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 …
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”
Short of an all-out invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin could take less dramatic action in Ukraine that would vastly complicate a U.S. and allied response. He might carry out what President Joe Biden called a “minor incursion” — perhaps a cyberattack — leaving the U.S. and Europe divided on the type and severity of economic …
Read more “‘Minor Incursion’ Into Ukraine by Russia Could Complicate West’s Response”
Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch. UN chief calls for action in 2022 on urgent challenges Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday that the world is facing “a five-alarm fire” that requires urgent and united global …
The United States and Russia appeared to make little progress in the increasingly high-stakes standoff over Ukraine, each side leaving the latest round of high-level talks Friday promising only to keep talking. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met for about an hour and a half in Geneva, with both officials refusing …
Read more “Little Progress Apparent in Ukraine Standoff, but Talks to Continue”
A World Health Organization ((WHO)) advisory panel Friday recommended extending the use of a smaller dose of the Pfizer – BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 5 to 11. The recommendation follows a meeting this week by the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts ((SAGE)) on immunization to evaluate the company’s vaccine. The WHO had previously recommended the vaccine for use in people ages 12 years and older. During a virtual briefing Friday, SAGE Chairman Alejandro Cravioto told reporters the committee said the 5-11 …
Read more “WHO Recommends Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine for 5-11-Year-olds”
A Taliban delegation is expected to hold talks with Norwegian officials and Afghan civil society representatives in Oslo next week, the Norwegian foreign ministry said Friday. The visit is scheduled from Sunday to Tuesday, and “the Taliban will meet representatives of the Norwegian authorities and officials from a number of allied countries,” for talks on …
Read more “Norway Says Taliban Team Expected in Oslo for Aid Talks”
French oil giant TotalEnergies on Friday said it would withdraw from Myanmar over “worsening” human rights abuses committed since the country’s military took power in a February 2021 coup. “The situation, in terms of human rights and more generally the rule of law, which have kept worsening in Myanmar… has led us to reassess the …
Read more “TotalEnergies to Leave Myanmar Over Human Rights Abuses”
Spain’s foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Friday that Europeans have a united position on the crisis over the Russian military build-up on the Ukrainian border and that Spain is pushing for dialogue. Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops on its borders with Ukraine in what Western states fear is the precursor …
Read more “Spain’s Foreign Minister Says Europeans ‘United’ on Ukraine Crisis”
China condemned a French parliament resolution on Friday that accuses Beijing of carrying out a genocide against its Uyghur Muslim population, a move that has strained ties two weeks before the Winter Olympics. The resolution adds to a chorus of western nations that have criticized Beijing for placing around 1 million Uyghurs in forced labor …
Read more “French Parliament’s Uyghur Genocide Declaration Angers China”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Geneva, where he meets Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the fourth time in the last week that U.S. and Russian officials have engaged in direct talks. The West is demanding that Russia pull its troops and weapons away from the Ukraine border while Moscow is …
Read more “Blinken to Meet Russian Foreign Minister on Ukraine”
Iran, Russia and China on Friday began a joint naval drill in the Indian Ocean aimed at boosting marine security, state media reported. Iran’s state TV said 11 of its vessels were joined by three Russian ships including a destroyer, and two Chinese vessels. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard will also participate with smaller ships and helicopters. …
Iran’s president visited Russia this week on a visit Iranian officials called a “turning point” in their relations, as officials also announced a planned joint naval exercise that includes China for later this week. The visit by President Ebrahim Raisi to Moscow comes amid rising tensions between Russia and Western countries over Moscow’s troop buildup …
Read more “Iran, Russia Tout Closer Ties Amid Tensions With Europe, US”