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Auf der Saslong soll ein einziges Training durchgeführt werden, damit die Ski-Asse am Mittwoch «eine präventive Pause» erhalten.

Kevin Fiala lebt in Kalifornien seinen NHL-Traum. Der 26-jährige Schweizer führt mit 31 Scorerpunkten aus 30 Partien die Liste der Los Angeles Kings an. Blick hat den Flügelstürmer zum Interview getroffen.

Az Európai Unió energiaellátása a tél folyamán biztosított, jövőre azonban akár 30 milliárd köbméter gáz hiányával is számolni kell - jelentette ki Ursula von der Leyen, az Európai Bizottság elnöke az EU gázellátásának 2023-as kilátásairól tartott sajtótájékoztatóján hétfőn.

Die Sorge vor einer militärischen Eskalation im Kosovo wächst. Nach Belarus wäre es der nächste Schweizer Quali-Gegner auf dem Weg zur EM 2024, der in einen Krieg gezogen würde.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola delivered the following statement at the opening of the plenary session in Strasbourg on Monday.

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola delivered the following statement at the opening of the plenary session in Strasbourg on Monday.

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

Horror-Szenario im Jura: Ein Mann erfasste seinen Freund mit dem Auto. Dieser hatte sich an der Dachreling des Fahrzeugs festgehalten und war gestürzt.

Certains cantons se sont déjà opposés aux thérapies de conversion, mais une législation uniforme au niveau fédéral est en cours d’élaboration.

Written by Agnieszka Widuto, Jakub Przetacznik and Sidonia Mazur.

On 23 November 2022, the European Parliament partnered with Eurocities to launch the ‘Generators of Hope’ campaign in order to provide Ukraine with energy equipment for the winter. Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure temporarily left around 10 million Ukrainians without electricity, while temperatures have already dropped below zero. The campaign will facilitate city-to-city donations of power generators, transformers and other devices, sent with the logistical support of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

‘Generators of Hope’ initiative – How does it work?

The ‘Generators of Hope‘ campaign was launched on 23 November 2022 by Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, and Dario Nardella, President of Eurocities and Mayor of Florence, a city twinned with the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. Eurocities is a network of over 200 of the largest cities in 38 countries, with many of the organisation’s members already providing support to Ukraine. The campaign aims to facilitate city-to-city support in order to meet Ukraine’s energy needs in view of the targeted Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure. It calls on cities to donate energy equipment to Ukrainian cities, in order to keep essential services running and provide energy to ‘hospitals, schools, water supply facilities, relief centres, shelters, phone masts and more’, according to the campaign’s website. On 8 December 2022, the European Parliament announced a donation of a generator to Ukraine as part of the campaign.

Ukrainian authorities have provided a list of equipment needed to replace the damaged energy infrastructure. This includes ‘generators (from less than 10 kW to more than 300 kW), heating centres, transformers, autotransformers, current and voltage transformers, reactors, circuit breakers, disconnectors, surge arresters, batteries, as well as relay protection and emergency automatic products’. Generators and high-voltage electrical equipment, such as transformers, play an important role in providing back-up power supply in case of emergency and power outage.

Cities that wish to donate energy equipment can contact their national civil protection authorities, which will help arrange the logistical transport to one of the three hubs operating in Poland, Romania and Slovakia under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The equipment will then be transported to Ukraine, with the whole procedure expected to be completed within a few days. The 24/7 contact point is the Emergency Response Coordination Centre.

Situation in Ukraine

Russia’s war on Ukraine has now been going on for nine months and Ukrainian citizens have paid the highest price to defend the country’s independence. In recent months, the Ukrainian army has liberated significant areas of the country; in response, Russia has increased its attacks against civilian infrastructure. Around half of the country’s power capacity has been damaged and the network is constantly under repair; it is estimated that the attack on 16 November alone caused power shortages in 10 700 000 households, equal to half of the country. Russia continues to shell civilian infrastructure, including electricity grids, cutting people off from water, electricity and heating, health services and communication tools ahead of winter, during which daily temperatures may reach -20OC. Ukraine is opening over 4 000 points of invincibility that provide the civilian population with access to independent heating, energy for mobile devices and basic services in case of major disturbances caused by shelling.

The EU Commissioner for Crisis Management assessed back in mid-November that ‘the destruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is reaching a critical point’, making the scaling up of ‘winterisation‘ assistance a main priority of EU humanitarian assistance. Several EU Member States are already preparing for a possible ‘new wave‘ of refugees.

