Month: June 2017

Britain goes to the polls Thursday in a snap election called in April by Prime Minister Theresa May. May says she wants a strong mandate to take to Brussels when negotiations begin on Britain’s exit from the European Union. But her hopes of winning a big majority have faded, as the main opposition Labour party appears to be closing the gap. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the campaign has been overshadowed by a series of terror attacks. …

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After three Islamist attacks in Britain in as many months, many voters in the town of Corby say security is now their major concern for Thursday’s election — and they see both Prime Minister Theresa May and her Labour challenger as weak. A once thriving steel town in central England, Corby has backed the winning party in every British general election since 1983, and if Labour is to upset opinion polls that point to victory for May’s Conservatives, this is the kind of parliamentary seat it needs to take. The town overwhelmingly backed leaving the European Union in last year’s …

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Polling stations are open for the general election Britain is holding Thursday. Prime Minister Theresa May called the snap election — an early vote, three years before Parliament’s term was to expire — in early April in the hope of winning strong backing for her government during upcoming negotiations in Brussels on the country’s exit from the European Union. The prime minister originally expected a big win to boost her Conservative Party’s majority in Parliament, but that optimism faded as her campaign sputtered over the past few weeks. Late developments, however, could upend the experts’ predictions once again. Polls: Labour Party …

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Slovakia wants to be a part of the EU “integration machine,” its prime minister said on Wednesday, in comments that follow calls by Germany, France and Spain for deeper cooperation and contrast with the eurosceptic stance of some other east European states. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s new President Emmanuel Macron agreed in May to outline a road map for deeper European Union integration while Spain suggested that members of the bloc should pool some aspects of their debt management and share a budget to fight crisis shocks. “Slovakia meets conditions to be a part of the EU integration …

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About 25,000 military forces from the United States and 23 other countries will take part in a large-scale military exercise called Saber Guardian planned in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania next month. In addition, several U.S. B-1B heavy bombers have arrived in Britain in support of two separate multinational exercises planned in the Baltic region and other parts of Europe this month to improve coordination among partner countries. The U.S. military plans were announced by Stuttgart-based U.S. European Command, which said this year’s Saber Guardian exercise — held annually in the Black Sea region since 2013 — was “larger in both …

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As Britain confronts a wave of terrorist attacks, pressure is mounting on its Muslim community to do a better job of identifying potential extremists and policing itself. At the forefront of such efforts is Nazir Afzal, a Muslim and former top prosecutor. Afzal gained national attention for pioneering difficult prosecutions to tackle honor-based violence and forced marriage, as well as child sexual exploitation and grooming in the northwest of England, including Manchester, the site of last month’s suicide bombing that killed 22 people at a pop concert. In an exclusive interview, Afzal said the community has, in general, done a …

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The European Union on Wednesday unveiled a new defense fund to get better value for money on high-tech projects like drones or robotics as European allies at NATO come under U.S. pressure to boost their military budgets.   The European Commission said the fund would provide a total of 500 million euros ($563 million) in EU money in 2019 and 2020 to help buy and develop military equipment.   This would double to 1 billion euros annually from 2020. The Commission says it expects the money to generate about five times that amount for developing defense capabilities, once member countries …

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The European Union has slapped new security screening on imports from Bangladesh, a move that is likely to make it costlier for businesses in the South Asian country to sell products to EU nations. Just over half of Bangladeshi exports go to the European bloc, accounting for $18.68 billion in revenues during the last fiscal year. Those shipments, by air or sea, will now have to be screened by bomb-detecting dogs and devices.   Bangladesh has none of these facilities, so cargo will have to be routed through a third country where security screening is possible.   The move makes …

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A civil rights group is asking German authorities to issue an arrest warrant for the recently appointed deputy director of the CIA over claims she oversaw the torture of terrorism suspects 15 years ago. The non-profit European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights submitted a legal brief to German federal prosecutors Tuesday, alleging that Gina Haspel allowed the waterboarding of prisoners at a secret U.S. detention center in Thailand. The prosecutor’s office confirmed Wednesday the complaint had been received and was being reviewed. Advocates describe waterboarding as a form of “enhanced interrogation.” Critics say it amounts to torture, because prisoners …

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French President Emmanuel Macron is holding a special meeting Wednesday aimed at creating a new counterterrorism unit, in the presence of government members and top security officials. The French presidency said the defense council will outline details of a task force that will be in charge of coordinating counterterrorism efforts and intelligence services in the country. The unit will be based at the Elysee palace, operational 24 hours a day and will act directly under the president’s authority — an unprecedented situation in the country, where some observers have denounced a lack of coordination between foreign and domestic intelligence services. …

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