Month: October 2023

Poland’s ruling nationalist conservative party has lost its majority in parliament after eight years in power. Official electoral results announced Tuesday show the Law and Justice party winning 35% of the vote. By contrast, the liberal Civic Coalition party won 30.7% of the vote, followed by the centrist Third Way party with 14.4% and the New Left 8.6%, giving the three parties a combined 53.7% of the vote and with it a majority of seats in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, the Sejm. The three parties ran on separate tickets but with the same promises seeking to oust Law …

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Belgian authorities raised the terror alert to its highest level in the capital late Monday after the fatal shooting of two Swedes in Brussels that Prime Minister Alexander De Croo linked to terrorism. The gunman remained at large. The killings happened some 3 miles (5 kilometers) from a stadium where over 35,000 fans were watching a Belgium-Sweden soccer match, Belgium’s anti-terror center said. The match was abandoned halfway through. “The population needs to be actively vigilant and avoid any unnecessary travel,” anti-terror center spokeswoman Laura Demullier said, adding that the top priority for authorities was to get the thousands of …

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All 31 U.S.-made M1A1 Abrams tanks promised to Kyiv by the Biden administration have arrived in Ukraine, according to the U.S. military. Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. Army Europe and Africa, told VOA that all of the Ukrainians who trained on the tanks with U.S. forces in Germany have also returned to Ukraine, along with ammunition and spare tank parts. “We have lived up to our end of the bargain. From this point forward, it is up to them [Ukraine] to determine when and where they will deliver this capability,” O’Donnell said. Military officials say it could take …

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday confirmed media reports he would travel to Israel and Egypt this week in the wake of the deadly attack by Hamas militants. “It is important to me to also express my solidarity with Israel very practically with my visit,” he told reporters, while confirming a “later trip” to Egypt. German media had earlier reported that Scholz would travel to Israel on Tuesday as the first visit by a foreign head of government since the assault, which has sparked a war between Israel and Hamas. The fate of German nationals kidnapped by Hamas during the …

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Foreigners who live in Italy will be able to use the national health service after paying a $2,109 annual fee, the government said Monday.  The charge, part of the 2024 budget adopted by the cabinet, will apply only to citizens from outside the European Union, the economy ministry said in a statement.   The ministry said there would be an unspecified discount for those with legal residency papers, as well as for foreign students and au pairs.   It was not immediately clear how far the reform would change the current system, which already foresees payments for some categories of …

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The majority of voters in Poland’s general election supported opposition parties who promised to repair the nation’s constitutional order and its relationship with allies, including the European Union and Ukraine, according to projections Monday. After a bitter and emotional campaign, voters turned out in droves on Sunday to make their voice known. Turnout was at the highest level in the country’s 34 years of democracy, surpassing the 63% who turned out in the historic 1989 vote that toppled communism. The final result was not expected for many hours. But a so-called late exit poll by Ipsos suggested that voters had …

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