Month: July 2024

ROME — The U.S. military is celebrating a little-known part of World War II history, honoring the Japanese-American U.S. Army unit that was key to liberating parts of Italy and France even while the troops’ relatives were interned at home as enemies of the state following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.  Descendants of the second-generation “Nisei” …

Read more “US Army honors Nisei combat unit that helped liberate Tuscany in WWII”

Paris — France’s influential lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, held its opening session Thursday to elect a speaker after chaotic snap elections called by President Emmanuel Macron produced a hung legislature. Parliamentary elections earlier this month resulted in a split between three major political blocs: the New Popular Front leftist coalition, Macron’s centrist allies …

Read more “France’s newly elected lawmakers begin choosing speaker amid political turmoil”

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LONDON — Discontented, economically squeezed voters have turned against sitting governments on both right and left during many of the dozens of elections held this year, as global power blocs shift and political certainties crumble. From India to South Africa to Britain, voters dealt blows to long-governing parties. Elections to the European Parliament showed growing support …

Read more “Uncertainty is the winner and incumbents the losers so far in a year of high-stakes global elections”

Washington — Russia and China are edging ever closer to unleashing space-based weapons, a decision that could have far-reaching implications for America’s ability to defend itself, U.S. military and intelligence agencies warn. Adding to the concern, they say, is what appears to be a growing willingness by both countries to set aside long-running suspicions and animosity …

Read more “Russia, China taking space into dangerous territory, US says”

Amsterdam — The Netherlands commemorated on Wednesday the 298 victims of flight MH17 with a ceremony attended by the bereaved and representatives from Malaysia, Australia, Britain, Belgium and Ukraine. Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian …

Read more “Netherlands marks 10th anniversary of downing of MH17 airliner”

washington — Senator J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s newly announced running mate, will take center stage Wednesday evening at the Republican National Convention, focusing on the day’s theme, “Make America Strong Again.” Vance, 39, a former venture capitalist, has less than two years in public office and little foreign policy background. His recent comments mostly …

Read more “Trump’s VP pick Vance is pro-Israel, anti-China and creating anxiety in Europe”

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LONDON — The GMB union has failed to secure the right to formally represent workers at an Amazon warehouse in Coventry, central England, Amazon said on Wednesday. The ballot result on union recognition is a blow for the U.K. trade union movement as victory in the ballot would have forced the U.S. e-commerce giant to negotiate …

Read more “UK union fails to win recognition at Amazon site after losing ballot, Amazon says”

London — Britain’s new Labour Party government promised to calm the country’s febrile politics and ease its cost-of-living crisis as it set out its plans for “national renewal” at the grand State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday. Stabilizing the U.K.’s public finances and spurring economic growth were at the center of Prime Minister Keir Starmer ‘s …

Read more “UK’s new government announces legislation for ‘national renewal’ as Parliament opens with royal pomp “

Paris — The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, swam in the murky waters of the Seine on Wednesday to demonstrate the river is now clean enough for outdoor Olympic swimming events. Wearing goggles and a wet suit, the 65-year-old city leader swam breaststroke before immersing her face and beginning a front crawl, covering around 100 meters …

Read more “Paris mayor takes pre-Olympics dip to prove Seine clean”

Saint Petersburg, Russia — Alexandra Kulikova used to come across plenty of different European languages on the streets of Saint Petersburg, the iconic city founded by Peter the Great as Russia’s “window to the West”. “You could hear English, French or Italian being spoken everywhere… and we were always full,” Kulikova, the co-owner of a chain …

Read more “Russia’s ‘window to the west’ turns to tourists from the East”

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Vienna — European experts watching China’s Third Plenum say this week’s high-level meetings are unlikely to touch on political reform but will likely introduce several measures to reverse the nation’s economic downturn. “Any measures to be announced on China’s key economic problems will be moderate and gradual, like Chinese medicine, as opposed to a shock therapy,” …

Read more “European experts expect economic measures, military personnel changes from China’s Third Plenary Session”

washington — North Korea and China are watching for possible regional impacts from Japan’s recent enhanced security cooperation with Germany. This weekend, Japan will hold joint drills with Germany around the Chitose Air Base in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island. Spain is slated to join them there, while France will join Japan next week for drills …

Read more “Japan-Germany security cooperation troubles North Korea, China”

Tallinn, Estonia — Dozens of Nobel Prize laureates are calling in an open letter on Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to free all political prisoners, after 18 seriously ill activists were released this month. The Belarusian human rights group Viasna counts almost 1,400 political prisoners, including its Nobel Peace Prize-winning founder Ales Bialiatski. Many of Belarus’ …

Read more “Nobel laureates call on Belarus’ leader to release all political prisoners”

MADRID — Spanish authorities confirmed on Tuesday that a body found in a remote area of the island of Tenerife a day earlier was that of a missing British teenager and that the injuries sustained were compatible with an accidental fall. “We have a positive ID,” a court spokesperson said. “Fingerprinting confirms that the body belongs …

Read more “Spain confirms body found is missing UK teen’s”

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