atomic energy enjoys public support, skeptical voices can be heard at home and abroad.

    The Friends of the Earth say it is too costly and the money could be better used for improving the industry. The country also still does not have a permanent storage for spent fuel.

    The Dukovany and Temelín plants are located near the border with Austria, which abandoned nuclear energy after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear explosion. In 2000, a dispute over the Temelín plant resulted in a political crisis and blocked border crossings for weeks.

    Austria remains the most nuclear-skeptical EU country and its lower house of Parliament has already rejected the Czech small modular reactors plan.

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  • Australia Rules Out Co-Hosting Climate Summit With Turkey

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    By Christine Chen and Renju Jose

    SYDNEY (Reuters) -Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that Australia would not co-host the COP31 climate summit with Turkey amid an ongoing stalemate between the two countries.

    Turkey has proposed jointly leading next year’s U.N. climate summit with Australia and the discussions on the hosting standoff remain unresolved, Turkish diplomatic sources told Reuters on Sunday.

    “No, we won’t be co-hosting because co-hosting isn’t provided for under the rules of the (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change),” Albanese said during a media briefing in Melbourne.

    “So that’s not an option and people are aware that it is not an option, which is why it has been ruled out.”

    Australia and Turkey both submitted bids in 2022 to host COP31 and neither has withdrawn, leading to an attention-sapping impasse that must be overcome at this year’s COP30 meeting currently taking place in Belem, Brazil.

    The annual COP, or Conference of the Parties, is the world’s main forum for driving climate action. But it has grown over the years from diplomatic gatherings into vast trade shows where host countries can promote economic prospects.

    The host matters because they set the agenda and lead the diplomacy needed to reach global agreements.

    Albanese this month wrote to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in an attempt to resolve the tussle as he pushes to host the summit with Pacific island nations for the first time.

    A regional diplomatic bloc of 18 countries, the Pacific Islands Forum, is backing Australia’s bid. Several Pacific island nations are at risk from rising seas.

    (Reporting by Christine Chen and Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Tom Hogue and Stephen Coates)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • New Nuclear Arms Race Pits U.S. Against Both Russia and China

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    The new nuclear race has begun. But unlike during the Cold War, the U.S. must prepare for two peer rivals rather than one—at a time when it has lost its clear industrial and economic edge.

    China, which long possessed just a small nuclear force, is catching up fast, while Russia is developing a variety of new-generation systems aimed at American cities.

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    Yaroslav Trofimov

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  • Russian Billionaire Abramovich Says Jersey Investigation Is Baseless and Unlawful

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    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s spokesperson said on Sunday that a criminal investigation launched by the Jersey authorities against him in 2022 was baseless and that he had been allowed to introduce “claims of conspiracy” against the government.

    In April 2022, the Royal Court of Jersey imposed a formal freezing order on $7 billion worth of assets in trusts which Jersey said were linked to Abramovich and the Attorney General of Jersey said that Abramovich was a suspect in a criminal investigation.

    “No charges have been brought against Mr Abramovich in the 3.5 years since the investigation was commenced, and, to our knowledge, in fact no progress has been made on this case,” his spokesperson said.

    “Mr Abramovich was allowed earlier this year to introduce claims of Conspiracy against the Government of Jersey,” the spokesperson said.

    Jersey did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statement.

    Abramovich’s spokesperson said that the conspiracy claim related to the government of Jersey admitting to having deleted data relating to the case as well as their overall failure to disclose data held on Abramovich.

    Abramovich, who also holds Israeli citizenship, was one of the most powerful businessmen who earned fabulous fortunes after the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union. Forbes has put his net worth at $9.2 billion.

    (Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Ukraine Seeking Exchange of 1,200 Prisoners With Russia

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    (Reuters) -Ukraine is working to resume the exchange of prisoners with Russia, hoping for the release of 1,200 Ukrainians, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his Security Council chief said.

    “We are … counting on the resumption of exchanges,” Zelenskiy said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday. “Many meetings, negotiations and calls are now devoted to this.”

    His security chief, Rustem Umerov, said on Saturday that he had held consultations in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, with the support of Kyiv’s partners, on resuming the process of exchanges.

