Category: Світ

A former employee of the British Consulate in Hong Kong says he was detained and tortured by Chinese secret police trying to extract information about massive anti-government protests in the territory.Simon Cheng said in an online statement and media interviews that he was hooded, beaten, deprived of sleep and chained to an X-shaped frame by …

Britain’s Prince Andrew has announced he will step down from his public duties because of the controversy over his involvement with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in prison earlier this year.A statement from Buckingham Palace, issued Wednesday, said the scandal has become a “major disruption” to the royal family’s work and to …

Germany sought Wednesday to ease French worries about NATO by offering to set up a group of experts to examine the alliance’s security challenges after President Emmanuel Macron lamented the “brain death” of the military organization.Macron’s public criticism of NATO — notably, a perceived lack of U.S. leadership, concerns about an unpredictable Turkey since it …

Russia has long been viewed as one of the world’s heaviest drinking countries. Or it certainly used to be. A recent global study found that alcohol consumption by Russians nearly halved over the past decade — and now sits at levels below western countries like France and Germany. From Moscow, Charles Maynes reports on the …

Croatia’s first-ever presidency in the European Union will come at come at a “critical period” for the 28-nation bloc, outgoing EU leader Donald Tusk said Tuesday.The EU’s newest member could end up in charge of launching the bloc’s post-Brexit negotiations with Britain, the European Council president said after talks with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.Croatia, …

Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid defended NATO on Tuesday after French President Emmanuel Macron branded it “brain dead,” saying Estonia felt safe in a military alliance that has been fortifying its eastern flank as a shield against Russia.”NATO is clearly functional,” said Kaljulaid, whose Baltic state was for half a century a Soviet republic under Moscow’s …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn attacked each other’s policies on Brexit, health care and the economy Tuesday in a televised election debate that likely failed to answer the question troubling many voters: Why should we trust you?The two politicians hammered away at their rival’s weaknesses and sidestepped tricky questions about …

One of only four oar makers for Venice’s famed gondoliers, Paolo Brandolisio wades through his ground-floor workshop for the third time in a week of record-breaking floods, despairing of any help from national or local institutions.”If these phenomena continue to repeat themselves, you have to think about how to defend yourself,” he says. “Because the …

Poland’s prime minister set out plans on Tuesday to strengthen the state’s role in the economy and deepen an overhaul of the justice system that has put Warsaw on a collision course with its European Union partners.Mateusz Morawiecki said the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party would continue increasing welfare spending and the share of …

Swedish prosecutors have dropped a rape investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.The probe began when a Swedish woman accused him in 2010 of having unprotected sex with her while she was sleeping, after she repeatedly refused to have unprotected sex with him.Deputy Chief Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson told reporters the case was dropped although prosecutors found …

Google’s head of philanthropy says the company is having “a lot of conversations” internally amid worries about the tech giant’s bottomless appetite for consumer data and how it uses its algorithms.                     Vice President Jacqueline Fuller wouldn’t comment on specific data privacy controversies dogging Google lately, but says she shares other concerns many have …

A Moscow City Court has upheld a decision to prolong the pretrial detention of Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen charged in Russia with espionage, until December 29.Lawyers for the detained former U.S. Marine, who has rejected the charges, had argued at an appeal hearing on November 19 that Whelan should be subjected to a less …

In her first public appearance since being deported by U.S. authorities who had jailed her for being a Russian agent, Maria Butina was on Monday offered a job by Moscow to defend Russians imprisoned abroad.During an event for the media, Russia’s human rights commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, offered Butina, 31, a job working for her commission.”I …

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko maintained his hold on power after results published Monday showed not a single opposition candidate had won a seat in a weekend parliamentary election.Lukashenko has governed the former Soviet republic with an iron fist for a quarter of a century and he announced on Sunday he would stand again in the …

Spain’s High Court on Monday ordered the extradition of Venezuela’s former military intelligence chief to the United States, reversing an earlier decision to refuse the request.Hugo Carvajal, an ally of Venezuela’s late Socialist leader Hugo Chavez, is wanted by U.S. authorities on allegations of drug trafficking. He has previously denied accusations that he collaborated with …

Riot police in Tbilisi have begun using water cannons and launching volleys of tear gas at protesters who were blocking the entrance to parliament until early elections are called.Hundreds of demonstrators were gathered for a fourth day on Monday to protest parliament’s rejection of constitutional amendments on the transition to a proportional electoral system when …

Russia’s Foreign Ministry says three Ukrainian naval ships that were seized in a shooting confrontation nearly a year ago have been returned.                     The two gunboats and a tug were taken by the Russian coast guard on Nov. 25, 2018, as they passed through the Kerch Strait that connects the Black Sea with the …

Intercepted phone conversations released last week by Dutch-led investigators featuring separatist leaders in Ukraine seeking guidance and practical support from Moscow in the weeks before the 2014 shooting down of a Malaysian jet are adding to a picture of the ties between senior Russian officials in the Donbas region in Ukraine and pro-Moscow rebel militias, …

Pope Francis hosted 1,500 poor and needy people for lunch on Sunday at the Vatican. Earlier he celebrated Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica to mark World Day of the Poor.Some 150 round tables were prepared in the large Vatican hall where the pope normally holds his indoor audiences with the faithful during the winter months.  …

Heavy police presence in Athens appeared to have prevented serious clashes Sunday with anarchists and other extreme leftists on the 46th anniversary of a student uprising against the then-ruling Greek military dictatorship.Over 20,000 people made the traditional march from the National Technical University of Athens, site of the 1973 uprising, to the U.S. Embassy on …

A senior official from Britain’s main opposition Labour Party says that leaks from a parliamentary report on Russian interference in British politics raises important questions about the fairness of next month’s general election.An 18-month-long investigation by the British parliament’s cross-party intelligence committee has concluded Russian meddling may have impacted Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, though the …

Pope Francis has agendas both pastoral and personal for his trip to Asia, where he’ll appeal for global nuclear disarmament at the sites of the atomic bomb and minister to two tiny Catholic communities that have suffered gruesome periods of persecution.Emphasizing the dignity of life is also on Francis’ to-do list for his trip to …

The owner of a kebab shop targeted in a deadly far-right attack in the German city of Halle last month has gifted the eatery to the two brothers who were working there during the shooting.Siblings Ismet and Rifat Tekin received a framed letter transferring the ownership of the Kiez-Doener to them in a ceremony on …

Prince Andrew offered a detailed rebuttal Saturday to claims he had sex with a woman who says she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, providing an alibi for one of the alleged encounters and questioning the authenticity of a well-known photograph that shows him posing with the woman.In a rare interview with BBC Newsnight, Andrew categorically …

Venetians are bracing for the prospect of another exceptional tide in a season that is setting records.Officials are forecasting a 1.6 meter (5 feet, 2 inch) surge of water Sunday through the lagoon city. That comes after Tuesday’s 1.87-meter flood, the worst in 53 years, followed by high tide of 1.54 meters Friday.Those two events …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says all Conservative Party candidates in the upcoming election have pledged to back his Brexit deal. “All 635 Conservative candidates standing at this election — every single one of them — has pledged to me that if elected they will vote in Parliament to pass my Brexit deal so we can end the uncertainty …