Month: July 2024

Washington — The movement inside Russia of several high-profile political prisoners in recent days is fueling speculation that a prisoner swap with Western countries may be close. Lawyers and relatives of at least eight individuals say they seem to have been moved from detention facilities across Russia. Those detained had been jailed for criticizing the Kremlin …

Read more “Analysts question if Russian political prisoner movements signal imminent swap”

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No evidence has surfaced linking the West to attacks against Wagner, although Ukraine has indicated it provided support to Mali separatists battling Russian troops. …

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London — Huw Edwards, the BBC’s former top news presenter, pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of making indecent images of children.  The offenses he pleaded guilty to at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London during a 26-minute hearing involved images shared on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021 by a man who had initially …

Read more “Former lead BBC news presenter pleads guilty to 3 counts of making indecent images of children “

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Prague/Washington  — Portraits of Alsu Kurmasheva are scattered throughout the Prague apartment she shares with her husband and two daughters. But the journalist has not set foot here in more than a year. Perhaps the most striking of the paintings, all of which were done by her husband, Pavel Butorin, is the one that remains unfinished, …

Read more “An ‘Undue Burden’”

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Only days into the Paris Olympics, France has already weathered attacks on its rail and internet service. But it’s also mounted a massive security umbrella that includes tens of thousands of police, gendarmes — and soldiers. Many troops now patrolling the streets of the French capital have done duty in foreign countries, as Lisa Bryant …

Read more “Duty-hardened French troops face new challenge: Keeping Olympics safe”

An announcement that China’s car giant BYD will build a billion-dollar factory in Turkey marks a big turnaround in relations between the two countries. The move comes after years of tensions over Ankara’s support of Chinese minority Uyghurs. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the two countries are increasingly finding common ground not only economically …

Read more “Billion-dollar car factory signals Turkey’s deepening ties with China”

LONDON — A 9-year-old girl wounded in a stabbing attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class in northwestern England died Tuesday, bringing the death toll to three, as police questioned a 17-year-old suspect arrested minutes after the rampage. The girl was identified as Alice Aguiar by Portuguese Secretary of State for Communities Jose Cesario. …

Read more “3rd child dies after stabbing attack on UK dance class”

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban on Tuesday disavowed many Afghan diplomatic missions overseas, saying it will not honor passports, visas and other documents issued by diplomats associated with Afghanistan’s former Western-backed administration. It’s the Taliban’s latest attempt to seize control of diplomatic missions since returning to power in 2021. Many Taliban leaders are under sanctions, and no …

Read more “Taliban disavow many Afghan diplomatic missions abroad”

Paris — A Russian sports event widely regarded as an attempt to rival the Paris Olympics is set to be postponed to next year, organizers said Tuesday. The World Friendship Games had been due to take place in Russia in September but will now move back to unspecified dates in 2025, the International Friendship Association, a …

Read more “Russia set to postpone World Friendship Games, once seen as rival to Paris Olympics”

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ANKARA, Turkey — Special envoys from Turkey and Armenia convened at the countries’ shared border on Tuesday to resume discussions aimed at normalizing ties between the historic foes. Turkey and Armenia have no formal relations, and their border has been closed since the 1990s. They agreed in late 2021 to improve relations and appointed special envoys …

Read more “Turkish, Armenian envoys resume talks aimed at reconciliation”

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BEIJING — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni came to China to boost co-operation with the world’s second-largest economy and reset trade ties, she said on Tuesday, during a visit to burnish relations after leaving the Belt and Road scheme. Meloni, making her first visit to China as prime minister, which comes after Italy left Chinese President …

Read more “Meloni seeks better terms for Italian firms in China “

Armenia’s military exercises with the United States in July and increased diplomatic contacts with Western Europe suggest Yerevan continues its efforts to pivot away from Moscow. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the success of those efforts depends largely on Armenia’s rival, Azerbaijan, and ongoing U.S.-backed peace efforts. …

London police in April said they had charged two British men with aiding Russian intelligence following a suspected arson attack on a business with ties to Ukraine. This and other incidents have shaken Ukrainians who feel targeted in places where they have sought refuge. Henry Wilkins reports. …

To project influence, Moscow habitually goes beyond diplomacy, using malicious hybrid strategies and, in some instances, wars of aggression. …

Paris — French President Emmanuel Macron urged his new Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday to not support Russia’s “war of aggression” against Ukraine, in talks between the two leaders, his office said.  Macron also told Pezeshkian that “all must be done to avoid a military escalation” between Israel and Lebanon after a deadly rocket strike …

Read more “Macron warns Iran against support of Russia’s Ukraine war”

London — British emergency services said a man had been arrested after at least eight people were stabbed in Southport, northwest England, on Monday, with a local children’s hospital declaring a major incident and the prime minister calling it “deeply shocking.”  North West Ambulance Service said it had treated eight patients with stab injuries who had …

Read more “UK police arrest man after 8 stabbed in ‘deeply shocking’ incident “

Beijing — Chinese President Xi Jinping called for further cooperation with Italy on Monday at a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, saying the two countries were the ends of the historical Silk Road trade route. Meloni pulled Italy out of China’s Belt and Road Initiative — whose name refers to the ancient overland trade …

Read more “China’s Xi calls for cooperation with Italy, evoking ancient ‘Silk Road’”