Section: Cyprus
EU to make it easier to suspend visa-free travel amid immigration worries
European Union interior ministers will back plans on Friday to make it easier and faster to suspend visa-free travel with any third country, officials said, amid deepening public concern about the scale of immigration into the bloc. The EU is in politically sensitive talks with Turkey on relaxing travel requirements for Turks seeking to visit...
Trump would talk to N.Korea’s Kim, wants to renegotiate climate accord
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is willing to talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear program, proposing a major shift in U.S. policy toward the isolated nation. In a wide-ranging interview with Reuters, Trump also called for a renegotiation of the Paris climate accord,...
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and supporters attacked
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and fellow anti-corruption activists were attacked, thrown to the ground and kicked by a group of men at an airport in southern Russia on Tuesday, according to video posted on social media. Footage showed the assailants, described by Navalny as Cossacks and wearing traditional fur hats, some in...
Ukraine Eurovision win raises eyebrows in Russia
By Alexei Kalmykov and Vladimir Soldatkin Ukrainians hailed their country’s unexpected victory in the Eurovision song contest as a Europe-wide endorsement of Ukraine in its smouldering conflict with Russia, while Moscow said the contest had been hijacked by politics. Ukrainian singer Jamala overtook the bookmakers’ favourites, Russia...
Ukraine’s Jamala takes home Eurovision crown with song about war
Ukraine’s Jamala struck a surprise gold in the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday with a song “1944” about war-time deportations of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union in one of the most controversial winners in the competition’s history. In a show known down the years for its playfulness and camp, 32-year-old Jamala struck a sombre...
US activates Romanian missile defence site, angering Russia
By Robin Emmott The United States switched on an $800 million missile shield in Romania on Thursday that it sees as vital to defend itself and Europe from so-called rogue states but the Kremlin says is aimed at blunting its own nuclear arsenal. To the music of military bands at the remote Deveselu air base, senior US and NATO officials declared...
IMF: Global corruption costs trillions in bribes, lost growth
Public sector corruption siphons $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion annually from the global economy in bribes and costs far more in stunted economic growth, lost tax revenues and sustained poverty, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. In a new research paper, the IMF said that tackling corruption is critical for the achievement of...
Panama Papers report alleges NZ prime place for rich to hide money
By Charlotte Greenfield and Rebecca Howard Wealthy Latin Americans are using secretive, tax-free New Zealand shelf companies and trusts to help channel funds around the world, according to a report on Monday based on leaks of the so-called Panama Papers. Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister John Key to take action after local media analysed...
EU set to drive forward visas for Turks in migrant deal
Despite deep public misgivings in some countries, the European Union will this week drive forward a plan to grant Turks visa-free travel to Europe as a reward for having reduced a flood of refugees and migrants into Europe to a trickle. The European Commission is set to declare on Wednesday that Turkey has broadly met the criteria for early visa...
Tough standards for Turks’ visa-free travel – EU’s Timmermans
By Alastair Macdonald The deputy head of the European Commission insisted on Thursday that the EU executive would not lower its standards to offer visa-free travel to Turks in the coming weeks as part of a deal to stem migration. “We will not play around with those benchmarks,” First Vice President Frans Timmermans told the European Parliament,...