    “As a result of these negotiations, the parties agreed to return to the Istanbul agreements,” he said. “This concerns the release of 1,200 Ukrainians,” Umerov said in a statement on Telegram.

    There was no immediate comment from Moscow to Ukraine’s statements.

    The Istanbul agreements are prisoner-exchange understandings brokered with Turkish mediation in 2022, setting out rules for large, coordinated swaps between Russia and Ukraine.

    Since then, the two have traded thousands of prisoners, though exchanges have been sporadic and often disrupted by frontline escalation in the war Russia launched against Ukraine in February 2022.

    Umerov said that consultations would take place in the near future to decide the procedural and organisational details of the process.

    “We are working without pause so that Ukrainians who are to return from captivity can celebrate New Year and Christmas at home – at the family table and with their loved ones,” Umerov said.

    (Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by William Mallard)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • German government to subsidize industry’s energy prices in bid to revitalize economy

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    BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s governing coalition agreed to subsidize energy prices for heavy industry over the next three years as it tries to breathe new life into a stubbornly slow economy that is weighing on Europe’s performance.

    Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he and other coalition leaders agreed Thursday evening to introduce an electricity price of about 5 euro cents (6 U.S. cents) per kilowatt hour starting Jan. 1, through 2028, to “support companies that use a lot of electricity and face international competition.”

    Talks on the plan with the European Union’s executive commission are near-complete and “we assume we will get permission for this,” Merz said.

    The German economy, Europe’s biggest, has shrunk for the past two years and has not seen significant growth for much longer. The conservative Merz’s coalition government with the center-left Social Democrats has made revitalizing it a priority since taking office in early May.

    Still, results haven’t shown through yet, with gross domestic product stagnating in the third quarter. This week, the government’s panel of independent economic advisers forecast it will grow by an unimpressive 0.9% next year after edging up 0.2% this year.

    The country’s economy, which is heavy on manufacturing and exports, has been held back by multiple factors including high energy prices, competition from Chinese producers of autos and industrial machinery, a lack of skilled workers and excessive bureaucracy.

    The government has launched a program to encourage investment and set up a fund of 500 billion euros ($581.4 billion) to pour money into Germany’s creaking infrastructure over the next 12 years. The government promises to cut red tape and speed up the country’s lagging digitization.

    ING economist Carsten Brzeski, who put the current energy price at some 15 euro cents (17 U.S. cents) per kilowatt hour, said Friday that the planned subsidy “sends a strong signal and could provide industry not only short-term relief but also clarity and stability for years to come.”

    Holger Lösch, deputy managing director of the Federation of German Industries, said the subsidized price would “help particularly energy-intensive industrial companies to remain competitive internationally,” adding that he hopes the EU allows Germany the flexibility to reduce a large number of companies’ costs.

    Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil put the expected cost of the measure at between 3 and 5 billion euros ($3.4 billion and $5.8 billion).

    Coalition leaders also agreed to cut a tax on airline tickets starting in July, something the air transport industry has long demanded. The measures will need parliamentary approval.

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  • A New Rare-Earths Plant in Europe Shows How Tough Breaking China’s Grip Will Be

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    Europe is trying to get itself on the global rare-earths map, and a new facility on Russia’s border is its opening bid.

    The city of Narva in Estonia, once a textiles hub for the Russian Empire, is now host to Europe’s biggest production plant for the kinds of rare-earth magnets needed in electric cars and wind turbines. It is part of Europe’s push to secure a foothold in a global supply chain dominated at every step by China. Built by Canada’s Neo Performance Materials and financed in part by the European Union, the factory is expected to begin commercial deliveries to companies including the German car-parts supplier Robert Bosch next year.

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    Kim Mackrael

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  • Britain Announces Largest Asylum Policy Overhaul in Modern Times

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    LONDON (Reuters) -Britain said on Saturday it would launch the largest overhaul of policy on asylum seekers in modern times, drawing inspiration from Denmark’s approach, one of the toughest in Europe and widely criticised by rights groups.

    The Labour government has been hardening its immigration policies, particularly on illegal small-boat crossings from France, as it seeks to stem the surging popularity of the populist Reform UK party, which has driven the immigration agenda and forced Labour to adopt a tougher line.

