Month: September 2020

Greek authorities have begun moving thousands of refugees to a new army-built camp on the island of Lesbos after a fire destroyed the country’s largest migrant facility last week.  More than 12,500 people from 70 countries, mostly refugees from Afghanistan, African nations, and Syria, were left without shelter and access to food, water, and proper …

Read more “Greece Moves Refugees From Burned Camp to New Shelter”

Associates of Alexei Navalny say traces of the nerve agent used to poison the Russian opposition politician were found on a water bottle in the hotel room he was staying in in the Russian city of Tomsk.Navalny, 44, felt unwell while on a plane on his way from Tomsk to Moscow in late August, forcing …

Read more “Navalny’s Team: Water Bottle with Poison Traces Found in Hotel Room”

Only about six percent of the world’s professional classical music orchestras are headed by women. But in France, there is a drive to change that, including La Maestra – an international competition for women conductors in Paris.  The winner of the contest, which attracted more than 200 applicants from Asia, Europe and the Americas, will …

Read more “France Launches Effort to Right Classical Music’s Gender Imbalance”

The United States vowed to assert a “snapback” of all prior international sanctions on Iran, effective 8 p.m. Eastern Time on September 19, with more announcements to be made this weekend and next week as to exactly how Washington is planning to enforce the “returned U.N. sanctions.”“We will return to the United Nations to reimpose sanctions …

Read more “US Vows to Restore International Sanctions on Iran”

Doctors and local politicians in Turkey are voicing concerns that the government is downplaying the scale of the resurgent coronavirus outbreak. The latest official figures suggest there are around 1,700 new infections and around 60 deaths every day across the country – but doctors say the numbers don’t add up. As Henry Ridgwell reports, opposition …

Read more “Turkey Accused of Coronavirus Cover-Up as Cases Rise”

Belarusian opposition leader and human rights advocate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has expressed regret that President Alexander Lukashenko met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as a leading human rights organization accused Belarusian security forces of unlawfully arresting thousands of people and torturing hundreds of others. The two authoritarian leaders met Monday at a Black Sea resort in Sochi, …

Read more “Belarusian Opposition Leader Denounces Lukashenko Meeting With Putin”

The U.S. government announced sanctions Wednesday on two Russian nationals for their role in the theft of at least $16.8 million worth of cryptocurrency.In the phishing scheme, which was conducted in 2017 and 2018, Danil Potekhin and Dmitrii Karasavidi allegedly created web sites that looked like legitimate currency exchange sites. Victims would enter their information, …

Read more “US Sanctions 2 Russians in Crypto Theft Scheme”

A Paris court has sentenced former World Athletics chief Lamine Diack to four years in prison on charges of corruption, money laundering and abuse of confidence.  The charges stemmed from a Russian doping scandal, and for accepting Russian money to finance the 2012 election campaign of a Senegalese president.   The judgment has 87-year-old Senegalese …

Read more “Former Global Athletics Chief Sentenced for Corruption Over Russian Doping Scandal”

U.N. officials say they are erecting temporary shelters at lightning speed to accommodate thousands of refugees and migrants left homeless by the fire that destroyed the Moria Reception Center on the Greek Island of Lesbos last week.Asylum seekers are sleeping in makeshift shelters or out in the open, in fields, groves and parking lots.The U.N. …

Read more “UN Sets Up Emergency Shelters for Lesbos Refugees After Fire”

From the outside, it seems like any other block of flats in Madrid.Inside, however, is the Fundación National Francisco Franco, or Francisco Franco National Foundation, an institution that preserves the memory of the man who ruled Spain for nearly four decades until his death in 1975.To some, it is a shrine to a fascist dictator, …

Read more “Law Giving Redress to Franco Regime Victims Divides Spain”

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has confirmed reports of his improved health following a near fatal poisoning in Siberia last month — posting to social media from his hospital room in Germany while his team insisted he plans to return home to Russia once fully recovered.  “Hi, this is Navalny. I miss you all,” he wrote in a comment accompanying an Instagram photograph of …

Read more “Poisoned Russian Opposition Leader Shows Signs of Recovery”

Europe has called on China to take down trade barriers and rebalance the economic relationship, following a virtual summit held Monday between EU leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping. EU officials also raised human rights issues including the crackdown on protests in Hong Kong – but Beijing is rejecting any interference in its affairs. Henry …

Read more “China Rejects Human Rights Criticism as Brussels Seeks Trade Rebalancing”

Scientists at a Russian university have announced the discovery of a remarkably well-preserved ice age cave bear, with much of its soft tissue including its nose, flesh and teeth intact.In a statement, scientists from North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Yakutsk say reindeer herders on Great Lyakhovsky island in the New Siberian Islands archipelago discovered the carcass …

Read more “Well-Preserved Ice Age Cave Bear Remains Found on Russian Island”

A high-profile virtual summit among Chinese and EU leaders this week has spurred some influential Europeans to rethink their continent’s relationship with Beijing, and especially whether economic considerations have been overemphasized at the expense of human rights.Monday’s digital get-together — led by Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor and current EU President Angela Merkel …

Read more “EU-China Summit Has Some Germans Rethinking Relations With Beijing”

Europe has called on China to take down trade barriers and rebalance their economic relationship, following a virtual summit held Monday among EU leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping.  European leaders also raised human rights concerns, but Beijing has rejected what it calls interference in its affairs.  Monday’s videoconference was a substantially downsized version of …

Read more “China Rejects Human Rights Criticism as EU Seeks Trade Rebalance”

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock appeared before Parliament Tuesday to defend the government’s response to recent surges in the COVID-19 pandemic.  Hancock told members of Parliament the virus is surging in Britain, and the infection rate is on the rise. As a result, the demand for testing has risen, and the government was prioritizing who …

Read more “British Health Secretary Defends COVID-19 Testing, Restrictions”

Five years after a wave of asylum seekers flooded into Europe, the region is facing another reckoning on migration, with familiar bickering and lack of consensus on the way forward.The numbers of arrivals are far smaller today than they were in 2015. The iconic images now driving migration back into the headlines are no longer …

Read more “EU Mulls Migration Pact in Shadow of Lesbos Fire”