Month: December 2023

tehran, iran — Iran’s foreign ministry summoned on Wednesday Sweden’s charge d’affaires to protest the life sentence handed down to a former Iranian prison official over mass executions in 1988. On Tuesday, a Swedish appeals court upheld the jail term handed down against Hamid Noury, 62, in July last year “for grave breaches of international humanitarian law and murder.” “It is regrettable that the Swedish court, without considering the standards of a fair trial, decided to issue such a destructive verdict,” foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement. He condemned the verdict as “fundamentally unacceptable” and said Iran would …

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Volunteers in Ukraine are putting together holiday gift packages for the country’s estimated 700,000 men and women serving in the military, including the tens of thousands serving on the front line. Correspondent Lesia Bakalets met with some of those volunteers in Kyiv. Camera: Evgenii Shynkar. …

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GENEVA — As Ukraine enters a second winter of war, the World Health Organization warns that the country’s public health system will come under enormous stress as millions of civilians try to keep safe and warm during the long, brutally cold weather ahead. “Since the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine … we have seen the impacts on public health and the increase in disease burden,” said Jarno Habicht, WHO representative in Ukraine. “So, even if the war would end today, the health needs of millions of people across Ukraine will increase,” he said, noting that children and the elderly “are suffering …

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Brussels — The European Union reached agreement early on Wednesday on new rules designed to share out the cost and work of hosting migrants more evenly and to limit the numbers of people coming in. Representatives of the European Parliament and of EU governments reached an accord after all-night talks on EU laws collectively called the New Pact on Migration and Asylum that should take effect next year. The laws cover screening irregular migrants when they arrive in the European Union, procedures for handling asylum applications, rules on determining which EU country is responsible for handling applications and ways to handle …

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ankara, turkey — Ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership by Turkey’s parliament hinges on the U.S. Congress’ approval of Turkey’s request to purchase F-16 fighter jets, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, calling on the two legislatures to act “simultaneously.” In comments reported on Tuesday, Erdogan also said Canada and other NATO allies must lift arms embargoes imposed on Turkey. “Positive developments from the United States regarding the F-16 issue and Canada keeping its promises will accelerate our parliament’s positive view on [Sweden’s membership],” Erdogan said. “All of these are linked.” He made the comments late Monday while returning from a …

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STOCKHOLM — A Swedish appeals court on Tuesday upheld a guilty verdict and life sentence given to a former Iranian official convicted last year for his part in a mass execution of political prisoners in Iran in 1988. In 2022, the Stockholm District Court ruling found Hamid Noury guilty of murder and serious crimes against international law, drawing strong criticism from Iran, which said the verdict was politically motivated.  The Appeal Court’s decision was greeted with cheers by several hundred protesters who had gathered outside the court, waving flags and chanting slogans calling for the end of the Iranian regime. “It’s …

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BERLIN — Germany protested to Iran on Tuesday after a court ruling implicated the Islamic republic in a plan to attack a synagogue last year.  The Duesseldorf state court convicted a German Iranian man of attempted arson and agreeing to commit arson, and sentenced him to two years and nine months in prison.  Judges found that the man threw an incendiary device at a school in the western city of Bochum in November 2022 because the neighboring synagogue appeared too well secured, German news agency dpa reported. The defendant denied planning to attack the synagogue. The school received minor damage.  The …

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Berlin — World powers said Tuesday that the international community needed a firm and unified response to North Korea’s “reckless” nuclear build-up and missile launches. G7 foreign ministers said in a statement after the launch of Pyongyang’s most powerful ballistic missile that “North Korea’s repeated reckless actions must be met with a swift, united and robust international response, particularly by the United Nations Security Council”. North Korea on Monday test-fired its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile with the potential to reach the United States. North Korea said that its leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch and warned Washington, which has …

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