Section: Newsweek (USA)
Inside the Mind of Tony Blair: The Newsweek Interview
On a December morning in 2014, a four-car convoy of black SUVs swept out of the polished limestone arches of the American Colony Hotel in East Jerusalem and drove south. Skirting the walls of the old city, it passed Mount Zion and its small, ancient church where King David lies buried and where Jesus was said to have hosted the Last Supper....
Ukraine Purges Symbols of Its Communist Past
KIEV, Ukraine—The Ukrainian parliament approved a law April 9 renaming the Great Patriotic War as the Second World War, underscoring a sweeping move by the post-revolutionary government here to ditch its Soviet past. Also on Thursday, Ukrainian lawmakers passed a law banning the promotion of symbols of “Communist and National Socialist...
Ukrainian Pianist Dropped by Toronto Symphony Orchestra for ‘Offensive’ Tweets
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has been plunged into controversy this week after it emerged on Monday that it had dropped one of its star performers because of her controversial tweets about the conflict in Ukraine. The orchestra cancelled three performances of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto this week which were to feature the...
Nordic Nations Agree on Closer Defense Cooperation Against Russia
OSLO (Reuters) – Calling Russia the biggest challenge to European security, Nordic nations agreed on closer defense ties and increased solidarity with the Baltic states on Thursday, aiming to increase regional security through deterrence. Writing in a joint declaration, the defense ministers of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland...
Threefold Increase in Illegal Migrants Arriving in Greece by Sea
The number of illegal migrants entering Greece by sea has dramatically increased, with the figure for the first quarter of this year standing at over 10,000. According to the Greek Coast Guard, 10,445 undocumented migrants entered Greece via Greek islands in the first three months of this year, representing a threefold increase on the same period...
With Russia in Mind, NATO Tries to Get Faster at Responses
EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands (Reuters) – Dutch troops gathered at an air base on Thursday as part of an 11-nation exercise to test NATO’s new rapid response targets that have been tightened following concern over new Russian assertiveness. Given just 48 hours to deploy, around 200 soldiers arrived at the air base near Eindhoven with the...
Ukraine Wants to Join NATO
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine, locked in conflict with Russian-backed separatists in its east, on Thursday drew up a new security doctrine denouncing Russia’s “aggression” and setting its sights on joining the U.S.-led NATO military alliance. Oleksander Turchynov, head of the national security council, told a session of the...
Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei Questions Intentions of U.S. in Nuclear Deal
(Reuters) – Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday demanded that all sanctions on Iran be lifted at the same time as any final agreement with world powers on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program is concluded. Khamenei, the Islamic Republic’s most powerful figure and who has the last say on all state matters, was...
Weary of Britain’s Anti-EU Posturing, Merkel Turns to Miliband
Britain’s Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband, the only real contender to replace David Cameron as UK prime minister after the election on 7 May, is picking up unlikely allies. Though Germany’s Christian Democrats, led by German chancellor Angela Merkel, officially support the Conservatives, leading party members with knowledge of...
Czechs May Refuse to Fund President’s Visit to Moscow Parade
Czech president Miloš Zeman may have to fund his visit to Moscow next month himself if he decides to officially attend Russia’s May 9 military parade, the Czech Republic’s deputy prime minister has said. Zeman, who is the only EU leader to accept the invitation to attend the march as others have boycotted in protest of Russia’s...
