Travels News
As the United States and Russia met for talks in Geneva this week, the future security of Europe was at stake. But absent from the negotiating table was the European Union, to the clear frustration of the bloc’s officials. “On this dialogue, there are not two actors alone. It’s not just U.S. and Russia. If …
Read more “Europeans Feel Excluded From US-Russia Security Talks “
As the United States and Russia met for talks in Geneva this week, the future security of Europe was at stake. But the European Union was not present – and bloc officials have voiced growing frustration, as Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …
Kazakhstan’s political turmoil erupted at precisely the moment the U.S. and Russia began to negotiate deep disagreements over Ukraine, NATO and European security. The deployment of 2,500 “peacekeepers” by the Kremlin-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) struck many Washington experts as a shift in Kazakhstan’s foreign policy that strengthens Russia’s hand. But on January 11, …
Read more “Kazakh Unrest Seen Boosting Russia at US Expense”
A civil lawsuit filed in a U.S. court by a woman who says she was sexually abused by Britain’s Prince Andrew when she was 17 will move forward, following a judge’s ruling Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said lawyers for Prince Andrew failed to challenge the constitutionality of the case brought by Virginia Giuffre …
Read more “Sex Abuse Case Against Prince Andrew to Move Forward “
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted during a NATO summit he attended in June that Western leaders had confirmed his country “will become a member of the Alliance.” The Ukrainian leader’s tweet, seen by some Western diplomats as ill-timed and intended to goad Russia, drew a predictably furious response from Kremlin officials. They have long warned …
Read more “Aside from Kyiv, No One in Rush for Ukraine to Join NATO”
China’s expanding sphere of influence and economic reach in Europe is met with a mixture of praise and complaints in the Greek port of Piraeus. Athens reporter Laurent Laughlin has the details. …
Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized Wednesday for attending a garden party during Britain’s coronavirus lockdown in 2020, saying there are things his government “did not get right.” Johnson is facing a tide of anger from public and politicians over claims he and his staff flouted pandemic restrictions by socializing when it was banned. Some members of his …
Read more “UK’s Johnson Apologizes for Attending Lockdown Party”
Russia is contributing to an undersupply of natural gas to Europe, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol said on Wednesday, noting it comes amid a standoff between Moscow and the West over Ukraine. The Paris-based IEA, energy watchdog for developed countries, warned that the high energy prices and consumer pain wrought …
Read more “IAE: Russia Undermining European Gas Supply Amid Ukraine Standoff”
Pope Francis on Wednesday urged governments to combat child labor, saying it was terrible that children who should be playing are instead working as adults or scavenging in garbage dumps for something to sell. Speaking at his weekly general audience Francis also lamented that in many countries people were being exploited in the unofficial, underground …
Read more “‘Children Should Be Playing’: Pope Pleads For Fight Against Child Labor”
Russia and NATO are meeting Wednesday in Brussels with a focus on reducing tensions along the border between Russia and Ukraine. NATO objects to Russia troop buildups along the border, saying they undermine European security. For its part, Russia is seeking security guarantees such as limiting the expansion of the 30-member NATO alliance, arguing the …
Read more “Conflict Along Ukraine Border Focus of NATO-Russia Talks”
The Kremlin said Tuesday it has little optimism about a breakthrough on talks with the United States this week about its European security concerns, while Washington said Moscow’s massive troop buildup along the Ukraine border is at the root of current tensions. After a day of talks with U.S. diplomats Monday in Geneva, Moscow said …
Read more “Russia, US Spar Again Over Ukraine, Security Issues”
Turkey’s economy had a difficult year, with its currency depreciating and inflation skyrocketing. Experts warn that unless President Recep Tayyip Erdogan changes course and reverses his controversial monetary strategy, the situation could worsen. Last week, the country’s official Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) reported inflation increased to 36% last month, the highest figure in Turkey for …
Read more “Erdogan Sticks with Economic Policy as Turkey’s Inflation Rises, Currency Sinks”
Europe could see half of its population infected with the omicron variant over the coming weeks, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. “At this rate, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecasts that more than 50% of the population in the region will be infected with omicron in the next six to eight weeks,” …
Read more “WHO Warns Half of Europe Could Become Infected with Omicron in Coming Weeks”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his senior aides have repeatedly claimed that Western powers broke promises they made not to expand NATO as the Soviet Union collapsed. In his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow in December, Putin accused NATO of deceiving Russia by giving assurances in the 1990s that it would not expand “an …
Read more “Russia’s Putin Says Western Leaders Broke Promises, But Did They?”
