Author: Fworld

Pope Francis has declared that the Vatican Secret Archive isn’t so secret after all.Francis on Monday officially changed the name of the Holy See archive to remove what he said were the “negative” implications of having “secret” in its name.   From now on, the vast trove of documentation of popes past will be officially …

A right-wing coalition scored a net victory in a local election in the central Italian region of Umbria, official data from the Interior Ministry showed on Monday, giving a boost to Matteo Salvini’s League party. The vote in tiny Umbria, a traditional center-left stronghold with less than 900,000 inhabitants, restores impetus to Salvini after a political …

The European Union agreed to delay Brexit until Jan. 31 next year on Monday — just three days before it was due to take place.   European Council president Donald Tusk said on Twitter that the EU’s 27 other countries agreed to accept “the UK’s request for a Brexit flextension until 31 January, 2020. The decision …

Questions arose after a gunman in Christchurch, New Zealand, live-streamed a video of himself opening fire at a mosque earlier this year. The terrorist killed 51 and injured dozens. Now, British police turning to social media companies to stop such broadcasts before they start.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has this story. …

Two British opposition parties want to hold elections even earlier than Prime Minister Boris Johnson has proposed as they try to ensure the country doesn’t leave the European Union without an agreement.The Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats say they will push for a Dec. 9 election, three days earlier than Johnson has proposed …

Tens of thousands of people are marching in Barcelona to protest the separatist movement in the northeastern Catalonia region that has produced Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.Barcelona’s police say 80,000 people have rallied Sunday on one of the city’s main streets, with many carrying Spanish and Catalan flags.One poster read in English: “We are …

Clashes between police and militant elements in a thousands-strong crowd of demonstrators transformed part of central Barcelona into a battleground late on Saturday as another day of pro-independence protests turned violent. Projectiles were fired, at least six people were hospitalized with injuries, and barricades were set alight after officers charged ranks of demonstrators — many young and masking their faces — who had amassed outside Spanish police headquarters. The violent …

Catholic bishops from across the Amazon called Saturday for the ordination of married men as priests to address the clergy shortage in the region, an historic proposal that would upend centuries of Roman Catholic tradition.    The majority of 180 bishops from nine Amazonian countries also called for the Vatican to reopen a debate on …

Ahmad Al-Rashid knows what the suffering was like for the 39 people who were found dead in the back of a truck in southeastern England this week.  The 29-year-old Syrian refugee found himself gasping for breath inside a refrigerated shipping container with a group of migrants and a load of frozen chicken when a planned trip across the …

Russia’s defense ministry on Saturday attacked U.S. plans to maintain and boost the American military presence in eastern Syria as “international state banditry” motivated by a desire to protect oil smugglers and not by real security concerns.U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Friday Washington would send armored vehicles and troops to the Syrian oil …

For some she was the spy who wasn’t – just an eager Russian gun-rights enthusiast keen to improve relations between Russia and America, who was turned into a scapegoat by vengeful U.S. counterintelligence agencies.For others, Maria Butina is a clandestine Russian agent, a real-life Red Sparrow, with flame-colored hair to match, who infiltrated conservative circles …

More Vietnamese families came forward Saturday with information their relatives may be among the 39 people found dead in the back of a container truck in southeastern England.British police initially said they believed the victims were Chinese but acknowledged this was a “developing picture.”A representative for VietHome, a U.K.-based organization of the Vietnamese community, said …

Across parts of northeastern Syria, with U.S. military outposts and bases emptied or destroyed after Washington withdrew from the region and left its Kurdish allies — the fallout began to roll in — in the form of Russian armored troop carriers.The reinforcements arrived Friday, according to Russian media, with an additional 300 Russian military police …

The White House is expanding and expediting efforts to restart Serbia-Kosovo normalization talks as part of a broader campaign to integrate the Balkans into the Euro-Atlantic community, according to the top U.S. diplomat to the region.”With negotiations at a standstill, both [Serbia and Kosovo] risk squandering the best chance in a generation to normalize relations …

The body of former Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco was exhumed from its grandiose mausoleum outside Madrid Thursday and moved to a cemetery near the capital. Critics have long campaigned for the move, arguing that the site in the “Valley of the Fallen” – which was built by prison laborers under Franco – glorified his …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan filed a criminal complaint Friday against a French magazine over a cover accusing him of “ethnic cleansing,” according to the state-owned Anadolu Agency. The filing was the latest example of efforts by the Erdogan government to restrict press freedoms in Turkey. The complaint filed against the French magazine Le Point’s director, Etienne Gernelle, as well …

British police arrested two more people Friday in connection with the deaths of 39 others found in the back of a container truck in southeastern England as the investigation into one of the country’s worst human smuggling cases geared up.Police said the man and the woman, both 38 and from Warrington, a town in northwestern …

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has a tiny new namesake.London’s Natural History Museum said Friday that a minute species of beetle is being named “Nelloptodes gretae” in honor of the 16-year-old Swede.Michael Darby, a scientific associate at the museum who found the insect in its collection of millions of animal specimens, chose the name to acknowledge …

Governments have pledged nearly $10 billion toward an international fund meant to help poor nations tackle climate change, France’s finance minister said Friday.Bruno Le Maire, speaking at a conference in Paris set to replenish the Green Climate Fund, said “it’s a great success” that he attributed largely to European countries, noting that almost half of …

European Union ambassadors agreed Friday that the bloc should grant Britain’s request for another extension to the Brexit deadline but they have not yet figured out how long that delay should be.Speaking Friday in Brussels after EU ambassadors met with the EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said ambassadors from …

Under a broad plane tree near Albania’s border with Greece, Jorgji Ilia filled a battered flask from one of the Vjosa River’s many springs.    There is nothing else better than the river,” the retired schoolteacher said.The Vjosa gives beauty to our village.”    The Vjosa is temperamental and fickle, changing from translucent cobalt blue to sludge brown to emerald green, from a steady …

The European Union said on Thursday it would extend for four years funding to support implementation of Colombia’s peace accord with former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, including an initial contribution of 33.5 million euros ($37 million).The EU has given nearly 128 million euros ($142 million) to help former fighters reintegrate since late …

Police clashed with students in Greece’s two largest cities Thursday amid strikes and street protests against a planned overhaul of business rules by the new conservative government.In Athens, one protester and one policeman were hurt when a confrontation between students and police turned violent outside parliament. Police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.Clashes also …

Russia said on Thursday a division of its S-400 missile defense system would take part in a military drill in Serbia, underlining Moscow’s wish to keep a traditional ally on side even as Belgrade pursues links with NATO and the European Union.It will be the first time that the sophisticated S-400s, together with a Pantsir …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, stymied in his efforts to have Britain divorce itself from the European Union by next week, on Thursday called for a snap national election on Dec. 12 to give voters a chance to weigh in on protracted but indecisive wrangling over Brexit in parliament.But Johnson needs a two-thirds vote in …

The chief rabbi of the main Orthodox rabbinical alliance in Europe says that a resurgence of anti-Semitism on the continent “poses an existential threat to the Jewish community.”The warning by Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmit was sounded as the Conference of European Rabbis awarded the Moshe Rosen Award on Thursday in Rome to the founder of …