WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish authorities said Friday they will not allow a nationalistic Russian motorcycle group loyal to President Vladimir Putin to enter Poland, but insisted the move is not political and was made in part because Polish authorities would not be able to guarantee their security. The Night Wolves group had planned to … Continue reading
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has doubled the emergency aid to frontline member states Italy, Greece and Malta which have to deal with the massive influx of migrants coming across the Mediterranean to 50 million euros ($54 million) a year. EU Commission spokeswoman Natasha Berthaud said “the entire emergency fund is doubling” following an … Continue reading
PARIS (AP) — An Islamic extremist with an arsenal of loaded guns was only prevented from opening fire on churchgoers because he accidentally shot himself in the leg, French officials said Wednesday. The 24-year-old computer science student, who was also suspected in the death of a young woman whose body was found on Sunday just … Continue reading
LONDON (AP) — The sheer scale of the migrant exodus across the Mediterranean forced the issue higher on the agenda of European governments during the week, especially after 400 desperate people were believed to have died in one shipwreck. In South Africa, migration by land was an explosive issue, as resentful residents of Johannesburg turned … Continue reading
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary has joined Poland in denouncing remarks by FBI director James Comey which seemed to equate Poland’s and Hungary’s roles in the Holocaust with that of Germany. Hungary’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Comey’s remarks delivered last week at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and then published in The Washington Post … Continue reading
CATANIA, Sicily (AP) — The United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday that more than 800 people were believed to have drowned in the weekend sinking of a boat packed with migrants trying to reach Europe, making it the deadliest such disaster in the Mediterranean. New details of the tragedy emerged as the U.N. High Commissioner … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Monday sanctioned the delivery of a highly capable Russian air defense missile system to Iran, a game changer move that would significantly bolster the Islamic republic’s military capability and fuel Israel’s concerns. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry objected to Moscow’s decision in a phone call to Russian … Continue reading
SHYROKYNE, Ukraine (AP) — Fighting raged overnight and in the early hours on Tuesday on the outskirts of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine despite an agreement reached by the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers a day earlier. The yearlong military conflict between Russian-backed rebels and government forces has claimed more than 6,000 … Continue reading
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is marking the fifth anniversary of the plane crash that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 members of his presidential entourage on a visit to Russia, the worst catastrophe to strike the Polish state since World War II and an event that deepened historical strains between the two Slavic neighbors. … Continue reading
PARIS (AP) — The Tours city project was simple enough: Lure Chinese couples to get married in the heart of the Loire Valley — romantic French castle country — as a way to boost the area’s economic and cultural fortunes. It soon went awry. First, the project got bogged down in corruption allegations. Then on … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Several hundred people brought flowers and candles Tuesday to a bridge just outside the Kremlin to commemorate the slain Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, 40 days after the killing that shocked the country. Nemtsov’s daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, voiced doubt that the official probe would track down the mastermind. “I’m not sure that … Continue reading
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A Dutch national who was held in captivity by Islamic militants for more than three years has left Mali and is headed back home, officials said Tuesday. Sjaak Rijke, who was abducted from a hotel in northern Mali in November 2011, flew into Mali’s capital Bamako on Tuesday. He stepped out … Continue reading
BERLIN (AP) — Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz spent time online researching suicide methods and cockpit door security in the week before crashing Flight 9525, prosecutors said Thursday — the first evidence that it may have been a premeditated act. As the browsing history on a tablet computer found at Lubitz’s apartment added a disturbing new … Continue reading
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Roman Catholic faithful in Poland have gathered to remember the Polish-born Pope John Paul II on the 10th anniversary of his death. Crowds turned out in Warsaw and Krakow, where John Paul served as archbishop before his election as pontiff in 1978. They prayed, light candles and watched videos of the … Continue reading
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 inmates and a baby at Rome’s main prison Thursday in a pre-Easter ritual meant to show his willingness to serve. He asked them to pray that he, too, might be cleansed of his “filth.” As the inmates wept, Francis knelt down, poured water from a … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 