Category: World

Some 13,000 migrants have gathered along the Turkish-Greek border after Turkey’s president threatened to allow some of the 3.6 million refugees in the country cross into Europe, the United Nations said Saturday. “Thousands of migrants, including families with young children, are passing a cold night along the border between Turkey and Greece,” the International Organization for Migration said …

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An association of judges in Poland published a report Saturday listing dozens of judges and prosecutors who face reprisals and disciplinary measures for having criticized or questioned changes the country’s right-wing government has made to the judicial system. The 200-page report issued by the Polish judges’ association Iustitia named judges and prosecutors who were called before disciplinary bodies, …

Read more “Report in Poland Lists Judges, Prosecutors Facing Reprisals “

The pro-Irish unity Sinn Fein party would easily win a repeat Irish election if ongoing government talks fail, with an opinion poll on Saturday showing it has almost twice as much support as its two nearest rivals. The left-wing party’s support jumped to 35%, ahead of Fianna Fail at 20% and acting Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s Fine Gael at 18% …

Read more “Poll: Sinn Fein Would Easily Win Repeat Irish Election”

France’s annual Cesar Award film ceremony Friday is already clouded in controversy, with a shake-up of its board, sexual assault accusations against top director Roman Polanski, and now, fresh calls for more diversity on screen.After Hollywood, French cinema is having its own introspective moment. The latest hashtag trending this week is #BlackCesars, after some 30 …

Read more “French Film Awards Held Amid Calls for More Diversity”

In another one of its many fallouts, the coronavirus is creating new strains for Europe’s 26-nation Schengen zone that allows for the free movement of people among member states. European officials say, for now, there is no reason to close borders, but the spread of the virus seems to bolster nationalist arguments for the zone …

Read more “Coronavirus Threatening Europe’s Open-Border Goals”

With public health experts warning a tipping point for coronavirus is getting closer, European authorities are racing to try to ready their health systems to cope with a flood of sick and highly contagious patients.European countries are still in containment mode but they’re also trying simultaneously to prepare their health services and hospitals for a …

Read more “Europe Races to Ready Hospitals for Coronavirus Break Out”

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation, responsible for investigating high-level crime in that country, Thursday opened a criminal case concerning alleged pressure by then-U.S. vice president Joe Biden to get rid of Viktor Shokin, then Ukraine’s prosecutor general.Biden, who served under former U.S. President Barack Obama, is running for the Democratic Party nomination to unseat U.S. …

Read more “Ukraine Opens Case Involving Former Prosecutor General”

Tensions between Russia and Turkey over their sometimes allied and often dueling military campaigns in Syria broke into the open Friday, with Moscow blaming Ankara for the deaths of 33 Turkish troops in Syria’s Idlib region during airstrikes. While Russia denied any role in the deaths of the Turkish soldiers, the Kremlin accused Turkish forces of operating unannounced in the …

Read more “Russia, Turkey Are on the Edge in Syria”

Fears of an escalating conflict in Syria grew Friday as Turkish forces pounded Syria’s military in retaliation for the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers. Meanwhile, Russia’s and Turkey’s presidents spoke, as Ankara threatens to launch even more assaults on Russian-backed Syrian forces.”Turkish forces destroyed five Syrian regime choppers, 23 tanks, 10 armored vehicles, 23 howitzers, …

Read more “Turkish, Russian Leaders Talk as Fighting Continues in Syria”

The situation in Syria’s rebel-controlled Idlib region remains explosive, following the killing there of more than 30 Turkish soldiers in an airstrike by Russia-backed Syrian government forces. Bracing against possible Turkish countermeasures, Russia is moving two warships toward the eastern Mediterranean.Meanwhile, NATO is urging Damascus to “respect international law,” and cease airstrikes over civilian areas …

Read more “Syria’s Idlib Remains Explosive After Deadly Attack on Turkish Troops”

REYHANLI, Turkey  – The presidents of Turkey and Russia spoke over the phone on Friday, a day after Syrian government airstrikes killed 33 Turkish troops, significantly ratcheting up tensions between Ankara and Moscow. It was the highest number of Turkish soldiers killed in a single day since Ankara first intervened in the Syrian conflict in …

Read more “Turkey Threatens Europe with Refugees After 33 Troops Killed”

Refugees can now gain access to Europe through Turkey.Turkey shares borders with two European Union countries, Greece and Bulgaria.Turkey’s security forces have been ordered not to stop the exodus, at least temporarily reversing an arrangement made with the EU in 2016.The decision comes after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed by Syrian government forces in northern …

