Month: September 2021

Russian Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev died during a training exercise in the Arctic on Wednesday, RIA news agency cited the ministry as saying.The 55-year-old Zinichev, who had headed the high-profile emergencies ministry since 2018, died while saving someone’s life, RIA said, without providing further details.“…Zinichev died tragically while performing his official duties during inter-departmental drills …

Read more “RIA: Russia’s Emergencies Minister Dies During Arctic Training Exercise”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas are hosting talks Wednesday with a group of partners and allies to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, including efforts to continue the flow of humanitarian aid to the country after the Taliban’s takeover. A U.S. State Department official said ahead of the ministerial meeting that one theme of …

Read more “US, Germany Hosting Talks on Afghanistan ”

Four years ago, newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron called for Europe to build “the capacity to act autonomously” in security matters so that the continent would be less dependent on the United States and could decide to act without U.S. backing. Most European leaders derided Macron’s idea as far-fetched. “Illusions of European strategic autonomy must come …

Read more “European Leaders Mull Strategic Autonomy but Doubts Persist”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out plans Tuesday to raise taxes on workers, employers and some investors to try to fix a health and social care funding crisis, angering some in his governing party by breaking an election promise.After spending huge amounts of money to fight the coronavirus pandemic, Johnson is returning to an …

Read more “British PM Johnson Raises Taxes to Tackle Health, Social Care Crisis”

Twenty people linked to the November 2015 terrorist attacks in France are going on trial in Paris Wednesday in proceedings expected to last nine months.  Six defendants are being charged in absentia. Reports say five of the six are presumed dead in Iraq or Syria.  Nine Islamic State terrorists, mostly from France and Belgium, left …

Read more “Paris Braces for Trial of 2015 Terror Attackers”

New research shows that coronavirus vaccines not only offer protection against infection and serious illness – but may also help prevent so-called ‘long COVID’, where symptoms can last for weeks or months. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Camera: Henry Ridgwell    …

Coronavirus vaccines offer protection not only against infection and serious illness but may also help prevent so-called “Long COVID,” where symptoms can last for several weeks or months, according to new research from scientists at Kings College London.  There are no official figures, but it’s thought millions of people worldwide who contracted the coronavirus have …

Read more “Vaccines Offer Protection Against ‘Long COVID,’ Scientists Say “

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans Tuesday to fulfill a election promise to grapple with the rocketing cost of the long-term care needed by Britain’s growing older population. To do it, he appears set to break another election vow: not to raise taxes. Johnson is scheduled to tell Parliament how his Conservative government will raise billions to fund the …

Read more “UK Gov’t Eyes Tax Hike to Pay for Care for Older People”

Four alleged members of an Irish crime gang and five other defendants went on trial Monday in France accused of trafficking rhino horn and ivory to markets in east Asia. French prosecutors started a probe in 2015 after police discovered several elephant tusks and 32,800 euros ($38,900) in cash in a BMW during a random roadway …

Read more “Irish Gang on Trial in France, Accused of Rhino Horn Smuggling”

Swedish police said Monday they had arrested two women linked to Islamic State after they flew back from Syria, as media reported that one was being investigated for war crimes. Stockholm police spokesman Ola Osterling said the prosecutor leading the investigation into the two women had ordered their arrest. “We executed that decision when the plane arrived …

Read more “Sweden Arrests Two Women Linked to IS”

Britain said Monday it is postponing the start of post-Brexit border checks on goods going to Northern Ireland, as it seeks breathing space in its tense standoff with the European Union over trade rules. Brexit Minister David Frost said the government would continue to trade “on the current basis,” maintaining grace periods that the U.K. gave …

Read more “UK Delays Post-Brexit Border Checks, Seeks New Talks with EU”

Russian authorities on Monday blocked a website of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny that instructed supporters how to vote out candidates from the ruling party in polls later this month.   In a statement to AFP, state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said that access to the website votesmart.appspot.com had been blocked in Russia “because it is being used …

Read more “Russia Blocks Navalny Voting Site Ahead of Polls “

Dozens of relatives of the 298 victims of Malaysian Airlines flight 17, shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in 2014, will begin giving testimony on Monday at the murder trial of four fugitive suspects accused of carrying out the attack.The aircraft was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit by what international …

