Month: May 2021

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced alarm at Russia’s military build up in the Arctic region, at a summit of the Arctic Council in Iceland late Thursday.     “We’re committed to advancing a peaceful Arctic region where cooperation prevails on climate, the environment, science and safety and where sustainable economic development benefits the people of the region,” Blinken told delegates gathered in Reykjavik.  Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 13 MB480p | 18 MB540p | 21 MB720p | 43 MBOriginal | 84 …

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced alarm at Russia’s military build up in the Arctic region, at a summit of the Arctic Council in Iceland late Thursday.     “We’re committed to advancing a peaceful Arctic region where cooperation prevails on climate, the environment, science and safety and where sustainable economic development benefits the people of the region,” Blinken told delegates gathered in Reykjavik.   Moscow’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, questioned NATO’s motives in deploying bombers and submarines to the area. “Problems linked to the escalation of military-political tension remain, because of foreign troops in Norway and in the …

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Spain, one of the early epicenters the COVID pandemic, has been rushing to get its population vaccinated.  Thirty-three percent now have received at least a first dose.  But aid agencies and advocates estimate many of the country’s one million undocumented migrants are not getting vaccinated because of fear. Jonathan Spier narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona.Camera: Alfonso Beato Video editor: Jonathan Spier   …

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The European Union Thursday announced it has signed a third contract with Pfizer-BioNTech for an additional 1.8 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, running from the end of this year through 2022.  Announcing the new contract in a statement posted to her Twitter account, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for 900 million doses of the current vaccines and of a serum adapted to coronavirus variants, with an option to purchase an extra 900 million doses. The coronavirus causes the COVID-19 disease. The contract also has a provision to easily allow EU member states to donate any excess doses …

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Climate change and cooperation among Arctic states are among the topics of discussion Thursday in Reykjavik, Iceland, as the Arctic Council holds a ministerial meeting.“We value our strong international cooperation through the Council to address the climate crisis and keep the Arctic region peaceful,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ahead of Thursday’s talks.Earlier in the week, Blinken urged the global community to avoid militarizing the Arctic, and said Russia has advanced “unlawful maritime claims” in the region.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this week that Western countries should not claim rights to the Arctic, and that Russia is …

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Bulgaria’s caretaker government appears poised to approve a series of freedom-of-information requests from the country’s media which are likely to fuel explosive allegations of corruption against former prime minister Boyko Borissov and a group of his business associates, say local journalists.   And the caretaker prime minister, Stefan Yanev, who has been in power for just over a week has been quick to shake up the country’s bureaucracy, making key political appointees in ministries, state agencies and public companies long dominated by people with close ties to Borissov, who was in office for all but two years since 2009.   …

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Climate change and cooperation among Arctic states are among the topics of discussion Thursday in Reykjavik, Iceland, as the Arctic Council holds a ministerial meeting.“We value our strong international cooperation through the Council to address the climate crisis and keep the Arctic region peaceful,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ahead of Thursday’s talks.Earlier in the week, Blinken urged the global community to avoid militarizing the Arctic, and said Russia has advanced “unlawful maritime claims” in the region.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this week that Western countries should not claim rights to the Arctic, and that Russia is …

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The U.S. will waive sanctions against the German company leading construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, according to a State Department report sent to Congress on Wednesday. The report noted that while the German firm Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO had violated U.S. law in their work with Russia to build the natural gas pipeline linking the two countries, it was in U.S. national interest to waive the sanctions. The report noted that sanctions would be imposed on several Russian ships and companies for their work on the project. Russia and some U.S. lawmakers reacted to the decision before it …

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The United States says it is ready to work with Russia to advance areas where the two nations have “intersecting interests,” while continuing to defend U.S. interests and respond if Moscow acts aggressively against Washington and its allies.”There are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap, and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests — whether it is dealing with COVID-19 and the pandemic, climate change, the nuclear programs” in Iran and North Korea, or the peace process in Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met …

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After protests against police violence in France, tens of thousands of officers and their supporters staged their own rally Wednesday in Paris, demanding tougher measures against violence and insecurity that have targeted their ranks.Police, politicians and ordinary Parisians braved a mix of sun and pelting rain to protest outside France’s National Assembly.Loren Bazan, 29, whose parents are in the military, said he wanted to show solidarity with the police — who have died just doing their daily jobs, because they were police.Earlier this month, an officer was killed during an anti-drug operation in Nice. Another worker was killed as she …

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