Read more “Turkey Opens Its EU Borders to Migrants   “

Two Baltic countries have reported their first case of coronavirus, each with mild symptoms.Lithuania confirmed its first case Friday, detected in a woman who returned home after attending a conference with colleagues in Italy’s northern city of Verona.The 39-year-old woman has mild symptoms and has been isolated in hospital in the northern town of Siauliai …

Read more “Estonia, Lithuania Report First Cases of Coronavirus”

An international manhunt for a Russian spy chief accused of plotting assassinations and coups in several countries is shedding light on how Russia’s covert activities have been increasing throughout Europe, according to Western intelligence analysts. A general of Russia’s military intelligence service (GRU), Denis Sergeev, who is under investigation in Spain for his possible role in supporting …

Read more “Hunt for Russian Black Ops Specialist Ranges From Spain to Bulgaria”

In an effort to end “period poverty,” the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday moved Scotland a step closer to becoming the first country in the world to to provide free sanitary pads and tampons in public places.The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill passed 112-0, with one abstention. If the bill moves past the second phase, …

Read more “Free Menstrual Products a Step Closer in Scotland”

What do Belgium and the U.S. state of Arkansas have in common? The answer is a fondness for bicycling, according to Belgian Ambassador to Washington Dirk Wouters. In a recent interview, Wouters cited the Southern state’s ambitious bid to host an international cycling event next year as an example of the “dynamic” energy he has witnessed …

Read more “Belgian Envoy Sees ‘Dynamic’ Energy Driving US Economy “

None of the remaining 700-plus guests at a hotel in Spain’s Canary Islands on lockdown over the coronavirus have shown any symptoms of the virus and 130 of them have been cleared to leave, a spokesman for the regional government said on Thursday.”All these tourists, clients, guests present no symptoms … and a decision has …

Read more “Over 100 Guests Cleared to Leave Tenerife Hotel on Coronavirus Lockdown”

Filmmaker Roman Polanski is skipping the awards ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars – where his latest movie leads this year’s nominations – because of protests prompted by a new rape accusation against him.Women’s rights activists have called for a boycott of Friday’s Cesars ceremony in Paris, and plastered anti-Polanski banners and graffiti at …

Read more “Top Nominee Polanski to Skip French Oscars After Rape Claim”

Pope Francis is sick and he skipped a planned Mass with Rome clergy across town on Thursday, officials said.The Vatican said the 83-year-old pontiff had a “slight indisposition” and would proceed with the rest of his planned work on Thursday. But Francis “preferred to stay near Santa Marta,” the Vatican hotel where he lives.There was …

Read more “Pope Cancels Visit with Rome Priests for ‘Slight’ Illness”

Contemporary Moscow can often seem a glittery city of dreams — the Russian capital arguably more efficient, clean and well-run than many of its Western counterparts.  But behind the glamour lies an uncomfortable truth: Russia’s largest city is choking on garbage.     The city’s 12 million residents produce more than 7 million tons of waste per year — 20% …

Read more “Moscow Ships its Trash to its Neighbors, and They’re Fighting Back”

The Russian government is facing a mounting trash crisis as dozens of Russian towns are increasingly angry over shipments of garbage from Moscow and other urban centers to surrounding landfills.  With the Kremlin facing growing public pressure over the issue, the government has introduced a novel idea: recycling.  Charles Maynes reports from Moscow. …

Jerome Regnault guides a tractor through his fields on a windy afternoon, scanning a landscape west of Paris that is radically different from what it was during his grandfather’s days.  Highways and housing projects are creeping in. Technology and international markets are increasingly driving his business.  Farmers like Regnault say they now face another unsettling phenomenon — …

Read more “As Agri-Bashing Grows in Europe, Some Farmers Seek to Reconnect Consumers to Their World “

Norway’s Public Health Agency (FHI) said on Wednesday that one person had tested positive for coronavirus and was being kept isolated at home, in what was the country’s first confirmed case.The person had returned from China late last week, but did not appear ill and was unlikely to infect others, the agency said.”This person is …

Read more “Norway Detects Its First Case of Coronavirus”

Recent months have seen European farmers protesting a raft of grievances, including a new phenomenon, agribashing — verbal and sometimes physical attacks against the agricultural community. But in France, the European Union’s biggest agricultural producer, one group of farmers is trying to change perceptions and rebuild fraying ties with society. Lisa Bryant has the story for VOA. …

Read more “Some French Farmers Try to Counter Attacks, Reconnect With Consumers”