As Germany prepares to elect a new leader in elections scheduled for September 26, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s successor will face a series of immediate geopolitical challenges. Among the most pressing is the rise of China. Beijing’s economic push into Europe, part of its “Belt and Road” initiative, has seen Chinese state-owned firms invest in critical …
Read more “After Merkel: What Role for Germany on Global Stage?”
The United States said Monday that starting in early November it will ease its coronavirus restrictions for foreign travelers arriving in the country. Foreign travel to the U.S. had been largely curbed during the 18-month pandemic, even as European nations in recent months eased restrictions on American travelers ahead of the summertime vacation season. Under …
Read more “US Eases Foreign Coronavirus Travel Restrictions”
The United States said Monday that laws against “extremism” in Russia prevented opposition parties from a fair shot in parliamentary elections. “The Russian government’s use of laws on “extremist organizations,” “foreign agents,” and “undesirable organizations” severely restricted political pluralism and prevented the Russian people from exercising their civil and political rights,” U.S. State Department …
Read more “US, EU Denounce Parliamentary Elections in Russia”
…
A student opened fire on a university campus in central Russia on Monday killing at least eight people, investigators said, in the second mass shooting at an education facility this year. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said several people were also injured in the attack at Perm State University and that the suspect …
Spain has led a rebellion over soaring energy prices across Europe which analysts fear could endanger the continent’s economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Madrid’s leftist coalition government last week approved a shock plan to divert $3.05 billion from utility companies to consumers over the next six months until gas prices are …
Read more “Spain’s Plan to Curb Soaring Energy Prices a Sign of Growing State Intervention”
Russia’s Sunday election results came as no surprise to opponents of President Vladimir Putin — it was a foregone conclusion, they have been warning for months. The Kremlin barred most genuinely independent candidates – first and foremost supporters of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny – from running for the 450-seat Duma. The polls were held …
Read more “Putin’s United Russia Claims Victory amid Allegations of Vote-Rigging”
The Kremlin-backed ruling United Russia party has claimed it won a two-thirds supermajority in Russia’s lower house of parliament, after three days of voting marred by mounting opposition claims of irregularities and ballot tampering. The election is widely seen as an important part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to cement his grip on power …
Read more “Kremlin-Backed Party Claims Victory Amid Tampering Allegations “
Four people were found dead Sunday on the Belarus-Polish border according to officials from both countries, a week after Warsaw imposed a state of emergency following an influx of migrants. Poland’s border guards added that they had also discovered eight exhausted migrants stuck in marshy terrain elsewhere along the border. Seven of them were hospitalized. …
Read more “4 Found Dead, 7 More Hospitalized on Belarus-Poland Border”
The Kremlin-backed ruling United Party is on track to victory in Russia’s lower house of parliament, early results showed, after a three-day voting process that was marred by irregularities and allegations of ballot tampering. The Central Election Commission said with about 10% of votes counted after polls closed Sunday, United Russia, which strongly backs President …
Read more “Kremlin-Backed Party Takes Early Lead in Duma Vote Amid Tampering Allegations”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was travelling to the United States on Sunday with senior Cabinet officials to urge world leaders attending the U.N. General Assembly to take urgent action on climate change ahead of this fall’s COP26 climate summit in Scotland. Johnson is set to co-host a meeting on climate change with U.N. Secretary …
Read more “UK’s Johnson to Urge Climate Action During 4-day Trip to US”
Thousands marched in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Sunday for LGTBQ rights, an annual march that was canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Waving rainbow flags, roughly 7,000 people — down from the record of 8,000 in 2019 — marched through the capital city. Police flanked the marchers. Kateryna Lytvynenko, a Pride …
France has canceled a meeting between Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly and her British counterpart planned for this week after Australia scrapped a submarine order with Paris in favor of a deal with Washington and London, two sources familiar with the matter said. Parly personally took the decision to drop the bilateral meeting with British …
