worldwide news
Five years after a wave of asylum seekers flooded into Europe, the region is facing another reckoning on migration, with familiar bickering and lack of consensus on the way forward.The numbers of arrivals are far smaller today than they were in 2015. The iconic images now driving migration back into the headlines are no longer …
Read more “EU Mulls Migration Pact in Shadow of Lesbos Fire”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday defended his plan to unilaterally rewrite Britain’s divorce deal with the European Union as an insurance policy against the bloc’s unreasonable behavior — even as his former attorney general joined the ranks of once-loyal lawmakers condemning the contentious move. Johnson said a planned law designed to override portions of …
Read more “UK’s Johnson Defends Plan to Rewrite Brexit Deal, Says EU ‘Unreasonable’”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday granted a $1.5 billion loan to Belarus as a show of support for its embattled leader, Alexander Lukashenko, after weeks of street demonstrations that have accused him of rigging last month’s election to retain power in Minsk. The two leaders met at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi for …
Automaker Daimler AG and subsidiary Mercedes-Benz USA have agreed to pay $1.5 billion to the U.S. government and California state regulators to resolve emissions cheating allegations, officials said Monday. The U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency and the California Attorney General’s Office say Daimler violated environmental laws by using “defeat device software” to circumvent emissions testing …
Read more “Daimler AG to Pay $1.5B to Settle Emissions Cheating Probes”
At its opening session, the U.N. Human Rights Council approved a proposal by the European Union to hold an urgent debate on the human rights situation in Belarus by a vote of 25 in favor, two against and 20 abstentions. The European Union cited the steep deterioration of human rights in Belarus following the allegedly rigged …
Read more “UN Council to Hold Urgent Debate on Human Rights Situation in Belarus”
The UN Human Rights office reports the Myanmar military continues to attack, persecute and commit gross violations against the Rohingya Muslims three years after similar actions triggered a mass exodus of more than 750,000 Rohingya to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The report has been submitted to the UN Human Rights Council.Myanmar military operations three years ago …
Read more “UN Condemns Atrocities Against Myanmar’s Rohingya, Other Minorities”
Two allies of stricken Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny are expected to have won local parliamentary seats in the Siberian city of Tomsk when results are released on Monday for a variety of regional and local elections across the country that the ruling United Russia party likely dominated.Ksenia Fadeyeva and Andrei Fateyev came out on top …
Read more “Navalny Allies Win Seats in Siberian City as Ruling Party Claims Victory in Local Polls”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to break international law by breaching parts of the Brexit divorce treaty with the European Union faces a vote in parliament on Monday amid growing opposition from within his own party. The House of Commons will debate the Internal Market Bill, which the EU has demanded Johnson scrap by the …
Read more “UK Parliament to Vote on Johnson’s Plan to Break Brexit Divorce Treaty “
Specialist labs in France and Sweden have confirmed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, the German government said Monday. A German military laboratory previously confirmed the substance in his samples. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said that the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has also received samples and …
Read more “Germany: Foreign Labs Confirm Navalny Poisoned with Novichok”
At least 100,000 Belarusians took to the streets in the capital of Minsk on Sunday in one of the biggest protests yet against President Alexander Lukashenko after he claimed victory in a disputed election last month that his opponents say was rigged.Police said they detained more than 400 protesters in Minsk, with arrests continuing into …
The European Union and China hold talks Monday with hopes to strike a trade and investment deal by the year’s end. Several issues pose potential hurdles, though, from human rights and climate concerns to the outcome of November’s U.S. election. Expectations for the summit have already been notched down. It was supposed to be a …
Read more “Expectations Lowered Ahead of Europe-China Summit”
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the Belarus capital Minsk Sunday for another demonstration after longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko extended his rule following a disputed election last month. Protests have been ongoing since the August 9 vote that opposition parties, the United States and the European Union allege was rigged.On Saturday, thousands demonstrated to demand …
Read more “Protesters Gather in Minsk again Following Last Month’s Disputed Election “
