Month: January 2022

In the months since Russia began massing troops on the border of Ukraine, the Biden administration has, on multiple occasions, warned that any further aggression by Moscow toward its neighbor would be met with unprecedented levels of sanctions. Now, the White House appears to be dropping some specific hints about what those sanctions might look …

Read more “Biden Administration Considers Technology Sanctions if Russia Invades Ukraine”

U.S. President Joe Biden is meeting virtually Monday afternoon with key European leaders about the ongoing threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine as he weighs sending several thousand U.S. troops to the Baltics and Eastern Europe.  Biden has not decided whether to move U.S. military equipment and personnel closer to Russia. But White House …

Read more “Biden Meeting with European Leaders About Threat of Russian Invasion of Ukraine”

A gunman at a German university on Monday killed one and wounded three during a lecture in the school’s auditorium before fatally shooting himself.   The incident took place at the University of Heidelberg in southwestern Germany, and police say the man appears to have acted alone.   “We assume that there was only one …

Read more “Lone Gunman Opens Fire at Germany’s Heidelberg University”

The Russian stock market took a dive Monday as war fears triggered a massive sell-off, with tens of billions of dollars wiped from the value of some of the country’s leading businesses. As concerns mount that President Vladimir Putin is poised to order an invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the ruble also hit a 14-month low, …

Read more “Russian Markets Plunge as War Fears Mount”

Germany doesn’t appear to view Russian military threats against Ukraine with the same sense of urgency as the United States and some of its European allies, who have started to identify Berlin as a weak link in the Western alliance, say diplomats and analysts. The country’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has added his voice to …

Read more “Germany Seen as Western Alliance’s Weak Link”

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday won the first stage of his effort to overturn a U.K. ruling that opened the door for his extradition to U.S. to stand trial on espionage charges. The High Court in London gave Assange permission to appeal the case to the U.K. Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court must …

Read more “Assange Wins First Stage in Effort to Appeal US Extradition”

French designer Thierry Mugler, who reigned over fashion in the 1980s and died on Sunday, was as famous for his fantastical couture as for his blockbuster fashion shows. He was 73. Mugler’s daring collections came to define the decade’s power dressing, with his clothes noted for their structured and sophisticated silhouettes, showcased by his extravagant …

Read more “French Fashion Designer Thierry Mugler Dies Aged 73”

The State Department on Sunday ordered the departure of eligible family members from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and authorized the voluntary departure of U.S. direct hire employees due to the continued threat of Russian military action against Ukraine. The State Department also is asking U.S. citizens in Ukraine to consider departing the country now …

Read more “US Orders Departure of Family Members of Ukraine Embassy Staff”

A Taliban delegation led by acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Sunday started three days of talks in Oslo with Western officials and Afghan civil society representatives amid a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. The closed-door meetings were taking place at a hotel in the snow-capped mountains above the Norwegian capital and are the …

Read more “Taliban Talks in Norway Raise New Debate About Recognition”

The United States began shipments of lethal aid to Ukraine after U.S. President Joe Biden recently said that any Russian troop movement into Ukraine would be considered an invasion. President Biden’s comments come as Russian President Vladimir Putin stations more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s border. Russian and U.S. diplomats so far have agreed to …

Read more “US Weighs Options on Ukraine”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Russia on Sunday that Washington knows “all of the tactics and techniques” that Moscow can deploy to undermine the Ukrainian government but will continue to engage in diplomatic talks in hopes of easing tensions in eastern Europe.  “It is certainly possible that the diplomacy the Russians are engaged …

Read more “US Warns It Knows Russia’s Tactics to Undermine Ukraine”

A French soldier has died after a rocket attack on the French army base in Gao, Mali.   The French Armed Forces Ministry released a statement Sunday morning saying the attack occurred on the Gao, Mali, Operation Barkhane military base on Saturday. The statement claimed the attack was carried out by “terrorists.”  Operation Barkhane, France’s counterinsugency …

