From jail cell to frontline: Russia turns to convicts to help flailing war...
Russian criminals could be freed from prison and have their convictions quashed in exchange for serving in Moscow’s flailing war effort in Ukraine, under a new bill drafted by senators. The bill would...
View ArticlePutin doesn’t trust Lukashenko’s army to fight in Ukraine, Belarus’...
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko is so weakened that his army hasn’t been called to fight in Ukraine because Russian President Vladimir Putin can’t be sure the troops would follow his orders,...
View ArticlePutin claims ‘partial mobilization’ to end in 2 weeks, with 222,000...
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday claimed his country’s so-called partial mobilization of reservists to fight in the Ukraine war, announced last month, will end in around two weeks. “This...
View ArticleEuropean Parliament interpreters call off strike
The European Parliament’s interpreters have called off a partial strike, in place since June, after union representatives struck an interim deal with the institution on working conditions on Monday....
View ArticleRussia ramps up deportations, as Putin imposes martial law in illegally...
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday imposed martial law in the four regions of Ukraine illegally annexed by the Kremlin’s forces, against the backdrop of mass deportations of Ukrainians to...
View ArticleInside the control room of Belarus’ hijacked Ryanair flight
Inside the control room of Belarus’ hijacked Ryanair flight A follow-up report by the UN aviation agency tells the story of the diverted passenger flight. Illustration by Dato Parulava Sometime...
View ArticlePutin won’t attend G20 summit in person, official says
Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t travel to Bali to participate in next week’s G20 summit, Moscow’s embassy to Indonesia confirmed overnight on Thursday. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will lead...
View ArticleRecession fears loom as UK GDP falls by 0.2 percent
Britain’s GDP fell by 0.2 percent from July to September of this year, according to estimates released Friday by the Office for National Statistics. If the economy contracts for a second successive...
View ArticleRussian foreign ministry denies Sergey Lavrov hospitalized in Bali
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Monday denied Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had been taken to the hospital after suffering a health problem upon his arrival in Bali for the...
View ArticleHey Putin, where you gonna run to?
Hey Putin, where you gonna run to? As the Kremlin’s war falters, the president could be forced to consider an exit strategy. Where will he find the warmest reception? POLITICO photo...
View ArticleEU chief’s gift to Beijing: His DNA
When European Council chief Charles Michel visits China this week, he’ll leave behind a present for President Xi Jinping: A swab of his genetic material. Under Beijing’s current rules, Michel will...
View ArticleChina says it’s ‘on the side of peace’ over war in Ukraine
Beijing has “always stood on the side of peace and on the side of the U.N. Charter” when it comes to “the Ukraine issue,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken in a...
View ArticleRussia stoking Serbia-Kosovo tensions to distract from Ukraine, Pristina says
The Kremlin is stoking Serbia-Kosovo tensions to distract from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, First Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Besnik Bislimi told a British radio program on Wednesday. “There is a...
View ArticleJacinda Ardern resigns as New Zealand’s prime minister
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will resign from the top job “no later” than February 7, she announced on Thursday at a press conference at her party’s annual caucus meeting, saying she...
View ArticleNotes in a scandal: King Charles won’t replace queen on Aussie banknotes
SYDNEY — King Charles III will not replace Queen Elizabeth II on Australia’s new $5 banknotes, the country’s Reserve Bank announced Thursday. Australia’s $5 notes, which have sported a portrait of the...
View ArticleEU to Steve Bannon: You don’t scare us … anymore
BRUSSELS — The EU was “scared” of Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon during the European parliamentary election in 2019 — but those fears are gone ahead of the 2024 ballot, European...
View ArticleMassive pro-EU, anti-Russia protest erupts in Georgia
Thousands of people demonstrated in Tbilisi overnight, waving EU flags and facing down riot police in protest against a controversial law which Georgia’s president says is “dictated by Moscow.” In...
View ArticleGeorgia’s government abandons Putin-style bill that triggered huge protests
Georgia’s government has “decided to unconditionally withdraw” a controversial bill that sparked massive protests, according to a statement published Thursday. The government’s U-turn came after...
View ArticleVast majority of Europeans see Russia as an adversary, poll finds
Russia is widely seen as an “adversary” or “rival” by Europeans, while the EU is perceived as stronger than before the start of Moscow’s war on Ukraine, according to a report by the European Council...
View ArticleXi Jinping: China’s ‘friendship’ with Russia ‘growing day by day’
Beijing’s “friendship” with Moscow is “growing day by day,” China’s President Xi Jinping said ahead of his three-day trip to Russia, which kicked off Monday. In an op-ed, published in Russian in...
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