Month: October 2024

Madrid — Real Madrid, the Spanish league and the local government on Sunday condemned racist insults against Lamine Yamal during Saturday’s “clasico,” and Madrid said it was working to identify those who abused the Barcelona forward. Madrid said it “has opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable insults so that the appropriate disciplinary and judicial measures can be taken.” The league said it was going to formally denounce the “intolerable racist” insults and gestures against Barcelona players at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The league said it “strongly condemns these events” and “remains …

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SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarians were voting Sunday in the seventh general election in more than three years with little hope that a stable government will be formed to stop the country’s slide into political instability.  Voter fatigue and disillusionment with politicians have created an environment where radical political voices, aided by Moscow’s widespread disinformation, are successfully undermining public support for the democratic process and boosting the popularity of pro-Russian and far-right groups.  The never-ending election spiral has a serious impact on Bulgaria’s economy and its foreign policy. The country risks losing billions of euros in EU recovery funds because of the …

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Tbilisi, Georgia — The streets of Tbilisi echoed with despair on Sunday as preliminary results pointed to a decisive lead for the ruling Georgian Dream party in Saturday’s election. With 99% of the precincts reporting, Georgian Dream had secured 54.2% of the vote, reinforcing its grip on a nation polarized over its political future. Most of the leaders of the opposition parties say the vote, seen as a referendum on Georgia’s path toward deeper Western alignment or closer ties with Russia, was rigged. Judging by the preliminary results, the opposition struggled to mount a strong challenge. Initial counts show the Coalition …

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New Delhi — BRICS leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, have publicly voiced their commitment to jointly introduce an alternative payment system that would not be dependent on the U.S. dollar. Independent analysts, however, question the feasibility of implementing the idea anytime soon. The recently concluded meeting of BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India. China and South Africa — discussed ways to establish an alternative to SWIFT, the international payment system. Russia was removed from the SWIFT system after the start of Ukraine war in 2022 and has been particularly keen to find an alternative. “We are …

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paris — French authorities maintained a night curfew amid fresh unrest on the Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe on Saturday as they battled to restore power they accused striking energy workers of sabotaging.  Guadeloupe and the nearby French island of Martinique have seen weeks of often violent protests over the cost of living. A night curfew has been in force in Martinique for 16 days because of unrest there.  French authorities kept Guadeloupe under curfew for a second night “to guarantee safety and tranquility” after the island’s power was completely cut on Friday.  But pillagers took advantage of the blackout to ransack …

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ROME — Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in seven Italian cities on Saturday calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East, Ukraine and all global conflicts.  Peaceful rallies were held in Rome, Turin, Milan, Florence, Bari, Palermo and Cagliari, with the support of hundreds of associations committed to peace, disarmament and human rights.  The marches came in response to escalating violence in the Middle East and growing conflicts worldwide and denounced the diminished role of the United Nations on the global scene.  In Rome, a few thousand demonstrators marched waving a giant rainbow flag in front …

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united nations — More than 600 million women and girls are now affected by war, a 50% increase from a decade ago, and they fear the world has forgotten them amid an escalating backlash against women’s rights and gender equality, top United Nations officials say.  U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a new report that amid record levels of armed conflict and violence, progress over the decades for women is vanishing and “generational gains in women’s rights hang in the balance around the world.”  The U.N. chief was assessing the state of a Security Council resolution adopted on Oct. 31, 2000, …

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