Month: April 2017

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that his government has had a lot of questions about what he said were ambiguous and contradictory ideas coming from the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Lavrov spoke at the start of a meeting in Moscow with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, adding that it is important for Russia to understand U.S. intentions. Lavrov also referenced last week’s U.S. strike on a Syrian airbase, which came in response to a chemical weapons attack, calling the U.S. response “troubling.” Tillerson was more brief in his opening statement, but like Lavrov, he …

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Strolling down the quayside in Izmir, a liberal bastion on Turkey’s Aegean Coast, Kubilay Mutlu and his Street Orchestra sing of “the naked emperor” and the collapse of sultanates in a bid to rally “no” voters ahead of Sunday’s historic referendum. With mainstream media saturated by pro-government campaigning ahead of the vote on broadening President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers, those opposed to the changes are seeking alternative channels to get their message across. “No” supporters have complained of threats and bans from the authorities, and a report by one non-governmental group said television coverage of the “yes” campaign had been ten …

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The Hungarian government should engage in “serious, urgent and good-faith talks” with Central European University about legal changes seen to be targeting the school founded by billionaire George Soros, a U.S. diplomat said Tuesday. A bill signed Monday by President Janos Ader sets new conditions for foreign universities in Hungary, some of which seem aimed specifically at CEU. The law requires universities in Hungary also to have a campus in their home countries. While CEU is accredited in Hungary and in New York state, it does not have a U.S. campus. “We’re very concerned about the legislation,” Hoyt Yee, U.S. …

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Italy’s parliament approved on Tuesday measures to accelerate asylum procedures, cutting the number of possible appeals and speeding up deportations of rejected migrants. Since 2014 the number of migrants reaching Italy’s shores has surged, with half a million arriving in the country, and under European Union law Italy has to set up so-called “hotspots” where migrants with the right of asylum are set apart from those without. As a result, Italy’s asylum applications have jumped, burdening the national civil courts and with procedures further delayed by appeals that can take years. Under the new rules the asylum ruling can be …

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President Donald Trump gave his official approval Tuesday for Montenegro to join NATO, marking another step forward in the tiny Baltic country’s quest for NATO acceptance. The White House says Trump looks forward to meeting with Montenegro and other NATO leaders next month in Brussels to welcome the 29th member of the alliance. The White House statement said Montenegro’s accession will signal other countries seeking to join NATO that “the door to membership in the Euro-Atlantic community of nations remains open and that countries in the Western Balkans are free to choose their own future.” The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly …

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A refugee camp in northern France burned down Monday night after a massive brawl involving more than 150 migrants broke out between rival groups of Kurds and Afghans, French authorities said. The fire destroyed most of the Grande-Synthe migrant camp near Dunkirk and the fighting left several people injured, according to the regional prefect, Michel Lalande. As many as 1,600 migrants were living in the camp at the time of the fire, many of whom lost all the meager possessions they had, Lalande said. Around 500 migrants were taken to nearby gymnasiums, but the rest are unaccounted for, Lalande and …

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Two world champions are among seven Russian athletes who were approved by track and field’s governing body on Tuesday to compete internationally while their country remains banned for doping.   The IAAF so far has approved 10 Russians this year to compete as neutrals.   The new list includes 110-meter hurdler Sergei Shubenkov and high jumper Maria Kuchina. Both won gold medals at the 2015 world championships in Beijing and could now defend their titles in London in August.   Russia was banned from the track at last year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but two athletes had been approved …

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Two Russian servicemen were killed and a third wounded in a mortar attack in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry announced Tuesday. “Russian professional servicemen who were in a unit of Syrian forces as instructors … came under a mortar attack from a group of rebel fighters,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement quoted by Interfax news agency.  “As a result of a mortar explosion, two Russian servicemen died.” A third officer was badly wounded. The soldiers were embedded with a Syrian army unit along with a Russian military adviser. The ministry did not specify when or where the attack …

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“At the actual breakup of the Beatles, it was painful,” Paul McCartney said during a 1990 television interview. “We likened it to a divorce.” Twenty years earlier on April 10, McCartney signaled the end of the Fab Four during his unveiling of his solo album “McCartney.” On April 9, McCartney released a Q&A package to the British press in which he explained his reasons for making his solo album. Compiled with the help of Apple executives, the self-interview also contained questions McCartney imagined he would be asked regarding the possibility of the Beatles splitting up. While stopping short of saying that the band …

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God comes first in this mountaintop village on Turkey’s Black Sea, the saying goes. Then, according to adoring villagers, comes local boy Recep Tayyip Erdogan, today one of the most transformational, polarizing figures in modern Turkish history. Nestled among tea plantations, the village of Dumankaya in the rugged province of Rize oozes the fervent loyalty that has propelled Erdogan, 63, to one electoral triumph after another since he took power as prime minister in 2003. Now the Turkish president is hoping that pious Muslim bedrocks of support like Dumankaya will help deliver him another win, this time in Turkey’s April …

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The Trump administration must decide by the end of this month whether to grant Belarus continued relief from U.S. economic sanctions despite a stiff government crackdown on street demonstrations last month. The renewal decision is considered a low-level priority for the administration, which is facing bigger questions about U.S. relations with Russia and China, and with most major diplomatic positions still unfilled. But whether the United States renews the sanctions relief or instead returns to blacklisting nine major Belarus companies is an early test for the Trump administration on the importance it puts on human rights versus efforts to coax …

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Hungary’s right-wing president has signed controversial legislation on foreign universities that critics warn could force the closure of a top international institution founded by U.S. financier George Soros. The approval Monday by President Janos Ader came less than a day after tens of thousands of protesters rallied in central Budapest against the legislation, which is seen as targeting Central European University. Soros founded CEU — an English-language institution of about 1,400 students from more than 100 countries — in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union. At that time, the financier’s move was widely hailed as helping Hungary transition …

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Serbia and the United States agreed to step up efforts to bolster regional security including joint military and police training drills, Serbian Prime Minister and President-elect Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday. Serbia is maintaining a balancing act between the West and Russia, its traditional Orthodox Christian and Slavic ally. Although it wants to join the European Union, Belgrade has adamantly refused to join NATO which bombed it in 1999 during the war in Kosovo. In 2008, with the U.S. backing, Kosovo declared independence. After meeting Republican Senator John McCain, who also chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, Vucic told reporters …

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