Read more “Families of MH17 Airline Crash Victims to Speak in Court”

Four years ago, European leaders chided then U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall on America’s southern border with Mexico. “We have a history and a tradition that we celebrate when walls are brought down and bridges are built,” admonished Federica Mogherini, then the EU’s foreign policy chief.     But Europe now …

Read more “Fortress Europe Takes Shape as EU Countries Fear Bigger Migration Flows”

A court in Belarus on Monday sentenced two leading opposition activists to lengthy prison terms, the latest move in the relentless crackdown Belarusian authorities have unleashed on dissent in the wake of last year’s anti-government protests.     Maria Kolesnikova, a top member of the opposition Coordination Council, has been in custody since her arrest last September. …

Read more “Belarus Court Gives Opposition Activists Lengthy Sentences “

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to Qatar on a trip that will also take him to Germany for talks with important U.S. allies on the situation in Afghanistan. “Departing for Doha, Qatar and Ramstein, Germany where I’ll have the opportunity to thank our Qatari and German friends in-person for the outstanding support they’ve given to safely transit …

Read more “Blinken to Visit Qatar, Germany for Afghanistan Diplomacy”

The sole surviving member of the terror cell that massacred 130 people in Paris in November 20 was a pot-smoking party man who dabbled in petty crime before falling in thrall to the Islamic State group. All eyes will be on Salah Abdeslam on Wednesday when he goes on trial in Paris along with 19 others …

Read more “Surviving Member of Terror Cell in Paris Attacks to Go on Trial”

Arriving in a military helicopter, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro was inaugurated in the state’s old capital on Sunday amid clashes between police and protesters who oppose continued Serb influence in the tiny Balkan nation.Hospital officials in the city of Cetinje said at least 60 people were injured, including 30 police …

Read more “Police Clash with Opponents of Serbian Church in Montenegro”

The new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro was inaugurated on Sunday, arriving by helicopter under the protection of police who dispersed protesters with tear gas. The decision to anoint Bishop Joanikije as the new Metropolitan of Montenegro at the historic monastery of Cetinje has aggravated ethnic tension in the tiny Balkan state. Protesters had …

Read more “Protests as Montenegro’s New Orthodox Head Inaugurated “

Germany’s center-left chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz wants to lead Europe’s largest economy in a coalition government with the left-leaning Greens, though polls suggest he will need support of a third party to reach a stable majority in parliament.Scholz and his Social Democrats (SPD) have opened up a five-point lead over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives ahead …

Read more “Boosted by Surge in Polls, Germany’s Scholz Bets on Coalition with the Greens”

The biggest trial in France’s modern legal history begins on Wednesday over the November 2015 attacks on Paris that saw 130 people slaughtered at bars, restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall.The suicide bombing and gun assault by three teams of jihadists, later claimed by the Islamic State group, was France’s worst post-war atrocity.A purpose-built facility …

Read more “France’s Biggest Trial to Open Over November 2015 Attacks”

Among the cranes and containers of the port of Rotterdam is a surreal sight: a herd of cows peacefully feeding on board what calls itself the world’s first floating farm.In the low-lying Netherlands where land is scarce and climate change is a daily threat, the three-story glass and steel platform aims to show the “future …

Read more “Floating Dutch Cow Farm Aims to Curb Climate Impact”

Europe’s top human rights body on Friday called on Greece’s parliament to withdraw articles included in draft legislation that would impose heavy penalties on nongovernmental organizations that carry out unsanctioned rescue operations of migrants at sea. The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, said in a statement that the proposed changes would “seriously hinder …

Read more “Rights Body Raps Greece Over Migrant Rescue Crackdown”

On August 24, 1991, Ukraine announced its independence from the Soviet Union, and in the next few months, the international community — country by country — recognized Ukraine as an independent sovereign state. But the foundation of this shift had been laid at the United Nations headquarters about a year earlier. Iryna Solomko has the …

Read more “How 30 Years of Ukraine Independence Started in UN”