Month: May 2023

Iran said Saturday that it had executed a Swedish-Iranian dissident. Habib Farajollah Chaab was convicted of the charge of “being corrupt on Earth” for his activities with Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz, an Arab separatist group in Iran. State television said the group launched an attack on a military parade in 2018 that killed 25. Chaab was detained in Turkey in 2020 by Iranian security forces. The details of his arrest in Turkey by Iranian forces were not immediately clear. Sweden had expressed concerns about Chaab’s Iranian arrest and conviction. However, relations between Iran and Sweden were already …

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King Charles III’s coronation is a chance to unite people with the history and pageantry of the monarchy, but those traditions are also full of potential controversies as he tries to show that the monarchy still has a role to play in modern Britain. The new king has already recognized these challenges by adjusting the coronation festivities to the realities of today. This coronation will be shorter and more inclusive than his mother’s in 1953. Faith leaders from outside the Church of England will take an active role in the ceremony for the first time. And people from all four …

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Saturday is coronation day for Britain’s King Charles III and his second wife, Queen Consort Camilla. It is the first British coronation spectacular in 70 years. Queen Elizabeth II was the last British monarch to be crowned. Charles, 74, became king the moment his mother died in September. …

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Saturday is coronation day for Britain’s King Charles III and his second wife, Queen Consort Camilla. It is the first British coronation spectacular in 70 years. Queen Elizabeth II was the last British monarch to be crowned. Charles, 74, became king the moment his mother died in September. …

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The Polish ban on Ukrainian agricultural products last month sent a shock wave across Ukraine, which lost $143 million in a month, Deputy Minister of Economy Taras Kachka told an audience at the Brussels Economic Forum on Friday. Shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s early April visit to Poland, Polish officials, under pressure from local producers, suspended the import of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine. Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania followed suit because of concerns about a flood of Ukrainian grain that, before the war, would have been shipped farther afield through Black Sea ports. The Ukrainian minister …

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U.S. director Damien Chazelle, best known for the Oscar-winning La La Land, will lead the jury of the upcoming Venice Film Festival, organizers announced Friday. The 80th edition of the prestigious festival will take place from Aug. 30-Sept. 9 on the swanky, beach-lined Lido island. “For 10 days each year this city of the arts, of Tintoretto and Titian and Veronese, becomes a city of cinema, and I am humbled and delighted to be invited to lead this year’s jury,” said Chazelle, 38, whose most recent film is Babylon. Chazelle’s musical about making it in Hollywood, La La Land, opened …

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Supporters of a Spanish journalist accused of spying for Moscow have condemned a Russian media outlet for publishing what it said were leaked allegations of espionage in the case against the reporter. Pablo Gonzalez has been held in pre-trial custody in Poland since February last year when Russia invaded Ukraine, while authorities investigate allegations that he was spying for Moscow — accusations the journalist has denied. Poland’s secret service says Gonzalez used his role as a journalist as a cover for espionage, but officials have not disclosed any supporting evidence. Agentstvo, an independent Russian online media outlet, published a report …

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged more than $100 million Friday for Brazil’s fund to protect the Amazon rainforest, at a meeting with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of King Charles III’s coronation. “Beyond football, there are so many interests we have in common … [including] combating climate change,” Sunak told Lula as they met at 10 Downing Street in London. “I’m delighted to announce we will be investing in your Amazon Fund, and I pay tribute to your leadership on this issue,” Sunak added. The British contribution to the fund will be £80 million ($102 million), aimed …

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New developments: Russia “highly likely” unable to protect its vast rail system from sabotage uptick, according to British Defense Ministry. Ukraine shoots down its own malfunctioning drone over Kyiv. Kyiv, Odesa targeted by Russian missiles and drones. The Wagner Group chief said Friday he is withdrawing his fighters from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on May 10 because they do not have enough ammunition.     Yevgeny Prigozhin said that without ammunition his private military units are “doomed to a senseless death.” Prigozhin has complained for some time that his mercenaries in Ukraine have not received enough support from Russia. Meanwhile, …

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When King Charles III is crowned on Saturday, soldiers carrying flags from the Bahamas, South Africa, Tuvalu and beyond will march alongside British troops in a spectacular military procession in honor of the monarch. For some, the scene will affirm the ties that bind Britain and its former colonies. But for many others in the Commonwealth, a group of nations mostly made up of places once claimed by the British Empire, Charles’ coronation is seen with apathy at best. In those countries, the first crowning of a British monarch in 70 years is an occasion to reflect on oppression and …

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