Month: January 2022

A Turkish court on Monday acquitted German journalist Mesale Tolu of terrorism charges, she said on Twitter, in a case that lasted nearly five years and added to strains between Ankara and Berlin at the time of her detention. Tolu was detained in April 2017 as part of a crackdown following a coup attempt in July 2016 and was held in jail for eight months before being released. She had been accused of publishing terrorist propaganda and membership of a terrorist organization. “After four years, eight months and 20 days: acquitted on both charges!” she tweeted. “In a state of …

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov Tuesday as Blinken headed to Ukraine for talks with the country’s president, amid continued fears Russia is planning to invade its neighbor. “The secretary stressed the importance of continuing a diplomatic path to de-escalate tensions surrounding the deeply troubling Russian military build-up in and near Ukraine,” the State Department said in a statement about the conversation.  “The secretary reiterated the unshakable U.S. commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and underscored that any discussion of European security must include NATO Allies and European partners, including Ukraine,” the statement …

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Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is due back in a Kyiv court Wednesday as a judge considers whether to grant him bail or order his arrest in a treason case he says is politically motivated. Poroshenko, who led Ukraine from 2014-19, returned to the country Monday to face the charges, and told supporters at the airport that he had come back to help Ukraine face the “growing threat of Russian invasion.” He added to that message in a series of tweets Tuesday, saying with the help of its international partners, Ukraine “will stand our ground.” “My sincere gratitude go for …

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Novak Djokovic risks being frozen out of tennis as he chases a record 21st Grand Slam title, with rules on travelers who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 tightening in the third year of the pandemic and some tournaments reconsidering exemptions.  The Serbian, who has not been vaccinated, was deported from Australia on Sunday ahead of the Australian Open after losing a court case to have the cancellation of his visa overturned.  Under Australian law, Djokovic cannot get another visa for three years – denying him the chance to add to his nine titles at Melbourne Park – but the government has …

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A French court found far-right French presidential candidate and political commentator Éric Zemmour guilty Monday of inciting racial hatred and ordered him to pay more than $11,000 in fines. Zemmour told a group of foreign correspondents that he stood by his controversial words, insisting he could not have been inciting racial hatred “insofar as unaccompanied minor migrants are not from a separate race.” Monday’s case focused on comments that Zemmour made in September 2020 during an interview on French television network CNews about children who migrated to France without parents or guardians. “They don’t belong here,” Zemmour had said about …

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Britain’s rebellious Prime Minister Boris Johnson has seldom come across a rule he hasn’t wanted to break — and in many ways his political ascendancy has been because of his flouting of ordinances with voters thrilling to his audacity and readiness to defy conventions and norms. His rule-breaking, though, is turning into a liability rather than an electoral asset — even among populist-minded voters who liked the idea of a break with the past and wanted him to shake up British politics. Britain’s Conservative lawmakers returned to London Monday from their constituencies with rebukes still stinging their ears from voters …

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