Month: November 2018

Spanish police say they have arrested a man who they believe intended to attack Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez over his controversial decision to exhume the remains of late dictator Gen. Francisco Franco. Police say the 63-year-old former private security guard was arrested in the town of Terrassa in the Catalonia region on Sept. 19 after a brief investigation. He remains in custody and has not been charged. The case was revealed Thursday by Spanish newspaper Publico. Police found 16 firearms in the suspect’s home, ranging from handguns to sniper rifles, but did not explain how he had managed to …

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Augustin Trebuchon is buried beneath a white lie. His tiny plot is almost on the front line where the guns finally fell silent at 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, after a four-year war that had already killed millions. A simple white cross says: “Died for France on November 10, 1918. Not so. Like hundreds of others along the Western Front, Trebuchon was killed in combat on the morning of November 11 — after the pre-dawn agreement between the Allies and Germany but before the armistice took effect six hours later. His death at …

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Spoof billboards celebrating Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “contribution” to Brexit have been put up in London by a satirical group which says it wants to secure recognition for the role Russian military intelligence played in the referendum. Britain has said it found no evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit vote and Moscow has repeatedly denied even trying, though opponents of Brexit have repeatedly questioned whether the Kremlin played a role. In the referendum, 17.4 million voters, or 51.9 percent, backed leaving the EU while 16.1 million, or 48.1 percent, backed staying. Britain is due to leave on March …

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A North Korean worker who claims he is a victim of modern slavery in a Polish shipyard has filed a criminal complaint against a Dutch shipbuilder that bought products from the Polish firm, an activist group said Thursday. The Global Legal Action Network said in a statement that the man “endured 12-hour workdays in unsafe conditions and had much of his wages seized by the North Korean state.” The network did not release the plaintiff’s name “to protect his safety.” Dutch lawyer Barbara van Straaten, who filed the case Monday on the worker’s behalf, also is not revealing the name …

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Bullied herself online, Britain’s Princess Beatrice is determined to ensure other girls are equipped to deal with internet abuse and get the best from the digital world.  Beatrice — who as the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew and his former wife, the Duchess of York, is eighth in line to the British throne — said her bullying, about her weight and her appearance, were very public and could not be ignored.  But she said other girls faced this in private and needed to be encouraged to speak out and to know where to get support, which prompted her to get involved in campaigns against cyber bullying.  A recent study by the …

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A coalition of European militaries ready to react to crises near the continent’s borders was launched Wednesday with Finland becoming the 10th country to join, amid calls by French President Emmanuel Macron for a “real European army.” The French-led initiative would not conflict with the almost 70-year-old, U.S.-dominated NATO alliance, proponents say, but reflects in part concerns about a more isolationist United States under President Donald Trump. The European Intervention Initiative took official shape in Paris after months of negotiations with Germany, who France wants at the center of the force. Macron proposed the idea more than a year ago …

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Three members of an Iranian opposition group were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of having praised those behind a Sept. 22 terror attack in Iran that killed at least 25 people. Police spokesman Bjoerke Kierkegaard said that would violate Danish laws and they could face fines or up to two years in prison. Kierkegaard said all three are members of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz that Tehran has blamed for the deadly attack in the Iranian city of Ahvaz. However, ASMLA has condemned the violence and says it was not involved. The men were held on preliminary …

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The United States is rallying Southeast Asian countries to continue a maximum pressure campaign against North Korea, until the Korean Peninsula achieves complete denuclearization.   Ahead of the annual ASEAN summit that begins November 11 in Singapore, Washington is urging the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) not to ease United Nations sanctions, and instead continue to deny the revenue streams that North Korea has enjoyed around the region. “The United States continues to work with governments around the world, including the countries of ASEAN, to ensure all nations are fully implementing U.N. sanctions obligations,” a State Department spokesperson …

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World leaders have been reacting to the U.S. midterm election results, as America’s partners and rivals try to decipher what the Democratic Party’s new majority in the House of Representatives could mean for the future of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy agenda over the coming years. Democrats say their victory in the House marks a new day in America. However, that doesn’t mean a new dawn for American foreign policy, says analyst Peter Trubowitz, professor of international relations and director of the U.S. Center at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “The main play that Donald Trump now …

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