PARIS – Over the past week, French farmers have used tractors to block the border with Germany and chucked foreign vegetables off trucks in protest of cheap imports. French leaders did not call in the police — they gave the farmers their support. France’s permissive attitude toward protest has cultural …
Read More »Tug boat heading to tow ferry stranded after running aground outside Greek island of Kassos
ATHENS, Greece – Greece’s coast guard says a tug boat is heading to a ferry that ran aground overnight outside port on the Aegean island of Kassos with 282 passengers and crew on board. The Vitsenzos Kornaros had been on a route from the main port of Piraeus to Rhodes …
Read More »China's top political advisory panel convenes for annual session, ahead of national congress
BEIJING – The more than 2,000 members of China’s top political advisory body have convened their annual meeting to put forward proposals for the national congress. Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, opened the session in Beijing on Tuesday, two days before the National People’s Congress …
Read More »EU urges Russia not to enforce old natural gas contract with Ukraine
BRUSSELS – The European Union is concerned that Russia might want to enforce its old gas contract with Ukraine once their current arrangement runs out, saying it could contravene Moscow’s peace obligations. EU energy chief Maros Sefcovic said Thursday that any return to the previous contract between Russia’s Gazprom and …
Read More »Independent Crimean TV station raided by Russian security forces
MOSCOW – Independent Crimean television station ATR has been raided by armed security officials, who told employees they were looking for archival footage of an anti-Russia protest last year. In an emotional video posted on YouTube, deputy director Liliya Budzhurova said that armed officials from Russia’s Investigative Committee and Center …
Read More »Belarusian leader defies Kremlin, warns it may opt out of Russia-dominated economic alliance
MINSK, Belarus – New cracks have emerged in a Russia-led economic alliance, with the president of Belarus warning that his nation may opt out of it. Alexander Lukashenko also sternly warned Moscow Thursday that his nation of 10 million will never be part of the “Russian world,” a term coined …
Read More »Israeli military arrests 29 Palestinians on suspected Hamas links in overnight West Bank raid
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military says it has arrested 29 Palestinians suspected of links to the militant Hamas group in an overnight raid in the West Bank. Palestinian security officials said Wednesday the suspects were nabbed in and near the city of Nablus. The military says the raid was conducted …
Read More »Jamaican officials to visit Cuba on trade mission, seek economic opportunities
KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaican government is organizing a trade mission to Cuba with representatives from 18 private sector companies. Jamaican Industry Minister Anthony Hylton says the group’s members will meet with their Cuban counterparts from April 20-23 to talk about possible partnerships. William Mahfood is the director of one …
Read More »Romania: court sentences senior judge to 10 years, 8 months for bribes in exchange for rulings
BUCHAREST, Romania – A Romanian court has sentenced a senior judge to 10 years and eight months in prison for demanding money from defendants in exchange for favorable verdicts. Stan Mustata was convicted on six counts of taking bribes, influence peddling and abusing privileged information between October 2013 and April …
Read More »South Sudan: UN, aid groups charge that children are targeted in fresh fighting
JUBA, South Sudan – The U.N. children’s agency saysdozens of children have been killed, at least 12 raped and others abducted and recruited in a series of attacks in South Sudan’s Unity state over a two-week period. UNICEF said in a statement Monday that witnesses believe the attacks were carried …
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