Leaders of 16 European Union countries met Sunday in Belgium, ahead of the upcoming European Council meeting on Thursday and Friday, to discuss how to best cope with huge waves of migrants landing on the continent’s shores. A key issue on the table was the so-called Dublin Regulation, which says that asylum-seekers must be processed in the EU nation where they first arrive. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. …
Italy continued its hardline stance against migrants stranded off its coast, telling European charities to stop rescuing the migrants and leave them to be picked up the Libyan coast guard instead. “Let the Libyan authorities do their work of rescue, recovery and return (of migrants) to their country, as they have been doing for some time, without the ships of the voracious NGOs disturbing them or causing trouble,” Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said. “Italian ports are and will be closed to those who aid human traffickers.” On Sunday, a Spanish aid group Proactiva Open Arms said the Italian …
Turks began voting Sunday for a new president and parliament in elections that pose the biggest challenge to Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party since they swept to power more than a decade and a half ago. The elections will also usher in a powerful new executive presidency long sought by Erdogan and backed by a small majority of Turks in a 2017 referendum. Critics say it will further erode democracy in the NATO member state and entrench one-man rule. More than 56 million people were registered to vote at 180,000 ballot boxes across Turkey. Voting began at 8 …
Before it became one of the venues for the World Cup, the city of Volgograd in southwest Russia was famous for an overabundance of small, annoying flies called midges. While the small two-winged flies don’t bite, soccer fans are finding that they don’t leave you alone either. VOA’s Mariama Diallo takes a look at what Russian officials are doing to make the sporting life more comfortable for World Cup fans and players. …
More than 1,000 Macedonians protested on Saturday evening against the change of the name of the former Yugoslav Republic which was agreed with neighboring Greece to end a decades-long dispute. Last week, the foreign ministers of Greece and Macedonia signed an accord to rename the tiny ex-Yugoslav republic the “Republic of North Macedonia.” The agreement, which unlocked Macedonia’s path to possible European Union and NATO membership, triggered protests by nationalists. The protest on Saturday evening organized by Macedonia’s biggest opposition party, VMRO-DPMNE, was peaceful. Protesters held banners reading “We don’t want to give up the name” and waved Macedonian flags as they demanded annulment of the agreement with Greece. Macedonia, which …
Romania’s president said Saturday that he would seek a new term in office, pledging to fight corruption after the leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party was convicted of abuse of power. President Klaus Iohannis said he decided to make the announcement after Social Democratic leader Liviu Dragnea was given a 3½-year jail sentence this week. The president, whose mandate expires in 2019, said public confidence in the Romanian government was very low. Later Saturday, thousands of Romanians again held anti-corruption protests outside the government offices in Bucharest, while thousands more assembled in cities around Romania, including Sibiu and Cluj. …
With another migrant rescue ship stranded in the Mediterranean and both Italy and Malta again refusing to let it dock, European Union leaders will try to find common ground for tackling a growing political crisis that is threatening to undermine the entire organization. The leaders of about 16 countries — more than half the 28-nation bloc — will take part in what is being billed as “informal talks” in Brussels on Sunday ahead of a full EU summit next Thursday and Friday, where migration will top the agenda. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the meeting involves “talking with particularly affected …
The Vatican tribunal on Saturday convicted a former Holy See diplomat and sentenced him to five years in prison for possessing and distributing child pornography in the first such trial of its kind inside the Vatican. Monsignor Carlo Capella admitted to viewing the images during what he called a period of “fragility” and interior crisis sparked by a job transfer to the Vatican embassy in Washington. He apologized to his family and the Holy See, and appealed for leniency by saying the episode was just a “bump in the road” of a priestly vocation he loved and wanted to continue. …
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry will meet Russia’s energy minister next week in Washington, a person familiar with the situation said Friday, as the two countries compete to supply global markets with natural gas and crude. Perry will meet Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak on Tuesday, in the context of the World Gas Conference in Washington, the source said. Meetings between top energy officials from Russia and the United States, two of the world’s largest oil and gas producers, have been rare in recent years. Relations between Moscow and Washington have cooled over Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and …
“All I want to do is the Bataclan, the Bataclan.” Those are lyrics to a song released earlier in the year by rapper Medine. Two of his concerts are scheduled for the Bataclan theater in October. But not everyone wants to see the shows go on. At issue, in part, are the words to another song by the artist, whose real name is Medine Zaouiche. In the song, “Don’t Laik,” one line goes, “I put fatwas on the heads of idiots.” The song was released in 2015 — the same year that France was hit by several terrorist attacks, including …
