WORLD NEWS May 31: EU agrees to ban 2/3 of Russian oil; Canada bans possession of handguns

Greenpeace members protest against Hungary’s decision to embargo Russian oil. A banner reading “Standing for peace, not for oil” in front of the Hungarian Parliament building in the capital Budapest on May 30 – Photo: REUTERS

* Until the evening of May 30 in Brussels (Belgium), The 27 member states of the European Union (EU) have just reached an agreement to embargo Russian oil, targeting more than two-thirds of oil imports from Russia.

European Council President Charles Michel said the oil import cuts carried out between now and the end of the year “will reduce major financial resources” with Russia and put maximum pressure on Moscow to end hostilities. in Ukraine.

In addition to the oil ban, the new package of sanctions against Russia will include other important measures, including the cancellation of SWIFT’s participation in the international payment system of Russia’s largest bank Sberbank, the banning of three home television stations. country of Russia, which lists individuals who have committed war crimes in Ukraine, according to the official.

Hungary, a landlocked country heavily dependent on Russian oil, has previously opposed any oil embargo unless it was granted waivers for at least four years. to allow time to prepare and the EU to finance 800 million euros to repair the country’s refineries to make them suitable for other sources of crude oil.

* On May 30, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had issued a new law to implement Prohibition of owning guns handguns and bans the purchase and sale of handguns nationwide.

“Besides sporting guns and shotguns, there’s no reason anyone in Canada needs a gun in their day-to-day life,” Trudeau said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a press conference on the arms control law introduced on May 30 at the House of Commons in Ottawa – Photo: REUTERS

* According to Reuters news agency, on May 30, the German Foreign Ministry said that the trip to China of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet failed to clarify allegations of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region as expected.

A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry explained that due to restrictions from the Beijing government, free access to individuals and places was not possible during the trip. “This means that it is not possible to have an independent assessment of the situation on the spot,” the German side said.

However, the spokesman added that Germany continued to expect Ms. Bachelet to publish a report on the human rights situation in Xinjiang as soon as possible.

* Leclerc-Imhoff, 32 years old, reporter for French channel BFMTV, shot to death while boarding a humanitarian bus with civilians fleeing Russian bombs in Severodonetsk, Ukraine.

According to Reuters news agency, France called for an investigation into the incident. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, this is the 32nd journalist to die in the war.

Journalist Leclerc-Imhoff – Photo: CNN

* Nepal’s rescue force on May 30 found 21 of the 22 victims’ bodies in the De Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter plane crash in the country a day earlier.

* On May 30, Russia’s state energy corporation Gazprom confirmed will cut off natural gas supplies to Dutch gas trader GasTerra from May 31.

“Gazprom Export stops supplying gas from May 31, 2022 until payment is made according to established procedures,” the announcement on Gazprom’s Telegram channel said, referring to the presidential decree. Russia Vladimir Putin on the payment of gas in rubles.

The Dutch side GasTerra refused to pay in rubles. Russia has cut off gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland for the same reason.