Ukraine’s energy needs and interconnection with the EU grid

Around 53 % of households – especially in cities – are heated through district heating systems, with thermal energy being produced by combined heat and power plants (CHPs) and over 19 000 heat-only boilers (HOBs). In 2021, HOBs transported thermal energy by 1.9 million km of pipelines and distributed warmth to households through over 5 500 central heating points. They are also being targeted by Russian shelling, and require electricity to function. In 2021, 55 % of Ukraine’s energy was produced by its four nuclear power plants (NPP), while almost 24 % of its energy was produced by 12 thermal power plants. The biggest NPP in Europe – Zaporizhzhia (ZNPP), occupied since early March 2022 – used to account for around half of the Ukrainian NPPs’ production. The remaining NPPs together produce around the same amount of energy as ZNPP alone; all of them are being repeatedly switched off, due to Russian missile strikes. Ukraine’s urgent electricity grid synchronisation with the EU’s took place on 16 March 2022, thanks to which trade in electricity with Ukraine is possible and started at the end of June. Over the summer, it was Ukraine that exported its energy surplus to the EU.

Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure as a war crime

International humanitarian law (IHL) – many of the rules of which have been broken by Russia – and specifically the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, explicitly prohibits attacks against objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, but does not explicitly mention electrical infrastructure. The commentary specifies that the definition of indispensable objects can depend on local climatic conditions. Moreover, the 1977 Additional Protocol II prohibits attacks or threats for which the primary purpose is to spread terror among the civilian population. Research by Human Rights Watch assesses that, by repeatedly targeting critical energy infrastructure, and knowing its impact on the civilian population, ‘Russia appears to be seeking unlawfully to create terror among civilians’ and make life ‘untenable for as many Ukrainian civilians as possible’. The two protocols have been ratified by Russia and 170 other countries (but not the US), and are therefore binding on Russia.

European Union aid to Ukraine

The EU and Western allies are supporting the country with in-kind, financial, diplomatic and military assistance. While Ukraine has received considerable support from the EU and European financial institutions since 2014, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, relaunched on 24 February 2022, has triggered two-fold and unprecedented mobilisation of EU and Member States’ funds for humanitarian action and military support. Support from ‘Team Europe’ has steadily increased, to €19.7 billion in financial, humanitarian, emergency and budget support, with a further €3.1 billion in military assistance via the European Peace Facility, supplemented by bilateral military assistance. For 2023, the Commission has proposed to provide Ukraine with macrofinancial assistance of €18 billion in highly concessional loans to support essential state functions and public services, maintain macro-financial stability and repair critical infrastructure.

EU Civil Protection Mechanism (EUCPM) for Generators of Hope

The logistics of the Generators of Hope initiative are expected to be financed through the EUCPM. The EUCPM facilitates cooperation between the EU, the EU Member States and eight other participating states in the field of civil protection to improve the emergency response to natural and man-made disasters. Based on lessons learnt from managing the coronavirus crisis, the EUCPM was strengthened in organisational and budgetary terms in 2021. The EUCPM has already been activated for Ukraine, becoming the EUCPM’s largest-ever operation. All 27 EU countries, plus Norway, Turkey, North Macedonia and Iceland, have offered medical supplies, shelter items, vehicles and energy equipment, including generators. The items are being delivered to Ukraine directly or through logistical hubs established in Poland, Romania and Slovakia. As of 16 November, almost 74 000 tonnes of aid had been delivered. In addition, the EU coordinates medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients to EU hospitals and supports Ukrainian refugees across Europe.

On 23 November, the European Parliament adopted a resolution which states that the destruction of civilian infrastructure, together with the deliberate attacks and atrocities against the civilian population ‘amount to acts of terror against the Ukrainian population and constitute war crimes’. Based on this, the Parliament recognises Russia as both a state sponsor of terrorism and a state which uses means of terrorism.

Read this ‘at a glance’ on ‘Generators of Hope: Delivering energy equipment to Ukraine for the winter ahead‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Le duo Toofan a présenté, vendredi 9 décembre 2022, en avant-première un nouvel album à travers un spectacle au jardin de l'Ambassade des Etats-Unis d'Amérique au Togo.

6e album du groupe Toofan après 17 ans de carrière. Intitulé Stamina, l'album est composé de 14 titres. Must Just et Barabas abordent différents thèmes notamment l'amour, les réalités sociales, l'espoir, la sécurité, la paix et le vivre ensemble. Selon Must Just, Stamina c'est l'endurance, la capacité à surmonter les épreuves.