    As part of the changes, the statutory duty to provide support to certain asylum seekers, including housing and weekly allowances, will be revoked, the Home Office (interior ministry) said in a statement.

    The department, led by Shabana Mahmood, said the measures would apply to asylum seekers who can work but choose not to, and to those who break the law. It said that taxpayer-funded support would be prioritised for those contributing to the economy and local communities.

    Mahmood is expected to provide further details on Monday about the measures, which the Home Office says are designed to make Britain less attractive to illegal migrants and make it easier to remove them.

    “This country has a proud tradition of welcoming those fleeing danger, but our generosity is drawing illegal migrants across the Channel,” Mahmood said. “The pace and scale of migration is placing immense pressure on communities.”

    More than 100 British charities wrote to Mahmood urging her to “end the scapegoating of migrants and performative policies that only cause harm”, saying such steps are fuelling racism and violence.

    Polls suggest immigration has overtaken the economy as voters’ top concern. Some 109,343 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending March 2025, a 17% rise on the previous year and 6% above the 2002 peak of 103,081.

    UK GOVERNMENT INSPIRED BY DENMARK, OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

    The Home Office said its reforms would be inspired not only by Denmark but other European countries, where refugee status is temporary, support is conditional and integration is expected.

    “The UK will now match and in some areas exceed these standards,” the department said.

    Earlier this year, a delegation of senior Home Office officials visited Copenhagen to study Denmark’s approach to asylum, where migrants are only granted temporary residence permits, usually for two years, and must reapply when these expire.

    If the Social Democratic Danish government deems their home country safe, asylum seekers can be repatriated. The path to citizenship has also been lengthened and made more difficult, with stricter rules for family reunification.

    Among other measures, 2016 legislation allows Danish authorities to seize asylum seekers’ valuables to offset support costs.

    Britain currently grants asylum to those who can prove they are unsafe at home, with refugee status given to those deemed to be at risk of persecution. The status lasts for five years, after which they can apply for permanent settlement if they meet certain criteria.

    Denmark has been known for its tough immigration policies for over a decade, which the Home Office says have reduced asylum claims to a 40-year low and resulted in the removal of 95% of rejected applicants.

    RIGHTS GROUPS SAY DENMARK’S POLICY UNDERMINES PROTECTION

    Britain’s Refugee Council said on X that refugees do not compare asylum systems while fleeing danger, and that they come to the UK because of family ties, some knowledge of English, or existing connections that help them start anew safely.

    Anti-immigration sentiment has been growing in the UK, with protests taking place this summer outside hotels sheltering asylum seekers with state funding.

    Such sentiment has also spread across the European Union since over a million people – mostly Syrian refugees – arrived via the Mediterranean in 2015-16, straining infrastructure in some countries. Unable to agree on how to share responsibility, EU member states have focused on returns and reducing arrivals.

    Denmark’s reforms, implemented while it remains a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, have drawn significant criticism, with rights groups saying the measures foster a hostile climate for migrants, undermine protection and leave asylum seekers in prolonged uncertainty.

    (Reporting by Catarina Demony; editing by Mark Heinrich)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • U.S. Boat Strikes Are Straining the Counterdrug Alliance

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    France denounced the U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats as a violation of international law. Canada and the Netherlands have stressed they aren’t involved. Colombia has vowed to cut off intelligence cooperation with Washington. Mexico summoned the U.S. ambassador to complain. 

    Two months into the Trump administration’s military campaign against low-level smugglers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, the coalition of partners that has long underpinned U.S. antidrug operations in the region is fraying. 

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    Vera Bergengruen

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  • Ukraine’s $200 Billion Lifeline From Europe Stumbles on Pushback in Belgium

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    BRUSSELS—The European Union is racing against the clock to overcome Belgium’s objections to a plan to fund Ukraine’s defense using Russian money.

    Ukraine is on course to run out of cash in the spring, EU officials say, and they see their loan proposal as the best option for allowing Kyiv to continue buying weapons. The plan would lend as much as 183 billion euros (about $213 billion) to Ukraine, backed by Russian financial assets that are immobilized in Belgium.

