Month: April 2018

A Russian official says a team of chemical weapons experts is set to make a visit Wednesday to the site east of Syria’s capital where a suspected chemical attack killed dozens of people earlier this month. The investigators from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons arrived in Syria on Saturday, but so far have not been able to begin their work in Douma. The U.S. envoy to the OPCW, Ken Ward, said Monday it was his understanding Russia had already visited the site and he raised concerns of tampering before the OPCW carries out its fact-finding mission. Russian …

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A Russian investigative journalist, who recently wrote about the deaths of Russian mercenaries in Syria, has died after falling from his 50th-floor balcony in the city of Yekaterinburg. Maxim Borodin, 32, was found badly injured on the pavement under his balcony and taken to a hospital, where he died Sunday, according to his employer, the news website Novy Den (New Day). Local police said they did not see any foul play, but his death prompted intense speculation among friends and colleagues. Borodin’s friend, Vyacheslav Bashkov, wrote on Facebook that Borodin contacted him early in the morning on Wednesday, the day …

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office said on Monday an “irresponsible” migration policy on the part of the European Union had stoked religious intolerance in western Europe that was threatening Jews there. His office issued a statement a week after Orban was re-elected by a landslide to a third straight term with a fierce anti-immigrant campaign that vilified Hungarian-born, Jewish-American tycoon George Soros for promoting liberal open-door values in Hungary and elsewhere in central and eastern Europe. The right-wing nationalist premier has presented himself as the savior of Hungary’s sovereignty and Christian values against what he calls an “invasion” of …

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Pro-European Union leader Milo Djukanovic has won Montenegro’s presidential election to extend his dominance over the country’s politics. The state election commission said on Monday a preliminary count showed he won 54.1 percent of Sunday’s vote with 97 percent counted and Mladen Bojanic won 33.2 percent on a 63.9 percent turnout. Bojanic is a businessman backed by an alliance of parties some of whom want closer ties with Russia. Djukanovic and his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) led the Balkan republic of 620,000 people into NATO last year and he has pledged to complete talks for European Union membership. He …

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The United States and Britain issued a rare and ominous alert Monday charging Russia of ramping up cyber attacks on American and British companies, government operations and infrastructure.  Washington and London said the widespread, global campaign began in 2015 and could be escalated to launch offensive attacks. The warning came from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and Britain’s National Cyber Security Center, and included advice about what companies can do to protect themselves. American and British officials said the attacks affected a wide range of organizations including internet service providers, private businesses and critical infrastructure providers. They did …

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European foreign ministers and France’s parliament meet Monday to discuss their response to the joint U.S., French and British strikes on Syria. The military action has sparked sharp divisions, even though French President Emmanuel Macron insisted Sunday night they carried international legitimacy. EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg and France’s parliament in Paris are expected to question, but not seriously test, the decision by French and British leaders to join Washington in striking suspected chemical weapons facilities in Syria. Some EU leaders, like Germany’s Angela Merkel, have called the military action necessary — and the bigger debate may be on figuring …

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Russia will not delay adopting legislation in response to new U.S. sanctions, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday, RIA news agency reported. Senior members of the lower house of parliament have said they are considering legislation to give the Kremlin powers to ban or restrict a list of U.S. imports. Ryabkov said Moscow was discussing what he called Washington’s abuse of the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency. …

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Prime Minister Theresa May is set to face British lawmakers to explain her decision to launch airstrikes against Syria without a vote in Parliament. Britain, the United States and France hit targets in Syria Saturday in response to a reported chemical attack in Douma. Parliament returns Monday after a spring break, and was not consulted about the action. The government is not legally bound to seek Parliament’s approval for military strikes, though it is customary to do so. May plans to tell lawmakers that the airstrikes were “in Britain’s national interest,” were carried out to stop further suffering from chemical …

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Turkey does not stand together with any country on Syria and its policy in the region is different from that of Iran, Russia and the United States, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Monday. Speaking to reporters in Qatar, Bozdag, the government spokesman, also said Turkey did not hesitate to work together with any country who defended “correct principles” on Syria. His comments were in response to a reporter’s question about an earlier remark from French President Emmanuel Macron, who said Turkey’s support of missile strikes against Syria showed it had “separated” from Russia. …

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The United Nations Security Council has condemned in “the strongest terms” a deadly extremist attack Saturday on a U.N. military camp in northern Mali.  A U.N. peacekeeper from Burkina Faso was killed in the attack on the camp in Timbuktu, and a number of people were wounded, including seven French soldiers.  The Associated Press reports 15 of the attackers were killed in a counterattack.  The French army said the assault was “particularly sophisticated and underhanded,” with some of the assailants entering the camp disguised as peacekeepers with the U.N. mission, known as MINUSMA. MINUSMA head Mahamat Saleh Annadif said in …

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Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has promised to diversify his nation’s economy and address the needs of its increasingly young population. Mike O’Sullivan reports on the heir-apparent to the Saudi throne’s multination charm offensive in Europe and the United States, which recently wrapped up in Spain. …

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Hundreds of thousands of Catalan separatists rallied in downtown Barcelona on Sunday to demand the release of high-profile secessionist leaders being held in pre-trial detention. Protesters waved Catalan separatist flags behind a huge banner that read “for rights and liberties, for democracy and unity, we want them back home!” The demonstration was organized by two pro-independence grassroots groups, the National Catalan Assembly and Omnium, whose presidents are among the nine separatists in prison awaiting trial for their roles in last year’s failed breakaway bid by the northeastern Spanish region. The regional chapters of Spain’s two leading labor unions, along with …

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France is urging Russia to join in renewed peace efforts after Western missile strikes on Syria aimed at punishing Bashar Assad for an alleged chemical attack, while the Syrian leader was said to have appeared unfazed Sunday in a meeting with Russian politicians.   The U.S., France and Britain launched dozens of airstrikes early Saturday at sites they said were linked to a chemical weapons program. Assad and his close ally, Russia, have denied government forces ever used such weapons.   Russian politicians who met with Assad on Sunday said he was in high spirits, while Assad was quoted in …

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