Read more “French Soldier Killed After Attack on Mali Military Base “

For thousands of years, wooden sailboats allowed the peoples of Northern Europe to spread trade, influence and sometimes war across seas and continents. In December, the U.N.’s culture agency added Nordic “clinker boats” to its list of traditions that represent the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden jointly sought the …

Read more “UNESCO Lists Viking-Era Wooden Sailboats on Heritage List “

A group of migrants huddles beside a small, smoky fire inside an abandoned building in northern Serbia, the last moments of warmth before they set out into the driving snow toward the razor wire, cameras and sensors of Hungary’s electrified border fence. A few hours later, they return, their efforts to cross through Hungary and …

Read more “Migrants At Hungary Border Become Part Of Election Campaign”

Human rights and the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where hunger threatens millions, will be in focus at talks opening Sunday in Oslo between the Taliban, the West and members of Afghan civil society. In their first visit to Europe since returning to power in August, the Taliban will meet Norwegian officials as well as representatives …

Read more “Humanitarian Aid Tops Agenda as Taliban Meet Western Officials”

Turkey has detained a well-known television journalist for comments she made on air about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, her lawyer said Saturday. Police detained Sedef Kabas at her home at 2 a.m. Saturday, just hours after she aired the comments and then posted them on Twitter to her 900,000 followers. She was formally arrested after appearing …

Read more “Turkey Detains TV Journalist, Accuses Her of Insulting President”

Britain on Saturday accused the Kremlin of seeking to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine and said Russian intelligence officers had been in contact with several former Ukrainian politicians as part of plans for an invasion.  The British foreign ministry declined to provide evidence to back its accusations, which came at a time of high …

Read more “UK Accuses Kremlin of Trying to Install Pro-Russian Leader in Ukraine”

Germany’s navy chief stepped down on Saturday after drawing criticism for saying Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved respect and that Kyiv would never win back annexed Crimea from Moscow.  “I have asked Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht to relieve me from my duties with immediate effect,” Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schoenbach said in a statement. “The minister …

Read more “German Navy Chief Resigns Over Putin, Ukraine Remarks “

A stray bullet struck and killed an English astrophysicist while he was inside an Atlanta-area apartment, authorities say.  Matthew Willson, 31, of Chertsey, Surrey, England, was visiting his girlfriend in the United States when he was hit by a bullet that pierced the wall of the apartment. The shooting happened early Sunday morning, only three …

Read more “Stray Bullet Kills English Astrophysicist Visiting Atlanta “

Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi decided against running for president, he said in a statement on Saturday, removing an obstacle to cross-party negotiations ahead of the vote in parliament beginning January 24. The nomination of Prime Minister Mario Draghi is seen as the most probable outcome, but it is still unclear whether the broad …

Read more “Italy’s Berlusconi Decides Against Running for President”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday he authorized the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to send U.S.-made anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, a move that comes amid Ukraine’s rising tensions with neighboring Russia. “I expedited and authorized, and we fully endorse transfers of defensive equipment @NATO Allies Estonia Latvia Lithuania …

Read more “Blinken Authorizes Baltic Countries to Send US Weapons to Ukraine”

Convicted mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik spends his days in a spacious three-room cell, playing video games, exercising, watching TV and taking university-level courses in mathematics and business.  Halfway through a 21-year sentence and seeking early release, Breivik, 42, is being treated in a way that might seem shocking to people outside Norway, where he …

Read more “Norway Killer Breivik Tests Limits of Lenient Justice System”

Three hundred and forty kilometers east of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, lies the city of Poltava.  At its heart is a semi-circular square with a cast-iron column and nearly two dozen eighteenth-century Swedish cannons captured in the 1709 Battle of Poltava, a decisive encounter in the Great Northern War, waged between Russia’s Peter the Great …

Read more “Putin, Following in Steps of Peter the Great?”

Thousands gathered in Istanbul this week to demand full justice for high-profile Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was killed 15 years ago. Placards reading “We are all Hrant, We are all Armenian” and “For Hrant, For Justice” were waved as the crowd gathered outside the building where a teenage gunman in 2007 shot Dink. Candles …

Read more “‘Impunity Persists’ in Case of Slain Turkish-Armenian Journalist”