Month: February 2019

Krzysztof Strzemeski watched with unease as a high school friend voiced support for Poland’s nationalist government on social media, followed by hate-filled extremist posts. But when the liberal mayor of Gdansk was stabbed to death in public in January, he could no longer hold back his anger. “Congratulations for your perseverance sharing right-wing filth,” the 58-year-old university lecturer wrote to his former classmate. The two haven’t communicated since. Poland’s political fissures have widened in recent months, pitting conservatives — many of them government supporters — against liberal critics who accuse the ruling party of threatening the country’s hard-won democracy by …

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The United Nations is appealing for $162 million to provide protection and life-saving assistance to 2.3 million of the most vulnerable people in eastern Ukraine, which is in its fifth year of civil war. The United Nations reports more than 3,300 people have been killed and up to 9,000 injured since 2014 when civil war broke out in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and the government. The conflict remains active and potentially deadly for millions of civilians who are liable to be hit by daily shelling and sniper fire. Nearly 2 million of the 2.3 million people the U.N. plans …

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Women’s marches last weekend in cities around the world show just how much attention the #MeToo movement has drawn to the issue of sexual violence. But experts say there is a long way to go. An EU report says one in 20 women in Europe has been raped, and many still do not report sexual assaults. But in France, a triple world karate champion is teaching women to heal through her sport—both at home and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Laurence Fischer has faced some tough adversaries, but nothing like the one she’s dealing with today. It’s often invisible …

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After seven years detained at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo and ex-youth leader Charles Ble Goude are free men — but there’s a hitch.  Presiding judge Chile Eboe-Osuji read out the unanimous verdict of the five-judge appeals panel.   “The conditions set out in the written judgement are imposed to Mr. Gbagbo and Mr. Ble Goude upon their release to a state willing to accept them on its territory and willing and able to enforce the conditions.” It’s a small victory for ICC prosecutors, after the court’s stunning acquittal of both Gbagbo and …

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The United States on Friday fired a diplomatic warning shot at Russia, making good on threats to begin its withdrawal from a key arms control agreement and thus taking the next step toward what some politicians and analysts see as a burgeoning arms race. In a statement, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. was suspending its compliance with the decades-old Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, accusing the Kremlin of willfully breaking the deal. “For far too long, Russia has violated the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with impunity, covertly developing and fielding a prohibited missile system that poses a direct threat …

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The Kremlin may have helped Venezuela’s embattled socialist leader Nicolas Maduro swap gold for cash, transporting Venezuelan bullion deposited in Moscow to the United Arab Emirates and then flying U.S. currency into the Venezuelan capital, an investigative newspaper has claimed.  The report in the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta is adding to the fears of pro-democracy activists in Venezuela that the Kremlin will try to make good on its pledge to stand by Maduro to help him survive a popular uprising against him. Russian officials have condemned U.S. sanctions imposed last month against Venezuela’s vital oil sector, a move aimed at depriving Maduro …

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Spanish authorities on Friday transferred nine politicians and activists from prisons in Catalonia to the country’s capital, Madrid, ahead of a high-stakes trial for their roles in Catalonia’s attempt to secede from Spain. The trial for 12 defendants, including three who are on bail, will begin Feb. 12 at the Supreme Court in Madrid, a Spanish court official told The Associated Press.   Supporters gathered early Friday at the gates of three different prisons in Catalonia, where convoys of regional police emerged ferrying the defendants. Some activists tried to block the vehicles by throwing themselves on the road, but were …

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Nearly a third of U.K. firms may shift operations abroad because of Britain’s pending departure from the European Union, a survey of 1,200 company directors suggested Friday, as political stalemate over a Brexit deal heightened jitters among businesses.   The survey by employers’ group the Institute of Directors found that 16 percent of businesses already had relocation plans while a further 13 percent were “actively considering” a move.   The group said that while headlines have focused on big companies, less notice has been given to smaller businesses and their moves to relocate.   Institute interim director Edwin Morgan said …

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