Month: October 2019

Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, who has inspired millions across the world to stage protests urging leaders to better tackle global warming, has declined an environmental prize, saying “the climate movement does not need any more prizes.”Two fellow climate activists spoke on Thunberg’s behalf at an award ceremony Tuesday in Stockholm for the regional inter-parliamentary …

An international conference has concluded in Brussels with the European Union pledging an additional 150 million euros [166 million USD] to address the Venezuelan migration crisis. The United States also contributed to the effort. Experts at the conference estimate that by the end of next year more than six million Venezuelans will have fled their …

Hungary is set to reappoint its chief prosecutor to a new 9-year term and will remove its main judicial administrator, in moves that critics say highlight premier Viktor Orban’s mixed success in influencing the judiciary which remains one of the most independent bodies in Hungarian society.Despite constant clashes with Western partners over the rule of …

Visitors ranging from curious to nostalgic took in the new look of Spain’s Civil War shrine in the Valley of the Fallen, as it reopened on Tuesday five days after the government exhumed the remains of fascist dictator Francisco Franco from the mausoleum.A black marble slab, noticeably darker than its neighbors, covered the spot in …

Bosnia is facing an outflow from its politically sensitive multi-ethnic armed forces (OSBiH) due to the failure of political institutions to approve adequate funding, the Balkan country’s military commissioner warned on Tuesday.The formation of the OSBiH in 2005, assisted by NATO and the EU peacekeeping force EUFOR, has been hailed as the country’s biggest achievement …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing for the mass return of Syrian refugees to ease domestic discontent and kickstart an ailing economy. But Erdogan is struggling to find the financial support to realize his objective.Turkey’s military operation against the YPG Syrian Kurdish militia this month was ostensibly an operation to secure the Turkish border …

Russia’s defense minister said Tuesday that Syrian Kurdish fighters have completed their withdrawal from areas along the Syrian border, in line with a recent Russia-Turkey deal. Sergei Shoigu said Russian and Syrian troops have moved into the border zone following the Kurdish withdrawal.   Separately, a Russian military statement said an explosive device went off …

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy promised to create a level playing field for businesses on Tuesday as he made an investment pitch for Ukraine in the unlikely venue of Mariupol, a port city 20 km (12 miles) from a rumbling separatist conflict.A popular comedian who won a landslide election in April with no prior political experience, Zelenskiy …

Human rights groups including Amnesty International and MSF on Tuesday said a new Greek migration law was “extremely harmful” to vulnerable asylum-seekers.The groups said the bill currently being debated in Greece’s parliament introduces stricter rules for receiving asylum seekers, delays access to the right to work, narrows the definition of family, and imposes more burdens …

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko said a planned troop withdrawal has started in the town of Zolote in the eastern Luhansk region, where Ukrainian armed forces have been fighting Russia-backed separatists for more than five years.”The withdrawal is taking place right now, we are beginning [the process] today,” Prystayko said at an investment forum in …

The Moscow City Court has denied bail to U.S. investor Michael Calvey and ruled to extend the house arrest of Calvey and his partner, French citizen Philippe Delpal, until January 13.The court on Tuesday upheld a previous October 9 ruling by the Basman District Court.Calvey and several other executives and employees of the Russia-based private-equity …