Read more “France Cancels Defense Meeting with United Kingdom”
A volcano erupted on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma on Sunday, sending fountains of lava and a plume of smoke and ash into the air from the Cumbre Vieja national park in the south of the island. Authorities had already begun evacuating the infirm and some farm animals from the surrounding villages before …
Read more “Lava Shoots up From Volcano on La Palma in Spanish Canary Islands “
France says U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron are planning to talk in the next few days about the diplomatic standoff that was triggered between the two old allies when Australia cancelled a submarine contract with Paris in favor of a new security alliance with the United States and Britain. A French …
Read more “France: Biden, Macron to Confer on End of Australian Submarine Pact”
Australia is defending its decision to join a tripartite alliance with the United States and Britain despite an angry reaction from France. Australia said Sunday it “regrets” France’s decision to immediately recall its ambassadors to Canberra and Washington in response to a new deal that will make Australia only the seventh country to have nuclear-powered …
Read more “Australia Says New Defense Accord with US and Britain Will Boost Regional Security”
Greece has opened a new migrant holding camp to ease longstanding overcrowded conditions that authorities themselves have called a disgrace. The project has humanitarian organization and migration advocates fuming, calling the European Union-funded project an “audacious” example of Europe’s reluctance to effectively address illegal migration, especially in light of a new surge of Afghan migrants …
Read more “Greece Opens New Migrant Camp on Aegean Island Amid Controversy”
Mediterranean nations must lead the way in addressing climate change, the Greek prime minister said, warning that the cost of doing nothing was unimaginable, with mankind possibly struggling to survive beyond the turn of the next century. Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Spain were ravaged by wildfires and record high temperatures this summer, with scientists warning …
Read more “Greek PM says Climate Crisis Is with Us and Cost of Ignoring It ‘Unimaginable’ “
Russians vote on Sunday in the final day of three-day parliamentary elections marred by allegations of widespread irregularities and a fresh crackdown on jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny’s movement. The ruling Kremlin-backed United Russia party is expected to win the parliamentary vote, following a clampdown by authorities on dissent that eliminated vocal critics from …
Read more “Russian Vote in Final Day of Elections with Allegations of Irregularities “
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Sunday the French government would have known Canberra had “deep and grave concerns” about French submarines before the deal was torn up last week. France is furious at Australia’s decision to withdraw from a multibillion-dollar deal to build French submarines in favor of American nuclear-powered vessels, recalling its ambassadors …
Read more “Australia had ‘Deep and Grave Concerns’ Over French Subs, PM Says”
Australia has made a “huge” diplomatic error by ditching a multi-billion-dollar order for French submarines in favor of an alternative deal with the United States and Britain, France’s envoy to Canberra said Saturday. Canberra announced Thursday it would scrap its 2016 deal with France’s Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines and …
Read more “Australia Made ‘Huge Mistake’ Canceling Submarine Deal, Says French Envoy”
Hungary’s newly united opposition politicians started going to the polls Saturday in the country’s first-ever primary elections that they hope are the key to ousting right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban. After years of bickering and a string of landslide losses, the once-factious opposition has come together with one common goal — to push the long-serving …
Read more “Hungary Opposition Goes to Primary Polls in Hope to Oust Orban”
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s “Smart Voting” app has disappeared from the Telegram messenger following similar moves by Apple and Google on Friday at the start of a three-day parliamentary vote in Russia. The app, which advised Navalny supporters on which candidate they should back to unseat Kremlin-aligned politicians, was removed after Telegram announced …
Read more “Telegram Messenger Blocks Russia Opposition App During Vote”
Britain’s food industry called on the government to subsidize carbon dioxide (CO2) production during a spike in gas prices or risk the collapse of the country’s meat industries. A surge in gas prices has forced two British fertilizer plants to shut down, stripping food producers of the CO2 by-product that is used to stun …
Read more “British Food Industry Demands Government Action Over CO2 Shortage”