WARSAW, Poland (AP) â Renowned sculptor and fiber artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, Poland’s leading visual artist, has died at age 86, the rector of Warsaw’s Academy of Fine Arts said Friday, Apr. 21. Abakanowicz’ work was notable for her larger-than-life, headless human figures, arranged in crowds in open spaces. She primarily used thick fibers, hardened with … Continue reading
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Thousands of people from around the world, many of them young Israelis, paid homage Monday, Apr. 24 to the millions who perished in the Holocaust at the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz. The event, the March of the Living, is a somber memorial march of about three kilometers (two … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday, Apr. 20 banned Jehovah’s Witnesses from operating anywhere in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group. The court ordered the closure of the group’s Russian headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Moscow wants to protect human rights but has no reason to believe reports about the persecution of gay men in Chechnya, Russian officials said on Monday, Apr. 24. The Novaya Gazeta newspaper earlier this month reported that police in the predominantly Muslim republic rounded up more than 100 men suspected of homosexuality … Continue reading
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — A woman who was found shot in the Oregon woods arrived in the United States last month from Russia and was having a relationship with the man arrested in her death, authorities said Monday, Apr. 24. The identity of Anna Alekseyevna Repkina, 27, was released on Monday, a week after her … Continue reading
DOLJEVAC, Serbia (AP) — Fatima Bakhshi stays close to her mother and two sons, afraid she might lose them as they trudge through the cold Balkan darkness. The smuggler they’ve paid to escort them safely into Western Europe orders them to squeeze into a car with more than a dozen other migrants. Bakhshi, the boys … Continue reading
HAMILTON, Ontario (AP) — A Canadian man accused in a massive hack of Yahoo emails said Wednesday, Apr. 5 he’ll live with his parents and forgo access to phones and any electronic equipment if he’s allowed out on bail. Officials allege that Karim Baratov poses an “extremely high flight risk” because of his alleged ties … Continue reading
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal immigration officials said Friday, Apr. 7 they were deporting a California prostitute to Canada after she completed a jail sentence for involuntary manslaughter for giving a fatal heroin shot to a Google executive she had been entertaining aboard his yacht. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman James Schwab said a judge ordered … Continue reading
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland observed the seventh anniversary Monday, Apr. 10 of a plane crash in Russia that killed President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and 94 others, marking the day with wreath-laying ceremonies and prayers — and renewed suggestions from those in power that foul play was involved. Poland’s ruling party, Law and Justice, … Continue reading
PARIS (AP) — More than 20,000 people, most of them Canadians, attended a solemn ceremony Sunday, Apr. 9 to commemorate a World War I battle in northern France that remains indelibly etched on Canada’s national identity 100 years after it happened. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of the British royal family were among the … Continue reading
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — As part of a sweeping hunt for any accomplices of the St. Petersburg suicide bomber, investigators Wednesday, Apr. 5 rounded up seven suspected Islamic State recruiters from the Central Asia region of the former Soviet Union but found no immediate evidence of their involvement in the subway attack. The Investigative … Continue reading
LONDON (AP) — They were a young Romanian couple, in love, strolling across Westminster Bridge, taking in London’s memorable sights like dozens of other tourists. A marriage proposal was in the air — though yet unstated — and the final photo captures their easy smiles and ebullient mood. Then came Khalid Masood, driving his rented … Continue reading
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Some 70,000 people rallied in Budapest Sunday, Apr. 9 in support of a local university founded by American billionaire George Soros that is seen as a target for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s illiberal policies. The Hungarian-born Soros founded Central European University in 1991. Amendments to Hungary’s higher education law approved … Continue reading
PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Montenegro officials on Wednesday, Mar. 29 welcomed the U.S. Senate’s decision to ratify its entry into NATO, calling it a great step for the tiny Balkan nation. Montenegro is set to become NATO’s 29th member following the Senate’s overwhelming ratification on Tuesday. Russia, though, strongly opposes the Western military alliance’s expansion … Continue reading
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s new legislation allowing for the detention of asylum-seekers in shipping containers at border camps took effect Tuesday Mar. 28, with the European Union’s commissioner for migration saying that it needs to comply with the bloc’s rules. Dimitris Avramopoulos said that EU and Hungarian experts will meet to discuss the new … Continue reading
TORONTO (AP) — Canadians should be able to smoke marijuana legally by July 1, 2018, a senior government official said Monday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government will introduce legislation to legalize recreational marijuana the week of April 10th and it should become law by July next year, said the official, who spoke on condition … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — The wave of nationwide demonstrations that shook Russia’s long dormant political scene over the weekend showed a new face of protest: mostly teenage demonstrators driven by accusations of high-level official corruption, glaring amid the nation’s painful two-year recession. A year before facing re-election, President Vladimir Putin has a dilemma: to further tighten … Continue reading
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Around 20,000 people were evacuated Thursday, Mar. 23 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region near the border with Russia after a massive fire at a military arsenal. The fire at the depot in Balaklia, which holds large-caliber artillery rounds and is one of Ukraine’s largest, erupted early Thursday, prompting the evacuation and Prime … Continue reading
PARIS (AP) — French far right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is headed to Moscow for meetings with lawmakers less than a month before the election, officials from her National Front party said Thursday, Mar. 23. Her visit Friday comes on the heels of a trip this week to Chad, base of a French military … Continue reading
JERUSALEM (AP) — A prominent Polish historian presented evidence Wednesday, Mar. 14 about Polish villagers’ widespread killing of Jews fleeing Nazis during World War II, touching a raw nerve in a country still grappling with its role during the Holocaust. The research is likely to irk the nationalist Polish government, which has taken aim at … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S. indictment of two Russian intelligence agents and two hackers alleged to have stolen more than half a billion U.S. email accounts in 2014 has cast a spotlight on the intertwining of the Russian security services and the murky digital underworld. The officers of the powerful FSB, Russia’s Federal Security Service, … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin on Thursday, Mar. 9 rejected U.S. claims of Russian violations of a landmark nuclear arms treaty, saying it has respected the pact and will continue to do so. The controversy over the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty adds another thorn in the side for U.S. President Donald Trump’s declared goal of … Continue reading
SEZANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenian winemakers said Friday, Mar. 10 they expect the European Commission to suspend the procedure of issuing a permit to Croatia to use the Teran red wine brand in the 28-nation bloc. The head of a Slovenian group to protect Teran, Marjan Colja, told The Associated Press that his group has “no … Continue reading
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland will seek the arrest and extradition of a Minnesota man exposed by The Associated Press as a former commander in an SS-led unit that burned Polish villages and killed civilians in World War II, prosecutors said Monday, Mar. 13. Prosecutor Robert Janicki said evidence gathered over years of investigation into … Continue reading
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian lawmakers re-elected President Janos Ader to his largely ceremonial post on Monday, Mar. 13 ensuring another five-year term for a supporter of populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government. Ader, nominated by Orban’s governing Fidesz party, defeated Laszlo Majtenyi, a former ombudsman for data protection nominated by the left-wing opposition. Ader won … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 