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In tears and shock, Poland bids farewell to murdered mayor

Poles will gather on Saturday in the Baltic port city of Gdansk for the funeral of murdered liberal mayor Pawel Adamowicz, whose public stabbing has raised questions about hate speech in politics in the country. Around 3,500 people, including Polish President Andrzej Duda and EU Council...

EU hails Azerbaijan, Armenia FMs meeting in Paris

The EU said Friday the meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers sent "a positive signal for progress” in resolving the Upper Karabakh conflict. “[…] most recently in Paris on 16 January 2019, [FMs of both countries] send a positive signal for progress in the...

Germany to limit asylum from Maghreb countries

The German parliament's lower house approved on Friday a contentious law to limit asylum applications from Georgia and three Maghreb countries Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Some 509 German lawmakers, mostly from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative-left coalition government, voted in...

French minister urges tear gas against Yellow Vests

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner proposed on Friday to allow police to use tear gas to ensure public order in the wake of Yellow Vest protests which have rocked the country since November. In a statement, he argued that more people will be injured when police does not use tear...

Germany urges Russia to destroy missile to save nuclear treaty

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Friday called on Russia to destroy a controversial missile system Washington says breaches a key arms control treaty. "We believe Russia can save this treaty," Maas said after talks with Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov, referring to the...

Same old elite? Macron's 'revolution' fails with fed up French

Jean-Baptiste Moreau, a farmer who splits his time between parliament and his cow sheds, thought he would be part of the solution to France's political problems when he was elected. The 41-year-old won a seat in parliament in June 2017 in what some commentators termed a "velvet revolution"...

Russia agrees for Germany, France to monitor Kerch Strait: Lavrov

Russia on Friday said it has agreed for France and Germany to monitor shipping traffic in the Kerch Strait following a naval confrontation between Moscow and Kiev last year. Russian ships fired on and seized three Ukrainian navy vessels in the narrow strait -- shared between Russia and...

Russian, German foreign ministers meet in Moscow

Russia detects the positive trend in northern Syria near Manbij, the foreign minister said on Friday The positive changes are the result of many factors, including Turkish-U.S. agreements, Sergey Lavrov said, told a press conference after meeting with his German counterpart Heiko Maas....

Turkish President Erdogan receives US Sen. Graham

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham in the capital Ankara on Friday, presidential sources said. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun were present at...

European bank boosts Turkish lira financing in 2018

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 2018 stepped up Turkish lira financing in Turkey to a record €331 million (some $390 million) through 13 transactions with Turkish companies. That was up from €228.8 million ($258.5 million) in 2017, according to a statement...

Russia dismisses Islamic State responsibility claim for deadly blast

Russian investigators on Friday dismissed the veracity of a claim by the Islamic State militant group that it was responsible for a deadly apartment building explosion in December that killed 39 people. The claim was made in the Al Naba newspaper on Thursday evening and said IS militants...

New poll: 56 percent Britons back remaining in EU

The majority of British people would vote to remain in the EU if they were to vote in a second referendum a poll suggested on Thursday. The results of the opinion poll by the YouGov found 56 percent of British voters would cast their votes to stay in the EU and 44 percent would vote to...

France to maintain troops in Syria

President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday announced France will retain its troops in Syria and Iraq in 2019. Speaking at an air base located in Toulouse, southwestern France, Macron stressed that their military engagement will continue throughout 2019 in the Levant region. "The announced...

Dutch journalist deported from Turkey over alleged terror links

A Dutch journalist based in Turkey was deported on Thursday a day after she was arrested on suspicion of links to a jihadist group in Syria, Turkish officials said. The officials insisted Ans Boersma's deportation was not related to her journalistic activity but that Ankara had received a...

Brexit: Business leaders call for second referendum

Over 170 business leaders have urged Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn to hold a second referendum, arguing this is the only practical solution to the Brexit impasse. The letter, printed Thursday by The Times of London, was signed by some of Britain’s most...

Netherlands: Islamophobic Pegida protests around mosque

Far-right Islamophobic group Pegida staged an anti-Islam demonstration in front of a mosque in the Netherlands late Wednesday. The demonstration was held outside the Abi Bakr Issidik Mosque, frequented by members of the Moroccan community, in Utrecht, the central Netherlands. During the...

French govt seeks new Renault boss, ditches Ghosn

The French government on Wednesday called for former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, who has spent the last two months in Japanese custody, to be replaced as chief executive of carmaker Renault. Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire called for Renault's board to meet "in the coming days "to pick a...

Germany urges more efforts for peace in Yemen

Germany urged the international community on Wednesday to step up efforts to end the war in Yemen. “Yemen will face a humanitarian catastrophe if we do not succeed in ending the war,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at an international conference in Berlin. The conference hosted by...