Month: January 2018

Russian hacking operations to support Catalonian independence are continuing and could intensify, according to a report published this week by the Center for Strategic and Defense Studies, CESEDEN, a Spanish Defense Ministry think tank. The report claims Russia is destabilizing Spain as tensions escalate in the rebellious northeastern region.   “The Kremlin is taking advantage …

Read more “Spain Warns Russia’s Catalonia Hacking Efforts Could Intensify”

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday issued a strong rebuke of Turkey’s offensive against a U.S.-allied Kurdish militia in northern Syria, saying it is distracting from the fight against Islamic State militants. “The violence in Afrin disrupts what was a relatively stable area of Syria. It distracts from international efforts to ensure the defeat …

Read more “Mattis: Turkish Offensive ‘Distracts’ from Anti-IS Fight”

The Russian human rights group Memorial says unknown attackers have torched one of its cars in the North Caucasus region of Daghestan in the latest assault on the activists. …

A Roma man has given hope to his fellow residents in Tajikstan, helping to provide an education to children that he was never able to have himself. (RFE/RL’s Tajik Service) …

Amid criticism from Russia, officials from dozens of countries are meeting in Paris for the launch of a new initiative targeting the perpetrators of chemical attacks. …

Hugh Masekela, the trumpeter, composer and anti-apartheid activist known as the “father of South African jazz” has died at the age of 78 in Johannesburg. A statement by released by his family Tuesday said Masekela, affectionately called “Bra Hugh,” passed away “after a protracted and courageous battle with prostate cancer.” He announced last October that …

Read more “Legendary South African Trumpeter Hugh Masekela Dies”

In Kosovo and Serbia alike, many people want to see those responsible for Oliver Ivanovic’s death brought to justice as swiftly as possible. That will require cooperation. (The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.) …

U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker says he is scheduled to hold a new round of talks with Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov in Dubai on Jan. 26. Volker told VOA’s Ukrainian Service that he will arrive in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday and stop in Kyiv on Thursday, before heading to Dubai to discuss …

Read more “US Special Envoy for Ukraine Confirms Russia Talks”

The U.S. Senate advanced a stop-gap funding bill on Monday that paves the way to reopen the federal government three days into a partial shutdown that was triggered in part by a partisan brawl over immigration.   Thirty-three Democrats joined 48 Republicans to end debate in the 100-member chamber on a bill extending the government’s …

Read more “US Senate Paves Way to End Partial Government Shutdown”

Poland’s right-wing government faced pressure on Monday to act forcefully against far-right extremists following an expose of Polish neo-Nazis who celebrated Adolf Hitler, burning a swastika and dressing in Nazi German uniforms. Private news channel TVN24 broadcast hidden-camera footage Saturday of neo-Nazis celebrating what would have been Hitler’s 128th birthday in a wooded area in …

Read more “Polish Government Pressured to Act Following Report on Neo-Nazis”

Leaders from Greece and Macedonia say they will meet in Switzerland this week as they continue to seek a solution to a nearly three-decade-old name dispute. …

The prosecutor in the trial of three Belarusian journalists charged with illegal entrepreneurship and inciting ethnic hatred has asked a court in Minsk to hand suspended sentences to the defendants, which would spare them from prison. …

Tens of thousands of flag-waving Greeks rallied in Thessaloniki Sunday, demanding Greece never compromise on the name Macedonia for its northern province. Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic that shares the same name have been feuding over who gets to use it since Macedonia became independent Yugoslavia in 1991. Police put the turnout for Sunday’s …

Read more “Tens of Thousands of Greeks March to Demand Sole Right to the Name of Macedonia”

Tunisian special forces have killed a senior member of al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in a remote western area of the country, near the border with Algeria. Tunisian officials have identified the militant as Bilel Kobi, a senior aide to  Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, the leader of the militant group. Another jihadist was also killed …

Read more “Tunisian Forces Kill Senior al-Qaida Member”

Iranian media are reporting that members of parliament will be allowed access to prisoners who were detained during antigovernment protests that rocked the country beginning last December. …

A coastal highway in California has reopened nearly two weeks after it was swamped by a massive mudslide that killed 21 people. Highway 101, a key north-south route in California, was shut down after it was covered by 12 feet of mud after the deadly mudslide on January 9. Officials had promised a day earlier …

Read more “Key California Highway Reopens After Deadly Mudslide”