Month: May 2021

Morocco and Spain traded new accusations on Monday in a diplomatic row triggered by the Western Sahara territorial issue that led this month to a migration crisis in Spain’s enclave in northern Morocco.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described Morocco’s actions in appearing to relax border controls with the enclave of Ceuta as unacceptable and an …

Read more “Morocco, Spain Trade Accusations of Violating Good ‘Neighborliness’”

As the world begins to travel again, Europe is sending migrants a loud message: Stay away!Greek border police are firing bursts of deafening noise from an armored truck over the frontier into Turkey. Mounted on the vehicle, the long-range acoustic device, or “sound cannon,” is the size of a small TV set but can match …

Read more “In Post-Pandemic Europe, Migrants Will Face Digital Fortress”

Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny asked a court Monday to halt the hourly nighttime checks he has been subjected to in his penal colony.  Speaking to the court in a video link from prison, Navalny charged that he has done nothing that would warrant the authorities’ decision to designate him as a flight risk, …

Read more “Russia’s Navalny Asks Court to End Prison Security Checks”

Turkish agents have captured a nephew of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen in an overseas operation and have brought him to Turkey where he faces prosecution, Turkey’s state-run news agency said Monday.Selahaddin Gulen, who was wanted in Turkey on charges of membership in a terror organization, was seized in an operation by Turkey’s national spy …

Read more “Turkish Agents Capture Nephew of US-Based Cleric Overseas”

The Turkish government is facing accusations of arming and funding jihadists in Syria. The allegations are just the latest by an exiled mafia boss in a weekly YouTube broadcast that are putting the Turkish president in an increasingly tight spot.     Among the many allegations being spread by Sedat Peker on YouTube is one …

Read more “Turkey’s Erdogan Under Renewed Pressure Following Mafia Boss Accusations”

Russian online news site Newsru announced on Monday it was closing for economic reasons, saying that advertisers were steering clear of it because its story selection did not follow pro-Kremlin state media.   Russia’s TV media landscape is dominated by pro-Kremlin state outlets. There’s a bit more variety online and in print, though moves are …

Read more “Russia’s Newsru Media Outlet Announces Closure, Blames Political Situation”

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) used a partnership with Denmark’s foreign intelligence unit to spy on senior officials of neighboring countries, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Danish state broadcaster DR said.   The findings are the result of a 2015 internal investigation in the Danish Defense Intelligence Service into NSA’s role in the partnership, …

Read more “US Spied on Merkel, Other Europeans Through Danish Cables, Broadcaster DR Alleges”

Georgia’s main opposition party on Sunday announced the end of a months-long parliamentary boycott that has plunged the Caucasus nation into a spiraling political crisis, following disputed elections last year.Georgia’s opposition parties have denounced massive fraud in the October 31 parliamentary elections, which were won narrowly by the ruling Georgian Dream party.In the months since, …

Read more “Georgia Opposition Ends Parliamentary Boycott”

The far-right ELAM party and a centrist splinter group made big gains in Cyprus’ parliamentary election on Sunday as a sizeable chunk of supporters appeared to have turned their back on the top three parties amid voter disenchantment with traditional power centers.With 100% of votes counted, ELAM garnered 6.78% of the vote — a 3% …

Read more “Far-Right Party, Centrist Group Gain Big in Cyprus Poll”

The chief editor of a popular internet news site in one of Belarus’ largest cities was detained Sunday on suspicion of extremism. The arrest Sunday of Hrodna.life editor Aliaksei Shota comes amid a crackdown on independent journalists and opponents of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The publication focuses on Belarus’ fifth-largest city, Grodno. City police said the website …

Read more “Belarus News Site Editor Arrested Over Extremism Suspicions “

The Ukrainian ambassador to Thailand collapsed and died on Sunday while on a resort island with his family, authorities said.Andrii Beshta, 44, was declared dead on Lipe Island in southern Satun province, Gov. Ekkarat Leesen told The Associated Press.Police quoted his teenage son, who was staying in the same hotel room, as saying his father …

Read more “Ukrainian Ambassador in Thailand Dies on Resort Island”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson married his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, in a secret ceremony at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday, The Sun and Mail on Sunday newspapers reported.A spokeswoman for Johnson’s Downing Street office declined to comment on the reports.Both newspapers said that guests were invited at the last minute to the central London ceremony, and …