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  • Opinion | British Labour’s Fiscal Mess

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    Britain’s stock and bond markets flopped Friday morning on new evidence that the country’s Labour Party leadership doesn’t have a clue what to do about the economy or budget. Add this to the list of welfare-state cautionary tales out of Europe.

    At one point Friday morning, the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond, or gilt, had risen 11 basis points to 4.55%. The main London stock index dipped nearly 2%, and the pound fell. This was in response to a Financial Times report Thursday night that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is abandoning plans to increase income-tax rates in her budget plan this month.

    This sounds like good news. but investors interpreted it as a sign that Ms. Reeves and her boss, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, have run out of politically viable ways to balance the government budget—which is true. Estimates of the budget “black hole” Ms. Reeves needs to fill range up to £30 billion per year—the gap between likely spending and revenue if current policies stay the same.

    An attempt over the summer to cut some particularly generous welfare benefits collapsed amid a rebellion from Labour backbenchers in Parliament, putting welfare reform off the table. Mr. Starmer is rightly under pressure to increase defense spending. Labour’s promises of economic growth via public “investment” translate mainly to pay increases for government workers.

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  • Ukraine Begins Mass Production of Interceptor Drones to Bolster Air Defence

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    KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine has started mass production of its new domestically developed interceptor drones to strengthen air defences, the Ukrainian defence ministry said on Friday.

    As the war with Russia approaches the four-year mark, Ukrainian cities and towns far from the frontline are under nearly daily assault from hundreds of Russian drones.

    In the latest attack on Ukraine, 430 drones were used, Ukrainian officials said.

    The ministry said that the first three manufacturers have already started production, and 11 more were preparing to set up production lines.

    The drones would be based on a domestically developed technology called ‘Octopus”. The ministry said the technology to intercept Shahed drones was tested in combat and proved that it was working “at night, under jamming, and at low altitudes.”

    President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that the goal was to manufacture up to 1,000 of the interceptors a day.

    Russia is investing heavily in long-range drones and has been steadily increasing the number of drones it uses in a single strike on Ukraine.

    Interceptor drones, which cost a few thousand dollars each, are also important for Ukraine as it can save its more expensive missiles for faster, deadlier cruise and ballistic threats.

    (Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by William Maclean)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • New Prosecutor Takes Helm in Georgia Criminal Case Against Trump

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    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A state prosecutor on Friday said he was taking control of a sprawling criminal case in Georgia accusing U.S. President Donald Trump and several allies of election interference, a move that prolongs the high-profile prosecution but does not fully resolve uncertainty about its future. 

    Peter Skandalakis, director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, said in a statement that he had appointed himself as the prosecutor in the case, which accuses Trump and several co-defendants of unlawfully conspiring to subvert former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win in Georgia. They have pleaded not guilty, and on Friday, Trump lawyer Steve Sadow said he remains confident that “a fair and impartial review will lead to a dismissal of the case.”

    The move allows the 2023 case to live on following an appeals court ruling that disqualified the prosecutor who initially brought the case, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat in Atlanta.

    OTHER PROSECUTORS DECLINE APPOINTMENT

    Skandalakis said he appointed himself after being unable to find another prosecutor willing to take over the case.

    “Several prosecutors were contacted and, while all were respectful and professional, each declined the appointment,” he said in a statement. “Out of respect for their privacy and professional discretion, I will not identify those prosecutors or disclose their reasons for declining.” 

    The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia is a government agency that supports the state’s local prosecutors.

    As head of the agency, Skandalakis was required by law to identify a replacement for Willis. An appeals court ruled last year that Willis had created an “appearance of impropriety” by having a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case.

    Skandalakis’ announcement came the day of a judge-imposed deadline for him to pick a replacement prosecutor.

    Skandalakis has the authority to dismiss the indictment, and there is precedent for such a decision. Last year, Skandalakis concluded that charges should not be brought against Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, a Republican investigated by Willis, over his efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat in Georgia. 

