Month: November 2019

Rumbling two by two down the ring road, disgruntled French farmers drove their tractors toward Paris Wednesday to protest stagnant revenues and what they say is unfair competition.The protest was snarling traffic in the Paris area, as farmers from across the country attempted to use 1,000 tractors to block off access to Paris.The tractors will …

NATO is at least as essential today as it was during the Cold War, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday, renewing a pledge to keep raising Germany’s defense spending and arguing that it is important to keep Turkey in the alliance.                     Merkel told the German parliament before a NATO summit in London next week …

Top Russian officials decried the recommendations by a World Anti-Doping Agency committee to suspend Russia from international competition over tainted athlete doping probes — the latest in a drawn out saga over accusations of Russian state sponsored doping that has roiled global sport since 2014.Russian athletes, unsurprisingly, joined in expressing bitterness about the WADA recommendations. …

Rescuers were pulling survivors and dead bodies from piles of rubble in Albania on Tuesday after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s coastal area. The U.S. Geological survey placed the quake’s epicenter about 30 kilometers north of the capital Tirana and at a depth of about 20 kilometers. The earthquake was followed by about 100 …

France said Tuesday it is determined to continue fighting terrorism, despite losing 13 of its soldiers during a counterinsurgency operation in Mali. The deaths of the soldiers late Monday represent France’s biggest military loss in three decades. The 13 troops were killed during a counterterrorism combat operation in Mali, when the two helicopters the troops were …

There senior officials in Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s government stepped down Tuesday in connection with a probe into the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.Press reports have linked Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, Economy Minister Chris Cardona and Muscat’s chief of staff Keith Schembri to the Caruana Galizia investigation.All three deny any wrongdoing. Their …

With U.S.-Turkish relations at their lowest ebb in decades, the future of a critical American air base in Turkey is increasingly in the spotlight.  The vast Incirlik Air Base, located in southern Turkey close to Syria, has been a longstanding symbol of U.S.-Turkish cooperation. At the height of the Cold War, it underscored America’s commitment …

Dresden museum officials say thieves got away with less than initially thought in their robbery of the Green Vault’s collection of 18th century jewels. Green Vault Director Dirk Syndram told reporters Tuesday the thieves who broke into the museum early Monday seem to have only snatched what they could reach through holes punched with an …

Almost three years into the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, Germans and Americans continue to have notably different perspectives on the relationship between their two countries, with Americans much more optimistic than their European counterparts, a study said Tuesday.The Pew Research Center and the Koerber-Stiftung foundation said in the joint report that three-quarters of Americans …

Ukraine’s president says he has discussed a new contract for natural gas supplies from Russia during a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he discussed the gas deal with Putin during Monday’s phone call. Zelenskiy said Tuesday that the deal is a priority for Ukraine and important for Europe’s energy security.Talks on a …

Turkish riot police used force to break up a march by thousands of women calling for what they call an “end to impunity” for men guilty of violence against women.Police stopped more than 2,000 from marching up Istikal Street in Istanbul’s main shopping district.Police fired pepper spray at the protesters with some witnesses reporting the …

Women across Europe and elsewhere demonstrated on Monday to demand government action against widespread abuse of women and girls. The United Nations says one-third of all women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Half of the women killed by violence are victims of their partner or family member. The world organization has designated …