Vladimir Putin has held a couple titles over the past few decades, President and Prime Minister; however, one thing’s always true, he’s always the one pulling the strings. Putin and Medvedev have operated through a tandemocracy, switching positions after their terms have expired allowing them to technically run in non-consecutive terms, though they’re both always in power. Things may change… Read more »
Al Jazeera: Protesters have stormed Macedonia’s parliament and attacked legislators after an ethnic Albanian was elected as parliament speaker. Clashes over several hours on Thursday injured 77 people, including 22 police officers and several MPs, authorities said. Dozens of protesters, some of them masked, broke through a police cordon after the opposition Social Democrats and parties representing Macedonia’s ethnic Albanian minority… Read more »
Al Jazeera: More than 100 activists were arrested in St Petersburg on Saturday as hundreds of Russians turned out to protest against President Vladimir Putin’s expected candidacy in elections next year. Demonstrators rallied across several cities under the slogan “We’re sick of him.” The protests were called by the Open Russia movement founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. About 200 people… Read more »
Al Jazeera: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks expected to focus on the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. The meeting on Tuesday comes after two other high-ranking German officials visited Moscow this spring in an apparent effort to revamp bilateral relationships. The official purpose of… Read more »
Al Jazeera: One international observer with the European security watchdog OSCE has been killed and two other monitors wounded after their vehicle struck a landmine while on patrol in eastern Ukraine. The six-member patrol consisting of two armoured vehicles from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe was travelling on Sunday in an area of the Luhansk region, which is not under… Read more »
Following the French Election for the past few months, one can easily note how contentious this race has been. There’s a large number of candidates; however, there are only five main candidates who have a real chance at winning the Presidency. These candidates are Marine Le Pen (National Front), Emmanuel Macron (En Marche), Benoit Hamon (Socialist Party), Francois Fillon (The Republicans),… Read more »
Al Jazeera: More than 2,000 asylum seekers trying to reach Europe were plucked from the Mediterranean on Friday in a series of dramatic rescues. An Italian coastguard spokesman said 19 rescue operations by the coastguard or ships operated by non-governmental organisations had saved a total of 2,074 people on 16 overcrowded rubber dinghies and three small wooden boats. One person… Read more »
Al Jazeera: Rotterdam, the Netherlands – As the Palestinians in Europe conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, comes to a close, participants drew attention to the suffering of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, as detainees mark Palestinian Prisoners Day by going on a mass hunger strike. The 15th annual conference, which ended on Saturday, saluted Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, describing them… Read more »
Al Jazeera: Paris, France – Things were looking good for Francois Fillon shortly after he was selected as the presidential candidate for The Republicans, the French right-wing party. In the weeks after his victory, the former prime minister enjoyed a healthy showing in the opinion polls with Ipsos putting him in the lead with 29 percent of the vote, four points… Read more »
Al Jazeera: The UK parliament has voted in favour of Prime Minister Theresa May’s call for an early general election. The parliament on Wednesday voted 522 to 13 in favour of the election taking place on June 8. On Tuesday, May called for a snap election in a surprise announcement as Britain prepares for delicate negotiations on leaving the European Union. She said… Read more »