    (Reporting by Jan WolfeEditing by Rod Nickel)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • U.S. Agrees to Cut Switzerland Tariffs to 15% in Trade Deal

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    The U.S. has reached a deal to reduce the crippling 39% import tariffs on Switzerland to 15%, easing a growing burden on the Alpine country’s export-dependent economy and the steepest tariff the Trump administration had imposed on a developed nation.

    “We’ve essentially reached a [trade] deal with Switzerland,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Friday on CNBC. “They are going to send a lot of their manufacturing to the United States—pharmaceuticals, gold smelting, railway equipment.”

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  • UN Tribunal Says Geriatric Genocide Suspect Cannot Be Sent to Rwanda

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    THE HAGUE (Reuters) -The United Nations war crimes tribunal on Friday ruled that a geriatric Rwandan genocide suspect, who has been found unfit to stand trial, is also not fit to travel to Rwanda and will need to remain in a U.N. detention unit as no states will accept him.

    In their ruling, U.N. judges called on European states to take in nonagenarian Felicien Kabuga who is now wheelchair-bound and largely confined to the detention centre’s hospital unit.

    In 2023, the U.N. court said that Kabuga would not have to stand trial on genocide charges due to his dementia. Kabuga is in his early nineties, though his precise date of birth is disputed. He was arrested in France in 2020 after more than 20 years on the run.

    The former businessman and radio station owner was one of the last suspects sought by the tribunal prosecuting crimes committed in the 1994 genocide, when ruling Hutu majority extremists killed more than 800,000 minority Tutsis and Hutu moderates in 100 days.

    Prosecutors say Kabuga promoted hate speech through his broadcaster, Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), and armed ethnic Hutu militias.

    (Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Russia Says North Korean Troops Play Key Role in De-Mining Its Kursk Region

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    (Reuters) -North Korean troops who helped Russia repel a major Ukrainian incursion into its western Kursk region are now playing an important role in clearing the area of mines, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday.

    Under a mutual defence pact between the two countries, North Korea last year sent some 14,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russia in Kursk, and more than 6,000 were killed, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western sources.

    Ukrainian forces smashed across the border in August 2024 and held on to substantial pockets of territory for months. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in April that Russia had finally pushed them out, with help from the North Koreans.

    The significant North Korean role in Russia’s de-mining operations highlights the desire on both sides to further develop their military ties, which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said last month would “advance non-stop”.

    Video published by the Russian Defence Ministry showed North Korean troops being shown different types of mines and mine detection equipment, taking part in training exercises and singing patriotic songs.

    “They’re great lads, they learn quickly, listen attentively and take notes,” said a Russian commander with the call sign “Veles”.

    A second commander, “Lesnik”, said: “They are on an equal level with my sappers, carrying out the same tasks as my lads.”

    Russian military news outlet Krasnaya Zvezda said the Russian and North Korean soldiers were dealing with a “previously unseen density” of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines left behind by Ukrainian forces in Kursk. It said many of the devices had been manufactured by NATO countries.

    In the Bolshesoldatsky region of Kursk, 37 out of 64 settlements were still no-go areas for civilians because of the danger from mines, it said.

    The sappers were coming under attack by Ukrainian artillery and drones while carrying out their work, according to the report, which Reuters could not independently verify.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow was grateful for the “selfless, heroic assistance”.

    “We will never forget this help. This work continues. It is dangerous and difficult, but our Korean friends are truly helping us, and we greatly appreciate it,” he said.

    (Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov, Editing by William Maclean)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • BHP Liable for 2015 Brazil Dam Collapse, UK Court Rules in Mammoth Lawsuit

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    LONDON (Reuters) -BHP is liable for the 2015 collapse of a dam in southeastern Brazil, London’s High Court ruled on Friday, in a lawsuit the claimants’ lawyers previously valued at up to 36 billion pounds ($48 billion).

    Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians, dozens of local governments and around 2,000 businesses sued BHP over the collapse of the Fundao dam in Mariana, southeastern Brazil, which was owned and operated by BHP and Vale’s Samarco joint venture.

    Brazil’s worst environmental disaster unleashed a wave of toxic sludge that killed 19 people, left thousands homeless, flooded forests and polluted the length of the Doce River.

