Month: April 2021

The decision by global media giants to comply with demands by the Turkish government to open offices in Turkey is prompting concerns about media freedoms. Press freedom advocates say because the companies will now be subject to Turkish laws, that could mean Turkey’s people will no longer have a venue to freely express their views. …

The United States and the European Union are urging Albania’s leaders to set aside their differences and move forward toward establishing a stable democracy after elections Sunday that gave the ruling Socialist Party a third consecutive mandate.   Prime Minister Edi Rama’s party is the first to achieve the feat since the collapse of communism more than three decades ago. It …

China may have sabotaged its own prospects for securing a sought-after investment agreement with the European Union when it penalized a long list of politicians, researchers and institutions – including a key member of Germany’s Green Party – in response to recent EU sanctions.The Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, or CAI, was agreed to in principle …

During a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a return to discussions on human rights, saying such consultations in the past have improved relations between their two nations. The comments came during wide-ranging governmental consultations between Merkel and Li — held virtually due to the pandemic — on issues like …

European Union countries introducing their own COVID vaccination certificates would have to grapple with a myriad of disjointed systems if the bloc fails to build a shared one, a senior official said on Wednesday.   The EU is pushing to have a shared digital health pass to allow tourists to travel freely this summer. But …

Seven Italian former members of the Red Brigades, a left-wing domestic terrorism group active in the 1970s and 1980s, were arrested on Wednesday morning in France, the French presidency said in a statement. Italian arrest warrants were issued for “acts of terrorism,” the statement said. French police are searching for three more suspects who were …

Russia ordered the expulsion Wednesday of seven diplomats from Slovakia and the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in response to the expulsion of Russian Embassy personnel.      Russia’s Foreign Ministry ordered seven diplomats from the four countries to leave Moscow within one week.   Russia said the countries have displayed “pseudo-solidarity” with …

The UK government on Wednesday became the first country to announce it will regulate the use of self-driving vehicles at slow speeds on motorways, with the first such cars possibly appearing on public roads as soon as this year. Britain’s transport ministry said it was working on specific wording to update the country’s highway code for …

World powers resumed talks Tuesday in Vienna about revitalizing the 2015 international pact to restrain Iran’s nuclear development program and bring the United States back into the accord that former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018.Current U.S. President Joe Biden wants to rejoin the pact aimed at keeping Tehran from developing nuclear …