Read more “British Prime Minister Weds Fiancee in Secret, Reports Say “

Medics concerned about the effects on public health of environmental degradation marched Saturday on the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, demanding health authorities make climate change and biodiversity loss their top priorities.White-clad activists from the group Doctors for Extinction Rebellion marched from Geneva’s Place des Nations to WHO headquarters where they were met by …

Read more “Medics March to WHO Headquarters in Climate Campaign”

France reported Saturday that the number of people in intensive care units with COVID-19 had fallen by 76 to 3,028, while the overall number of people in hospital with the disease had fallen by 425 to 16,847.Both numbers have been on a downward trend in recent weeks.While reporting 10,675 new cases, the health ministry also …

Read more “France Reports Drop in COVID Hospitalizations”

Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in the southern Russian town of Sochi continued into a second day on Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.   Lukashenko flew into Russia on Friday for talks with Putin amid an uproar in Europe over the grounding of a passenger plane in …

Read more “Talks Between Russian, Belarusian Leaders Continue Into Second Day: TASS”

Britain has confirmed yet another spike in new COVID-19 infections, with close to 4,200 cases identified across the country Friday, the highest daily number in two months. Seventy five percent of the new cases in Britain are believed to be infections with the so-called Indian variant, first detected in India, which is more transmissible than the …

Read more “Young Adolescents in Europe to Get Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine”

As French cultural institutions reopen after months of coronavirus restrictions, a spectacular new museum has made its debut in Paris, housing the contemporary art collection of French billionaire Francois Pinault, including a number of prominent Black artists.A wax replica of The Rape of the Sabine Women by 16th century artist Giambologna at the Pinault Collection. …

Read more “New Paris Museum Offers Dazzling Display of Contemporary Art”

The United States on Friday announced punitive measures against Belarus targeting the regime of strongman President Alexander Lukashenko, who met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin amid a global outcry over the forced diversion of a European plane.White House press secretary Jen Psaki called for “a credible international investigation into the events of May 23,” which …

Read more “US Targets Belarus with Sanctions Amid Western Outcry Over Plane”

The European Commission has authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in children as young as 12, widening the pool of those eligible to be inoculated, following similar approvals in the United States and Canada.The commission made the announcement Friday after the European Union’s medical regulator, the European Medicines Agency, recommended Friday the use of …

Read more “EU Authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for Young Adolescents”

An increasingly influential Polish Catholic legal institute on Friday inaugurated a university in Warsaw that aims to educate a new generation of conservative lawyers in central Europe who it hopes will also shape wider European culture.The institute, Ordo Iuris, works to promote conservative causes, including restrictions on abortion and opposition to same-sex legal unions as …

Read more “Warsaw University Aims to Shape Future Conservative Lawyers”

Russia refused to allow two EU-based airlines to land flights in the country to avoid Belarusian airspace days after Belarus scrambled a fighter jet and used a false bomb alert to divert an Irish passenger jet to Minsk and arrest a dissident Belarusian journalist.  Russia’s decision, an apparent show of support for Belarus, forced the …

Read more “Russia Refuses to Allow 2 EU Airline Flights to Land”

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived Friday in South Africa for a lightning trip to discuss COVID vaccine access for Africa, aides said. Macron arrived from a historic visit to Rwanda where he acknowledged French responsibility in the 1994 genocide. Landing in Johannesburg, he headed for the capital Pretoria where he was to be welcomed by Cyril Ramaphosa …

Read more “Macron in South Africa for Talks on COVID Vaccine”

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has threatened to retaliate for any European Union sanctions imposed on him for detaining two opposition activists after forcing their plane to land in Minsk earlier this week.Hours before a scheduled meeting in the Russian seaside resort of Sochi with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, his only major international ally, the …

Read more “Belarus Threatens West as EU Debates Severe Sanctions”

Morocco’s ambassador to Spain has threatened more reprisals against Madrid over its decision to allow a Western Sahara independence leader to be treated in a Spanish hospital.     Karima Benyaich said elements in the Spanish government did not take the interests of Morocco into account, despite assurances from Madrid that Spain wants to move …

Read more “Morocco Threatens More Reprisals Over Western Sahara”