Month: December 2018

A multipronged crackdown on the press continued throughout 2018, the Committee to Protect Journalists concludes in a report published Thursday. Imprisonment, intimidation and allegations that journalists produce “fake news” surged in 2016, when U.S. President Donald Trump won the election, CPJ found. Trump has been a vocal critic of the press, often chastising journalists as “very dishonest people.” The number of journalists in jail dipped 8 percent, from 272 in 2017 to 251 this year. But that doesn’t mean the situation has improved, Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, told VOA.   The numbers fluctuate and may not reflect every …

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The head of the U.N. agency focusing on AIDS says he’ll leave his post in June, an early departure announced a week after independent experts looking into sexual harassment at UNAIDS blasted its “defective leadership.” Executive director Michel Sidibe made the announcement during a UNAIDS board meeting Thursday in Geneva, said agency spokesman Mahesh Mahalingham. He did not elaborate. Sidibe’s term was supposed to end in January 2020. On Friday, a panel of experts released a report citing a culture of impunity and a toxic working environment at UNAIDS and said it could not be changed unless Sidibe resigned.Citing a …

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Hopelessly divided over how to improve the European Union’s asylum system, EU leaders are set Thursday to underline their intention to keep beefing up Europe’s borders and outsource their migrant challenge to the countries of northern Africa. The arrival in Europe of well over a million people in 2015 seeking sanctuary or better lives sparked one of the 28-nation bloc’s biggest political crises. Mediterranean coastal states felt abandoned by their partners as they struggled to cope. Others erected fences to keep migrants out. Countries bickered over who should take responsibility and whether they should be obliged to help. A refugee-sharing …

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A high-speed train hit a railway engine and crashed into a pedestrian overpass at a station in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday, killing four people and injuring 43 others, officials and news reports said. The 6:30 a.m. train from Ankara to the central Turkish city of Konya first collided with the engine that was checking the tracks at the capital city’s small Marsandiz station, Ankara Gov. Vasip Sahin told reporters at the scene. The high-speed train transits that station without stopping.  Private NTV television said at least two cars derailed. Parts of the overpass collapsed onto the train. Television …

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There wasn’t much of a honeymoon Wednesday for Britain’s embattled Theresa May after she survived a bid to oust her by critics from her own Conservative party. Standing outside No. 10 Downing Street after an internal party vote she won but not emphatically, May pledged she will “get on with the job of delivering Brexit.” But the British leader’s opponents from both the euroskeptic and pro-European Union wings of her party were not silenced, warning her survival has done nothing to improve the chances of getting the House of Commons to approve her contentious Brexit deal. More than a third …

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European Union leaders will offer Ukraine help for its regions affected by Russia’s actions in the Azov Sea when they meet Thursday, according to a draft summit statement seen by Reuters on Wednesday.  But there is no mention of consideration of further sanctions against Russia, reflecting division among member states. Diplomats expect a rollover of existing sanctions but no consensus on increases sought by more hawkish governments.  Condemning Russia, the EU will reiterate its support for Ukrainian sovereignty over Crimea’s 2014 annexation by Moscow and — referring to the capture of Ukrainian naval vessels off Crimea last month — said: “There is no justification for the use of military force …

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Hungary’s parliament has approved the creation of a new court system to deal with matters related to public administration, giving Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government close control over what will become a crucial part of the judiciary. According to the bill approved Wednesday, the justice minister will have final say over the appointment, promotion and salary of judges in the new system, which could hear cases on a wide range of matters, including those involving the police, tax authorities, public procurement procedures, local governments, elections and media issues. Critics say the minister’s prerogatives call into question the independence of the …

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The Russian military says two of its nuclear-capable strategic bombers were flown over the Caribbean Sea during a 10-hour training mission. A pair of Tu-160 bombers arrived Monday at Maiquetia airport outside Caracas. The Russian Defense Ministry said they were escorted by Venezuelan fighter jets during part of the training mission Wednesday to practice interaction. The Tu-160 is capable of carrying conventional or nuclear-tipped cruise missiles with a range of 5,500 kilometers (3,410 miles). The Russian bombers’ deployment came as Russia-U.S. relations have worsened because of the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and other issues. Russia …

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