« Nous avons choisi de chanter pour les cœurs blessés et les opprimés. Nous faisons chanter et danser tout le monde. Mais fin 2019, début 2020, la Covid-19 est arrivée. Et pendant 2 ans, on ne savait que faire. 2 ans à se demander si c'était le bon choix qu'on avait fait. Voilà pourquoi on est Stamina », a expliqué le leader du groupe Toofan.

Pour l'Ambassadrice des Etats-Unis au Togo, « c'est une joie d'avoir les ambassadeurs de la paix à l'Ambassade des Etats-Unis au Togo ». « Nous montrons à travers ce concert que la paix et la sécurité sont très importantes. C'est aussi une manière de célébrer la jeunesse togolaise », a affirmé Son Excellence Mme Elisabeth Fitzsimmons.

Le précédent album ‘'Conquistador'' du groupe togolais a remporté un succès auprès des mélomanes. Toofan est le meilleur groupe africain et meilleur artiste francophone aux All Africa Music Awards 2018. Le groupe a signé avec Universal Music France en 2017.

Akpédjé Ayosso

Le fils du chef du Polisario est accusé dans l'affaire d'introduction clandestine de son père en Espagne en avril 2021.

Luali Brahim Sid Mustafa, fils du chef du Front Polisario inculpé. Il est accusé d'avoir fourni le faux passeport ayant permis à son père de s'introduire en Espagne. Brahim Gali a été admis à l'hôpital Logrono en avril 2021 sous le nom de Mohamed Benbatouch. Cette opération clandestine a déclenché une crise diplomatique entre Madrid et Rabat. La justice a visé l'ex-Cheffe de la diplomatie Arancha Gonzalez Laya, et le Chef du Gouvernement Pedro Sanchez. Après plus d'un an d'enquête, le juge d'instruction du Tribunal de Saragosse, Rafael Lasala, a décidé de classer l'affaire en raison de preuves suffisantes pour engager des poursuites. Pour le tribunal, c'est « un acte politique qui dépasse le cadre de la prévarication ».

L'affaire a repris avec un autre accusé dans le viseur du juge Lasala. Selon les informations, c'est le fils du chef du Front Polisario, Luali Brahim Sid Mustafa, qui a accompagné son père dans l'avion de la présidence algérienne. Il était aussi la seule personne ayant l'autorisation d'accéder au sol espagnol.
Le juge estime que le fils de Brahim Gali serait celui qui a fourni le faux passeport. Il a rendu une ordonnance en donnant un délai de dix jours à Luali Brahim pour comparaitre devant le tribunal. Les Corps et Forces de Sécurité de l'Etat espagnol sont invités à rechercher le fils de Brahim Gali pour le mettre à la disposition de la Justice.

Akpédjé Ayosso

Le tribunal de Dar El Beida à Alger a requis de lourdes peines à l’encontre d’un groupe de malfaiteurs qui exerce la contrefaçon de monnaie. En effet, l’enquête ouverte a dévoilé plusieurs détails  sur cette affaire. Tout d’abord, on notera que les faits de cette affaire remontent au 21 juillet 2020.  Dans le détail, à […]

L’article Fausse monnaie : un réseau géré par un malien démantelé à Alger est apparu en premier sur .

In einem Hotel der afghanischen Hauptstadt Kabul kam es zu einem Anschlag. Dabei wurden auch ausländische Gäste verletzt.

Local municipalities in the EU and third countries are partnering up to boost local economic and social development, exchange best practices and promote civic participation.

La consultation sur les mesures contraignantes, comme le chauffage à 18 °C, se termine ce lundi. Voici les quatre principales critiques.

Der Konflikt zwischen Serbien und dem Kosovo spitzt sich zu. Ein serbischer Militärkonvoi ist auf dem Weg in Richtung Grenze. Geht jetzt das nächste Pulverfass in Osteuropa hoch?

La responsable chargée des questions relatives à la biodiversité au sien des Nations Unies affirme que les pourparlers mondiaux sont en cours à Montréal. Ce conclave est une occasion ultime de lutter contre la détérioration de l’environnement.

A koholt vádak alapján elfogott ártatlan szerbek szabadon engedését követelte Aleksandar Vučić szerb köztársasági elnök hétfői belgrádi sajtótájékoztatóján.

Die Diva gegen den ewig Gestrigen: so könnte man den Streit zwischen Thomas Gottschalk und Sarah Connor beschreiben. Die Sängerin hatte den Moderator wegen eines Spruches an den Social-Media-Pranger gestellt. Nun schiesst Gottschalk nach.

In einem Hotel der afghanischen Hauptstadt Kabul kam es zu einem Anschlag. Dabei wurden auch ausländische Gäste verletzt.