WARSAW, Poland (AP) — With the election of a right-wing and Euroskeptic party, Poland is expected to become a more inward-looking country, and one less willing to work with European partners to forge common policies on pressing issues like climate change and migrants. “Poland will be a different Poland in Europe starting from today,” Agnieszka … Continue reading
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s use of razor wire, tear gas and arrests in response to migrants seeking refuge in Europe has shocked many across the world. But the crackdown comes as little surprise to those who have been watching the country’s political transformation since Prime Minister Viktor Orban won power in 2010 and began … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Ukraine on Thursday gave Russia two weeks to accept to write off part of its loans to the country, as other international creditors have agreed to do, opening a new front in the show-down between the countries. Relations soured after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and threw its backing behind separatist rebels … Continue reading
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian troops and their allies launched an offensive in the central province of Homs on Thursday and Russia’s government said its warplanes carried out a rare airstrike near Damascus targeting an Islamic State group position southeast of the capital. The offensive came as a senior Iranian official told reporters in Damascus … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday chided officials for a four-month delay in building a sprawling space center in the remote Far East, which has been dogged by corruption scandals. Vostochny Cosmodrome, situated about 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) east of Moscow and close to the Chinese border, will give Russia its own … Continue reading
GILZE-RIJEN AIR BASE, Netherlands (AP) — The missile shot skyward from war-ravaged eastern Ukraine. With deadly accuracy more than six miles up, it detonated just in front of the Malaysia Airlines jetliner, sending hundreds of jagged steel shards ripping through its aluminum skin at up to 5,600 mph and shearing the cockpit from the rest … Continue reading
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Former Polish prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has shocked some in Poland by claiming that the Muslim migrants now arriving in Europe are carrying diseases that could hurt local people. The comments sparked a sharp rebuke from some of his political opponents, with one left-wing politician, Janusz Palikot, slamming Kaczynski’s statement as … Continue reading
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Russian Embassy in Damascus was shelled Tuesday as pro-government demonstrators gathered outside, and Syria’s largest insurgent coalition announced an offensive to counter Moscow’s airstrikes that have injected new fury in the conflict. Al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, meanwhile, released an audio message purportedly from its leader urging Muslims in the former … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian military jets carried out airstrikes in Syria for the first time on Wednesday, targeting what Moscow said were Islamic State positions. A U.S. official and others cast doubt on that claim, saying the Russians appeared to be attacking opposition groups fighting Syrian government forces. President Vladimir Putin sought to portray the … Continue reading
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad welcomed Wednesday’s decision by Russia to send troops to his war-torn country, saying the military support from Moscow is the result of a Damascus request. The development came as Russian military jets carried out airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday for the first time. A U.S. defense official … Continue reading
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia followed its launch of airstrikes in Syria with a call on Wednesday for the world to unite in the fight against terrorist groups, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov telling foreign ministers of world powers that his country was circulating a draft U.N. security Council resolution to help make it happen. … Continue reading
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish military on Monday deployed chemical, radiation and explosives experts to a site in southwestern Poland where a Nazi train allegedly missing since World War II could be located. Tomasz Smolarz, the governor of Lower Silesia, said the aim of the work in the town of Walbrzych is to exclude … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian media are abuzz with anticipation of President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the UN. Putin is in the United States for the first time since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and threw its support behind separatist rebels in Ukraine. What is more, Russia’s recent military buildup in Syria has … Continue reading
BAPSKA, Croatia (AP) — Doctors treated children including newborns for exposure as dropping temperatures Monday worsened the plight of asylum-seekers walking for days in hopes of reaching sanctuary in Europe. A new group of migrants crossed into Croatia late Sunday, crossing the border near the small village of Bapska. They walked through cornfields and forests … Continue reading
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — About 300 people have held a protest in Russia’s second-largest city over the destruction of a century-old bas-relief of the demon Mephistopheles and called for greater protection of other historical buildings and parks they say are under threat. The sculpture was a small landmark in St. Petersburg, a city noted … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 