    Judge Finola O’Farrell said in her ruling that continuing to raise the height of the dam when it was not safe to do so was the “direct and immediate cause” of the dam’s collapse, meaning BHP was liable under Brazilian law.

    BHP said it would appeal against the ruling and continue to fight the lawsuit.

    BHP’s President Minerals Americas Brandon Craig said in a statement that 240,000 claimants in the London lawsuit “have already been paid compensation in Brazil”.

    “We believe this will significantly reduce the size and value of claims in the UK group action,” he added.

    CLAIMANTS CELEBRATE MAJOR RULING

    Gelvana Rodrigues da Silva, who lost her seven-year-old son Thiago in the flood, said in a statement: “Finally, justice has begun to be served, and those responsible have been held accountable for destroying our lives.”

    “The judge’s decision shows what we have been saying for the last 10 years: it was not an accident, and BHP must take responsibility for its actions,” she added.

    The claimants’ lawyers accused BHP, the world’s biggest miner by market value, of “cynically and doggedly” trying to avoid responsibility as the mammoth trial began in October.

    BHP contested liability and said the London lawsuit duplicated legal proceedings and reparation and repair programmes in Brazil.

    In the trial’s first week, Brazil signed a 170 billion reais ($31 billion) compensation agreement with BHP, Vale and Samarco, with BHP saying nearly $12 billion has been spent on reparation, compensation and payments to public authorities since 2015.

    BHP said after Friday’s judgment that settlements in Brazil would reduce the size of the London lawsuit by about half.

    A second trial to determine the damages BHP is liable to pay is due to begin in October 2026.

    (Reporting by Sam Tobin. Editing by Kate Holton and Mark Potter)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • UN Human Rights Council Begins Emergency Session on Sudan

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    GENEVA (Reuters) -A special session on the situation in al-Fashir, Sudan, opened on Friday at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva following grave concerns about mass killings during the fall of the city to paramilitary forces.

    States will consider a draft resolution which requests a U.N. fact-finding mission to conduct an urgent inquiry into recent violations allegedly committed by the Rapid Support Forces and their allies in al-Fashir, as well as identifying the perpetrators.

    In an opening address to delegates, U.N. human rights chief urged the international community to act.

    “There has been too much pretence and performance, and too little action. It must stand up against these atrocities – a display of naked cruelty used to subjugate and control an entire population,” said the High Commissioner for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Volker Turk.

    The fall of al-Fashir on October 26 to the RSF cemented their control of the Darfur region in the more than 2-1/2-year civil war with the Sudanese army.

    (Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, additional reporting by Emme Farge; Editing by Aidan Lewis)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • UK Culture Minister Welcomes BBC Apology to Trump

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    LONDON (Reuters) -British culture minister Lisa Nandy said on Friday it was right that the BBC had apologised to U.S. President Donald Trump over a documentary his lawyers called defamatory.

    “They’ve rightly accepted that they didn’t meet the highest standards,” Nandy told Times Radio. “I think it’s also right that they’ve apologised.”

    The documentary, which aired on the BBC’s “Panorama” news programme just before the U.S. presidential election in 2024, spliced together three parts of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the Capitol. The edit created the impression he had called for violence.

    (Reporting by Sarah Young and Kate Holton, editing by Catarina Demony)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • US Approves Potential $330 Million Military Sale to Taiwan, First Under Trump

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    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. approved the possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet spare and repair parts for $330 million, the Pentagon said late on Thursday, marking the first such potential transaction since President Donald Trump took office in January.

    “The proposed sale will improve the recipient’s capability to meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness of the recipient’s fleet of F-16, C-130,” and other aircraft, the Pentagon said in a statement.

    China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island. Taiwan’s government strongly objects to Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.

    Trump says Chinese President Xi Jinping has told him he will not invade Taiwan while the Republican leader is in office.

    The announcement of the possible arms sale comes after Trump and Xi met late last month in South Korea in an effort to secure a trade deal. Ahead of the meeting there was a fear in Taipei there could have been some sort of “selling out” of Taiwan’s interests by Trump to Xi.

    Washington has formal diplomatic ties with Beijing, but maintains unofficial ties with Taiwan and is the island’s most important arms supplier.

    (Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Kate Mayberry)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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