With tensions high over the prospect of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, analysts say Turkey has a pivotal role as the enforcer of an international convention governing naval access to the Black Sea. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, Ankara is aware any conflict will bring pressure from both Moscow and Turkey’s NATO partners in …
The U.S. and Russia have launched “frank and forthright” discussions aimed at de-escalating tensions between the two powers as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to station an estimated 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border, the White House said Monday. “There are two paths for Russia to take at this point, for President Putin to take,” …
Read more “US, Russia Hold ‘Frank and Forthright’ First Day of Talks Amid Ukraine Tensions”
European Parliament President David Sassoli has died, his spokesperson Roberto Cuillo said in a tweet on Tuesday. Sassoli, 65, passed away at 1.15 am on Jan. 11 in Italy, where he was hospitalized, Cuillo added. Sassoli has been hospitalized in Italy since Dec. 26 due to a “serious complication” related to his immune system, his …
Read more “EU Parliament President Sassoli has Died – Spokesperson”
Undocumented Afghan migrants who fled to Turkey to escape the Taliban say they are unable to get treatment and vaccines for the coronavirus. While officially registered refugees qualify for health care in Turkey, it is believed that thousands of undocumented Afghan migrants are in the country. The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in August …
Read more “Undocumented Afghan Refugees in Turkey Struggle to Access COVID Treatments, Vaccines”
Undocumented Afghan migrants who have fled to Turkey to escape the Taliban say they are unable to access treatment and vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. While officially registered refugees do quality for health care in Turkey, it’s believed there are thousands of unregistered Afghan migrants in the country. Henry Ridgwell reports. …
Read more “Undocumented Afghan Refugees in Turkey Struggle to Access COVID-19 Treatments, Vaccines”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday he will not allow governments allied with Moscow to be toppled in so-called “color revolutions,” a reference to the series of popular uprisings that have shaken former Soviet republics. “We will not allow the boat to be rocked,” Putin said. During an online meeting with leaders of a Russian-led …
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Monday he plans to ask European officials to consider treating COVID-19 more like an endemic illness — a regularly occurring milder disease like the flu — and move away from the detailed tracking system that the pandemic has required. In an interview with Spain’s Cadena SER radio, Sanchez said …
Read more “Spain PM Urges Europe to Treat COVID as More ‘Endemic’ Illness”
Western policy makers remain as puzzled now as their counterparts were on the eve of the Cold War forty years ago about Russia’s geopolitical intentions. Is the Kremlin preparing to launch an invasion of its neighbor Ukraine, which increasingly sees itself as part of the West, if sweeping security guarantees Russia has demanded are rebuffed? …
Read more “What Will Russia’s Putin Settle For in Ukraine Talks?”
Pope Francis Monday said getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is a “moral obligation” as part of caring for the health of oneself and others and urged on international efforts to vaccinate the world’s population. In a speech to diplomats assigned to the Vatican, the pope said the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause social isolation and to …
Read more “Pope Francis Calls COVID-19 Vaccination Moral Obligation”
Diplomats from the United States and Russia met Monday in Geneva, beginning a series of high-level talks this week regarding Moscow’s massive troop buildup along its Ukraine border, and Russian demands for Western security guarantees. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the meeting began just before 9 a.m. local time, while stressing that the U.S. …