Month: February 2020

Turkey is deploying tanks and armor in Syria’s Idlib province as Damascus continues its offensive against the last rebel enclave. But in an apparent gesture to Moscow, Ankara is pledging to crack down on radical elements in Idlib, along with calls for “a lasting cease-fire.”  Damascus’s forces are claiming they are advancing against the rebels’ …

Read more “Turkey Continues Military Buildup in Syria, Seeking Diplomatic Solution From Moscow”

The European Union is being urged to become more militarily involved in Africa’s Sahel region amid a possible drawdown of U.S. troops and a fast-growing Islamist insurgency.Fallout from escalating unrest in the arid scrubland edging the Sahara dessert — threatening to push deeper into sub-Saharan Africa and potentially export instability and migration across the Mediterranean …

Read more “Europe Mulls Forceful Presence in Conflict-torn Sahel “

NATO says it will draw down troop levels in Afghanistan if the Taliban show they are willing and able to end violence in the country. That announcement followed a tentative deal struck between the U.S. and the Taliban this week. NATO’s secretary-general made the comments at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, where world leaders assembled to discuss the …

Read more “Western Democracy Under Threat, Security Conference Warns”

Kosovo and Serbia have signed a deal to reopen a highway and resume rail service between them. The agreement, signed Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, was brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina talks, Ambassador Richard Grenell.  Grenell said the deal represented “historic progress on economic development. Agreements on air, rail and …

Read more “Serbia, Kosovo to Reopen Highway, Rail Service”

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is calling on the Bulgarian authorities to stop trying to intimidate journalists, who the watchdog says are subjected to “personal and offensive” verbal attacks and threats by very senior officials.In a statement on February 13, Pauline Ades-Mevel, the head of RSF’s EU and Balkans desk, said European Parliament President David Sassoli …

Read more “Bulgarian Journalists Facing ‘Disgraceful Attacks’ By Top Officials”

Jewish leaders called Friday for better policing of hate speech on social media platforms over concerns prompted by recent attacks that people on the margins of society are being incited online to violence.Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis and chief rabbi of Moscow, said online radicalization was giving rise not only …

Read more “Jewish Leaders Seek Better Policing of Online Hate Speech”

French President Emmanuel Macron has unveiled a plan to protect glaciers and biodiversity in the French mountains. During a visit to the Alpine resort town of Chamonix on Thursday, Macron spoke of the importance of fighting climate change and preserving biodiversity to mark the launch of the French biodiversity office. He also visited a shrinking …

Read more “Macron Announces Measures to Protect Ice, Biodiversity of French Mountains”

The United States is trying to ease concerns about its decision to withdraw conventional troops from Africa and replace them with specialized military trainers.Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday the move will leave “roughly the same number of troops on the continent,” while giving U.S. commanders the capability to bolster partner forces.Speaking with reporters on …

Read more “In Africa, US Sees Trainers as ‘Better Fit’ Than Combat Troops”

Spanish opposition parties are calling for an investigation of a mysterious midnight meeting between Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and a senior Spanish cabinet official in Madrid’s airport last month, arguing that the session undercut Europe-wide sanctions against the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro.Lawmakers demanded at a stormy parliamentary session Wednesday that Transport Minister …

Read more “Airport Encounter With Venezuelan Vice President Roils Spanish Politics”

Italy’s far-right leader, Matteo Salvini, Thursday defended his position not to allow more than 100 migrants, who had been rescued at sea, to disembark from a coast guard vessel for six days last July. He said it was a shared decision with other members in the government. Salvini, who was interior minister and deputy prime …

Read more “Italian Far-Right Leader Matteo Salvini Could Face Trial for Detained Migrants”

The career U.S. diplomat who was ousted from her post in Ukraine by President Donald Trump, then was criticized by him as she testified at his impeachment hearings, warned that the State Department is facing a crisis with senior leaders who lack “vision.” Marie Yovanovitch, accepting an award at Georgetown University on Wednesday, portrayed the …

Read more “Ex-Ukraine Ambassador: State Department Leaders Lack Vision”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Pentagon chief Mark Esper will join hundreds of global leaders in Germany Friday for the three-day Munich Security Conference.Numerous security flashpoints around the world, from Syria, Yemen and Iran to Hong Kong, Ukraine and Libya, add to the growing tension and unease ahead of the summit, which takes …

Read more “Amid Soaring Tensions, Leaders Prepare for Key Global Security Summit”