Month: February 2020

Bus drivers in Moscow kept their WhatsApp group chat buzzing with questions this week about what to do if they spotted passengers who might be from China riding with them in the Russian capital.”Some Asian-looking [people] have just got on. Probably Chinese. Should I call [the police]?” one driver messaged his peers. “How do I …

Read more “Moscow Targets Chinese with Raids Amid Virus Fears”

Eight people were killed in Turkey in a magnitude 5.7 earthquake that struck western Iran early Sunday morning, Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said.The quake centered on the Iranian city of Khoy and affected villages in the Turkish province of Van.Soylu told a news conference in Ankara that three children and four adults were killed …

Read more “Eight Dead in Turkey as 5.7 Earthquake Strikes Western Iran”

A few years ago, the newly elected Kosovo prime minister overturned Serbian trucks. But Albin Kurti now says he is ready to revoke tariffs introduced by his predecessor on Serbian goods.Kurti, who took office in early February, is backed by most of 1.8 million inhabitants of the former Serbian province for such a move but …

Read more “New Kosovo Leader Ready to Revoke Tariffs for Serbian Goods”

A respected Catholic figure who worked to improve conditions for the developmentally disabled for more than half a century sexually abused at least six women during most of that period, according to a report released Saturday by the France-based charity he founded.The report produced for L’Arche International said the women’s descriptions provided enough evidence to …

Read more “Report: Catholic Charity Founder Sexually Abused Women”

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday promised to safeguard European farm subsidies, secure compensation for wine producers hit by U.S. tariffs and defend fishermen in talks with Britain, as France’s farming world faces an uncertain year. Opening the annual Paris farm show, Macron said France would continue to oppose cuts to agricultural subsidies, a day after …

Read more “Macron Vows to Defend French Farmers, Fishermen in Uncertain Year”

The U.S. government warned Spain this week about the security risk inherent in opening its fifth-generation communications networks to Chinese mobile technology providers. In meetings Thursday and Friday, U.S. officials warned Spanish officials and telecommunications executives that the U.S. could stop sharing sensitive information with Spain if the Chinese firms reportedly involved in 5G technology were not excluded from local markets. Robert Strayer, U.S. deputy …

Read more “US Pressures Spain on Chinese Tech Firms”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said he would hold a summit with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany on March 5 to discuss the situation in Syria’s last rebel enclave of Idlib.”We will come together on March 5 and discuss these issues,” Erdogan said in a televised speech, following a phone call …

Read more “Erdogan to Hold Syria Summit With Russia, France and Germany”

European Union leaders are still seeking a compromise on their next seven-year, trillion-plus-dollar budget. But they ended two days of talks so divided they couldn’t set a date for their next meeting.European unity over Brexit was nowhere to be seen during this first meeting since Britain’s departure from the EU. Leaders of the 27 remaining …

Read more “EU Searches for Way Forward After Budget Deadlock”

Greece says it will deport “migrant troublemakers” to their homelands in a bid to combat rising crime and surging migration inflows that have reached a breaking point for the refugee-swollen country.The announcement by Public Order Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis follows the recent deadly shooting of a 23-year-old Afghan man in a heated standoff with a rival …

Read more “Greece Scraps Asylum Requests for Migrant ‘Troublemakers’”

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is condemning any Russian efforts to interfere in the 2020 U.S. election. The Vermont senator issued a statement immediately after The Washington Post reported U.S. officials told Sanders that Russia was trying to help his campaign. The statement did not confirm the report. Sanders wrote: “I don’t care, frankly, who Putin wants to be …

Read more “Sanders Condemns Any Russian Influence in Election “

Italian officials ordered schools, public buildings, restaurants and coffee shops closed in a tiny town in northern Italy Friday after six people tested positive for the new virus, including some who had not been to China or the source of the global health emergency.      The new cases represented the first infections in Italy …

Read more “Italy Town Shuts Schools, Cafes as 6 Test Positive for Virus”

Six police officers and 27 other people are under investigation in a major passport fraud case that included issuing Greek state identity documents under false pretenses to criminal fugitives from abroad, Greek authorities said Friday.      The police’s internal affairs division said 38 state identity cards and 31 passports issued between 2016 and 2018 …

Read more “Greece: Police Officers Implicated in Major Passport Scam”