Section: The Borneo Post (Malaysia)
Italy, Netherlands offer to share UN council seat
Dutch Ambassador to the United Nations Karel van Oosterom (centre) Speaks to Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni (Seated, centre) while Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders (left) and Italian Ambassador to the United Nations Sebastiano Cardi (right)listen after the fourth round of voting during the election of five non-permanent members of...
EU referendums: Europeans sometimes say ‘No’
Leave.EU supporters wave Union flags and cheer as results come in at the Leave.EU referendum party at Millbank Tower in central London -AFP photo BRUSSELS: Britain’s referendum on whether to remain in the EU has taken place in a climate of growing euroscepticism across the bloc, and is just the latest of many EU plebiscites. National...
Terror fears to mute French summer solstice music bash
PARIS: France’s annual summer solstice music extravaganza — a party it has exported across the globe — will be slightly muted this year amid terror fears and the Euro 2016 football tournament. The Fete de la Musique (Make Music Day) sees citizens throng the streets to enjoy thousands of pop-up concerts — whether a marching band in a garden,...
Back in the USSR? Ukraine rebels aim to ‘bring up patriots’
Children in red caps and ties, inspired by the Soviet ‘Pioneers’ movement, take part in a meeting of the youth movement ‘Patriot’, an organization of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, on the outskirts of Donetsk. Photo by AFP DONETSK: In camouflage uniforms and red caps, a group of young people gather in the...
Norway aims to boost defences against ‘unpredictable’ Russia
Norway has announced plans for its biggest military upgrade effort since the end of the Cold War, Norwegian Armed Forces/AFP photo OSLO: Norway announced plans Friday for its biggest military upgrade effort since the end of the Cold War, to bolster its defences against an “increasingly unpredictable” Russia. The Scandinavian country, a NATO...
Crimea unveils gun-toting statue to celebrate Russian annexation
SIMFEROPOL: The authorities in Crimea on Saturday unveiled a bronze statue of a heavily armed Russian soldier to celebrate the peninsula’s 2014 annexation from Ukraine. The slightly larger-than-life sculpture in Crimea’s main city of Simferopol shows a soldier carrying a Kalashnikov and wearing rounds of ammunition on his chest. A...
The Euro 2016 terror threat explained
French police take part in a mock suicide attack exercise ahead of the Euro 2016 football championship, at the fan zone in Lyon, on June 7, 2016. – AFP Photo PARIS: France is on a high terror alert as it prepares to host Euro 2016 from Friday with the month long event predicted to attract two million visitors. With matches spread across 10 venues...
France fearful of ‘soft target’ Euro 2016 attack
Millions of people are set to descend on France for Euro 2016, a month of football action, creating endless nightmares for the country’s overstretched security services. Photo by AFP PARIS: Despite putting unprecedented security measures in place for Euro 2016, France remains deeply concerned over the jihadists’ ability to strike a...
Frenchman ‘planning Euro 2016 attacks’ nabbed
KIEV: Ukraine’s state security service said yesterday a French citizen detained in late May on the Ukrainian-Polish border had been planning attacks in France to coincide with the Euro 2016 soccer championship it is hosting. On Saturday the Ukrainian border guard service reported the unnamed 25-year-old had been arrested with an arsenal of...
MH17 investigation at ‘advanced stage’
AMSTERDAM: Prosecutors conducting the criminal investigation into the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine two years ago said on Friday it was at ‘a very advanced stage’ and that they would present their conclusions after the summer. In a statement, prosecutors said they had made ‘several requests’ for legal assistance from...
