Washington, United States | AFP | An Afghanistan peace agreement that the US seems close to reaching with the Taliban has prompted worries that President Donald Trump’s desire to quickly withdraw US troops could further plunge the country into civil war. Trump said Friday he was pleased with talks on ending …
Read More »US issues warrant for seizure of Iranian tanker in Gibraltar
Washington, United States | AFP | The US Justice Department issued a warrant Friday for the seizure of the Iranian oil supertanker Grace 1, one day after a Gibraltar judge allowed the release of the detained vessel. The Justice Department alleged the ship was part of a scheme “to unlawfully access …
Read More »Moscow set for fresh protests after month of rallies
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Moscow was set for fresh protests Saturday, the latest in a wave of demonstrations that has seen tens of thousands take to the streets after opposition figures were banned from local elections a month ago. The rallies, which have taken place every Saturday since the ruling, …
Read More »The Iron Curtain: five things to know
Paris, France | AFP | The Iron Curtain was at first an ideological and then a physical separation of communist Eastern Europe from the West from the 1940s after World War II. – The name – The term “iron curtain” was popularised after it was used by former British prime …
Read More »‘Nobody thought it would go so fast’: Hungary ex-PM recalls fall of Iron Curtain
Tihany, Hungary | AFP | When Hungary’s former leader Miklos Nemeth first started poking a hole through the Iron Curtain in 1989, he had no idea how quickly his actions would contribute to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism in central and eastern Europe. In an …
Read More »UK opposition seeks to oust PM to avoid no-deal Brexit
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Jeremy Corbyn urged anti-Boris Johnson MPs to make him Britain’s caretaker prime minister to avoid a no-deal Brexit — but his proposal met with a mixed response on Thursday. The Labour main opposition leader said once in power, he would seek to delay Britain’s October …
Read More »Disgraced Cardinal Pell appeal verdict due next week
Sydney, Australia | AFP | Judges will rule next week on Australian Cardinal George Pell’s appeal against his conviction on multiple child sex abuse charges, court officials announced Thursday. Pell, 78, the former Vatican number three, was sentenced in March to six years in prison for sexually assaulting two choirboys in …
Read More »As troops pull out, Ukraine frontline village fears for future
Stanytsya Luganska, Ukraine | AFP | While Ukrainian troops were stationed in her village, Anna felt safe despite living on the frontline of a war that has claimed thousands of lives over the last five years. But since they started to withdraw two months ago from Stanytsya Luganska, eastern Ukraine, she …
Read More »Russians hail ‘hero’ pilot after Moscow emergency landing
Moscow, Russia | AFP | A Russian pilot was being hailed as a hero on Thursday for landing an Airbus carrying more than 230 people in a Moscow corn field after a bird strike. The Ural Airlines A321 flying to Crimea hit a flock of seagulls shortly after take-off from Moscow’s …
Read More »Trump on summer vacation but not in summery mood
Berkeley Heights, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump is on summer vacation. Just don’t call it that. “It’s never a vacation,” he said before leaving the White House last Friday for the 10-day non-vacation at his luxury golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The former real estate dealer …
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