With tensions between NATO allies Greece and Turkey rising, Greece has announced plans to purchase a grab bag of new warplanes, frigates, helicopters and weapons systems. Greece’s defense shopping spree comes amid a new diplomatic scramble with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visiting Cyprus to ease an energy standoff in the eastern Mediterranean.Greek Prime …
Read more “Greece to Buy Warplanes, Battleships to Boost Defenses against Turkey”
Nations accused of violating their citizens’ rights and freedoms will come under intense scrutiny by the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council during its upcoming three-week session, which begins on Monday. As its first order of business, the council is expected to consider a request by member countries to hold an urgent debate on the human rights …
Read more “Country Violations Top UN Human Rights Council Agenda “
Angry migrants left homeless by a blaze at Europe’s largest refugee center demanded to leave the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday as authorities opened up new tent shelters and European leaders faced growing calls to take in more of the displaced.More than 12,000 people, most from Africa and Afghanistan, have been sleeping rough since …
Read more “Police Fire Tear Gas as Migrants Demand to Leave Greek Island After Fire”
Russians vote Sunday in dozens of local elections that will be scrutinized for signs of discontent with the ruling United Russia party following the suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.Navalny, 44, had hoped to undermine United Russia’s grip on regional power and had urged his supporters to vote against it tactically before he fell …
Read more “Russians Vote in Local Elections Targeted by Kremlin Critic Navalny”
The U.N. refugee agency is calling for long-term solutions for thousands of migrants on Greek islands who were rendered homeless by fires that devastated the Moria asylum center on the island of Lesbos.An estimated 11,500 asylum seekers are living in the open since a series of fires, which started five days ago, ravaged Greece’s Moria …
Read more “Long-Term Solutions Sought for Migrants Displaced by Fires on Lesbos Island”
Thousands of Belarusians demonstrated Saturday in Minsk to demand the release of opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova, who was jailed this week after she resisted expulsion from the country.Video broadcast by Polish-funded satellite TV channel Belsat and independent outlet Tut.by showed masked Belarusian riot police violently detaining at least 40 women who were thrown into vans …
One of Germany’s most experienced diplomats had to wait three months this year before Warsaw would approve his appointment as Berlin’s ambassador to Poland.The official acceptance of an envoy by a host government is normally a formality, especially between allies — as well as an event used to highlight neighborliness and friendship. But Arndt Freytag …
Read more “Europe’s Wartime Memories Aggravate Resentment of Germany”
French Prime Minister Jean Castex said Friday the government was not planning a new, nationwide lockdown in response to a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases this week. In a televised statement in Paris, following a meeting with the Defense Council, Castex acknowledged the COVID-19 situation has gotten worse, and he urged citizens to practice social distancing …
Read more “French PM: No New Lockdown Despite COVID-19 Surge”
For Rabbi Jonathan Rietti, this year would have marked his 37th consecutive visit to Uman, Ukraine, for Rosh Hashana — the Jewish new year which falls this year on September 18-20. The town, located 200 km south of Kyiv, is the burial place of the 18th-century tzaddik, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who founded the …
Read more “Pandemic Upends Annual Ukraine Pilgrimage for Hasidic Sect”
Austria’s chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, Friday announced he is reinstating mandatory mask regulations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 after cases spiked in the country this week, especially in Vienna.At a news conference Friday, Kurz announced, beginning Monday, masks will be mandatory again in all public areas, like supermarkets and other retail shops, government buildings and …
Read more “Austria Reinstates Restrictions as New COVID-19 Cases Surge”
The same Russian military intelligence outfit that hacked the Democrats in 2016 has renewed vigorous U.S. election-related targeting, trying to breach computers at more than 200 organizations including political campaigns and their consultants, Microsoft said Thursday.The intrusion attempts reflect a stepped-up effort to infiltrate the U.S. political establishment, the company said.”What we’ve seen is consistent …
Read more “Russian Hackers Targeting US Campaigns, Microsoft Says”
Leaders of seven southern European countries on Thursday urged Turkey to end “unilateral and illegal activities” in the eastern Mediterranean and resume dialogue to ease tensions in the region.Heads of state and government of France, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Italy, Spain and Portugal gathered in Corsica amid fears of open conflict, as Turkey seeks to expand …
Read more “Southern EU Leaders Urge Turkey to End ‘Unilateral’ Actions”