Новости за 16.05.2024

At least seven people have died in northeastern Iran amid severe flooding and heavy rainfall in the city of Mashhad, with local authorities warning the death toll may rise as rescue operations continue.

A 6 billion-euro ($6.5 billion) development plan for the Western Balkans is a clear signal of the European Union's commitment to the economic and democratic transformation of the Western Balkans, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said on May 16.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said his visit to Tbilisi this week was meant to show support for demonstrators opposed to Georgia's "foreign agent" bill and to warn against a "fateful decision" that could derail all the work the country has done toward becoming an EU member.

Slovaks are still absorbing the shock the day after an unprecedented assassination attempt left its prime minister, Robert Fico, hospitalized with several gunshot wounds. The attack came amid high political tensions in the country.

The northeastern Chinese city has deep historic and cultural connections to Russia -- and to China's defense sector -- that the Russian leader is looking to play up as he works with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to create a lasting China-Russia relationship.

Security officers in Astana on May 16 detained Kazakh activist Aidar Syzdyqov on unspecified charges.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on May 16 that it summoned a representative of the British Embassy in Moscow to inform them that the United Kingdom's defense attache, A. T. Coghil, had been declared persona non grata and must leave country within one week.

The Russian Prosecutor-General's Office said on May 16 it labeled the independent news outlet Sota "undesirable organization" amid ongoing crackdown on free media.

Iranian officials in recent weeks have been openly threatening to weaponize the country’s nuclear program, a topic that has long been taboo. Analysts say that while Iran may primarily be trying to deter an attack on its nuclear sites, they warn that Tehran may deliver on its threats.

A Moscow court on May 16 extended the pretrial detentions of four Tajik nationals suspected of carrying out a terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall concert venue in March that left more than 140 dead.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has praised a border demarcation deal with neighboring Azerbaijan at a cabinet meeting in Yerevan as protesters outside called for his resignation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s children and their spouses have long benefitted from access to state contracts and the wealth of his friends. Now the romantic partner of his elder daughter has been tapped for a key role in a Russian billionaire's liquified-natural-gas projects.

Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on May 16 that  it detained 28 Pakistani nationals a day earlier for "working illegally" in a sewing shop in Bishkek.

A court in Kazakhstan has fined two activists from the Feminita movement that defends women's rights for taking part in an unsanctioned rally in Almaty to  protest against a 24-year prison sentence handed to former Economy Minister Quandyq Bishimbaev for violently beating his wife to death.

Dozens of residents of the town of Qulsary in Kazakhstan's western region of Atyrau have demanded immediate and higher compensations for their houses and households destroyed by devastating floods caused by abrupt warm weather in late March that led to massive snowmelt.

A Russian rights movement said on May 16 that police detained activist Olga Suvorova in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk while she was attending a doctor after a surgery and took her to a psychiatric clinic against her will for unknown reasons.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, critically injured in an assassination attempt, has regained consciousness following several hours of surgery, local media reported, as police charged a suspect with attempted murder in what officials are calling "an attack on democracy."

Iran's long-standing efforts to give workers two full days off have reached a milestone, with parliament approving a bill that would make Saturday an off day. But the campaign has faced backlash from clerics who argue that it threatens Iran's religious values.

Magomed Daudov, a close associate of the authoritarian ruler of Russia's Chechnya region in the North Caucasus, Ramzan Kadyrov, resigned as the speaker of the Chechen parliament on May 15 after serving in the post for nine years.

A court in Russia's Far East again refused to transfer to a less restrictive psychiatric clinic a Yakut shaman who became known across the country in 2019 for his attempts to march to Moscow to drive President Vladimir Putin out of the Kremlin.

A Russian court has replaced a 10 1/2 year prison term in the drugs-related conviction of a former leader of the banned Open Russia rights group, Lia Milushkina, with a more lenient sentence in a case widely considered to be politically motivated.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian praised a controversial border demarcation deal with Azerbaijan as a great success in opening remarks to a cabinet meeting on May 16.

Thousands of people have taken again to the streets of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, to protest a contentious "foreign agent" law that was passed by parliament despite weeks of popular demonstrations against it and warnings from the West.

Russian authorities added 17-year-old anti-war activist Yegor Balazeikin to the country's list of terrorists and extremists on May 15.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Beijing for a two-day state visit to China in a show of unity between the authoritarian allies.