Italy said on Friday Malta had refused to take in a Dutch-flagged ship carrying more than 200 rescued migrants and said the decision was “inhumane,” 10 days after shutting its own ports to a migrant vessel. The new stand-off between the neighboring Mediterranean countries arose as Italy’s new government has been pressuring European partners to shoulder more of the burden of immigration from North Africa. Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli criticized tiny Malta on his Facebook page, where he also posted a photo of an email full of nautical information and signed by the Armed Forces of Malta inferring that it …
U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to impose a 20 percent tariff on vehicles assembled in the European Union and shipped to the United States, in retaliation for European tariffs on American imports. On Friday, the day new EU tariffs went into effect, Trump tweeted, “…if these Tariffs and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the U.S. Build them here!” Auto industry experts say such tariffs could negatively impact the U.S. economy, as well as Europe’s. “It’s really a tangle; it’s not a simple …
Kremlin officials are discussing a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States National Security Adviser John Bolton when he visits Moscow next week, according to Russia’s TASS news agency. The Kremlin confirmed Thursday Bolton was planning to visit the Russian capital to discuss plans for a possible summit next month between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump. Bolton will meet next week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Russia’s, Reuters reported Friday — citing Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency. National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis confirmed Thursday in a tweet that “On June 25-27, U.S. National Security …
In comments at odds with his home state’s whiskey distillers, Kentucky’s Republican governor is downplaying fears that the European Union’s retaliatory tariffs could disrupt the booming market for the Bluegrass state’s iconic bourbon industry. “There’s always the potential for some type of impact, but I don’t think it will be a tremendous impact,” Governor Matt Bevin said when asked about tariffs during a TV interview this week with Bloomberg. Bevin, a regular at bourbon industry events celebrating new or expanded facilities, called the tariffs that took effect Friday a “money grab” by the EU, but sounded confident that Kentucky bourbon …
Father Mick Ngundu has survived the rolling conflict that has ravaged the Democratic Republic of Congo, emerging as a passionate advocate of the poor and critic of corruption he claims poisons chances of democracy. From the stately grounds of a former French monastery, he describes how many in his resource-rich homeland are too destitute to afford electricity. French retiree Veronique Couque is listening. She has never stepped foot in sub-Saharan Africa. Their paths might never have crossed had it not been for a growing citizen movement known as Living Libraries designed to smash stereotypes and prejudice through dialogue. “They allow …
A report published Friday by Europe’s top human rights body finds xenophobia and hate speech are on the rise across the region. Despite progress in some areas, the Council of Europe finds minorities, including Muslims, Jews, homosexuals and Roma, face stigma, intolerance and sometimes exclusion across its 48 member states. A citizens’ initiative aims to bridge these divisions through dialogue. From the northern French city of Caen, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA on so-called “Living Libraries.” …
Increased openness, not protectionism, is the best way to ensure Britain’s prosperity in a rapidly changing world, the U.K. government’s two most powerful money men said Thursday. Treasury chief Philip Hammond and Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney said financial and trade connections with the rest of the world will help ensure Britain’s economy stays strong as the country leaves the European Union, adjusts to technological advances and copes with an aging population. “We must commit to being the most open market in the world …,” Hammond said in his annual Mansion House speech to leaders of the U.K. financial …
With World Cup 2018 now firmly under way in Russia, the Kremlin indicated it was back to business Thursday, holding a new round of talks with neighboring Ukraine and hinting at movement toward a possible summit meeting with President Donald Trump as early as next month. President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, as the two leaders tried to bridge differences over the stalled Minsk peace accords aimed at curtailing violence in east Ukraine that has killed an estimated 10,000 civilians. According to a statement issued by Poroshenko’s press office, the Ukrainian leader pressed Putin …
Turkey announced Thursday that it would impose tariffs on $1.8 billion worth of U.S. goods in retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The World Trade Organization said the new Turkish tariffs would amount to $266.5 million on products including cars, coal, paper, rice and tobacco. Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said in a statement that Turkey would not allow itself “to be wrongly blamed for America’s economic challenges.” He continued, “We are part of the solution, not the problem.” On Wednesday, the EU announced that it had compiled a list of U.S. products on which it …
U.S. national security adviser John Bolton plans to visit Moscow next week to prepare for a possible meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Interfax news agency reported on Thursday, citing sources. The Kremlin said Tuesday there are no plans for a meeting between Trump and Putin before the NATO summit, Interfax reported. Trump is expected to attend the NATO summit in Brussels on July 11-12. …