Month: December 2023

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday he would propose sanctions against Jewish settlers responsible for violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Borrell was speaking after EU foreign ministers debated possible next steps in their response to the Middle East crisis triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel from Gaza. While much international attention has focused on the cross-border assault and Israel’s subsequent war against Hamas in Gaza, European officials have also expressed increasing concern about rising violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Borrell said he would propose a …

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a standing ovation at the National Defense University in Washington Monday after he addressed U.S. military officers, kicking off a visit to Washington aimed at persuading Congress to provide more military aid to Ukraine before funding runs out. In his speech, Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of defeating Russia in Ukraine because he said, if Russia wins in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will not stop there. “His [Putin’s] weapon against you right now is propaganda and disinformation. But if he sees a chance, he’ll go further,” he said. “Now he’s shifting Russia’s economy and society …

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The whereabouts of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny are currently unknown, with his allies saying he is no longer at the penal colony where he had been imprisoned since last year.  Russian officials have not said where Navalny was taken, and there has been no comment from the Kremlin. Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said Monday had been due to make a court appearance via video link but did not. She said the prison cited problems with the electricity. The spokeswoman said the last time his lawyers and allies had heard from him was six days ago.  Navalny was sentenced to …

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The Turkish government is facing mounting pressure to seek the return of the Somali president’s son, who allegedly fled Turkey after causing a fatal traffic crash in Istanbul. Yunus Emre Gocer, a 38-year-old motorcycle courier, died of injuries in a hospital on Dec. 6, six days after he was hit by a car driven by Mohammed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on a busy highway in Istanbul. Turkish authorities ordered Mohamud arrested and barred him from traveling abroad following the motorcyclist’s death, but reports said the Somali president’s son had already left Turkey by the time the warrant was issued. On Sunday, …

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended Britain’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic on Monday, telling an official inquiry he did not recognize testimony describing a dysfunctional government and saying his hospitality scheme was supported at the time.   The inquiry is examining Britain’s response to the pandemic which killed more than 230,000 people in the country. It has heard that the government of then-prime minister Boris Johnson was gripped by infighting and incompetence, and unable to make a decision.   Sunak was a relatively unknown politician when he was promoted to finance minister on the eve of the pandemic, appearing to …

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The national conservatives who have ruled Poland for eight years are expected to finally relinquish power this week to a centrist bloc led by political veteran Donald Tusk. The transition will come in several steps over three days, starting Monday, nearly two months since Poles turned out in huge numbers to vote for change in a national election. The transition was delayed for weeks by the president, who chose to keep his political allies in office as long as possible. “READY, STEADY, GO!” tweeted Tusk, who is expected to be chosen as the new prime minister by the evening. The …

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Afghan special forces trained and funded by Britain and who worked side-by-side with British troops in Afghanistan in the fight against the Taliban are now facing the possibility of being deported from Pakistan, where the Afghan troops and their families fled, according to a BBC report.   The 200 special forces would likely be targeted for revenge by the Taliban if they were to return to Afghanistan.  Pakistan says it is ready to deport any Afghans who do not possess the proper papers for residency.  Failing to relocate the Afghans who worked with the British in Afghanistan “is a disgrace,” …

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Ukraine’s military said Monday that Russia attacked Kyiv with eight ballistic missiles overnight in the latest wave of aerial assaults targeting the Ukrainian capital. The Ukrainian air force said air defenses shot down all eight of the missiles. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said four people received medical treatment after debris from one of the downed missiles fell in the eastern part of the city.  He also reported missile debris being found at a warehouse, but said there was no damage at the site. The Ukrainian military said Russia also launched 18 drones from Russia-occupied Crimea, and that Ukrainian air defense …

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