Tag: Featured

    The European Union blasted Athens for its handling of the migrant crisis Wednesday, saying it had seriously neglected its duty to protect the bloc's frontiers, raising the prospect of border controls with the rest of the passport free zone. The criticism came ahead of a Swedish announcement that it intends to expel up to 80,000 migrants who arrived in 2015 and whose application for asylum has been rejected. Flimsy boats packed with migrants are still arriving on Greek beaches every day, with the passengers -- mostly fleeing conflict in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan -- undeterred by cold wintry conditions. Rescuers on Wednesday found the bodies of seven more drowned migrants, including two children, af-ter their boat sank near the Greek island of Kos -- just five days after 4...

    French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira has stepped down from her job, shortly before plans to strip people convicted of terrorism of their citizenship go before parliament. Ms Taubira was known to disagree with the controversial proposals, The citizenship plans were put forward after the 13 November Paris attacks in which 130 people were murdered. Sometimes staying on is resisting, sometimes resisting means leaving, she tweeted. Ms Taubira, one of France's few senior black politicians, has been replaced by Jean-Jacques Urvoas who is seen as a supporter of the constitutional change. Born in French Guiana, Ms Taubira has suffered racist taunts from the far-right during her time as jus-tice minister. Same-sex marriage A communique from the Elysee Palace said that Presiden...

    A trigger-happy warmonger who basks in public adoration at home and shrugs off the anger of the West, that Russia’s macho president is arguably the world’s most powerful man is no surprise. That Vladimir Putin may also secretly be, by far, the world’s richest man will come as a shock to many. Russia’s feared autocrat is well and truly a law unto himself and uses his unfettered power almost as he pleases. This has never been clearer than in the sinister case of Russian spy, Alexander¬ Litvinenko, whose murder in London in 2006, Sir Robert Owen’s inquiry concluded last week was probably sanctioned by Putin. The Kremlin is, of course, threatening¬ to sue the British government¬ over the claim. Sixteen years after he was first elected, 63-year-old Putin’s position as Russian p...