In The News

Johnson Suspends UK Parliament: Financial Times

Sebastian Payne and Philip Georgiadis August 28, 2019
The UK prime minister is determined to meet the October 31 deadline for Brexit, hard or soft, and suspended parliament for time than usual to stop efforts by a sizable opposition hoping to block the nation’s withdrawal from the European Union. Parliament was set to return on September 3 and suspension extends that until October 14. Boris Johnson suggests the suspension allows focus on other...

Russia’s Climate Change Turn: Wall Street Journal

Georgi Kantchev August 23, 2019
Russian leaders who once belittled climate change's urgency have reversed course after wildfires and floods. “Smoke from massive wildfires raging across an area the size of Belgium has engulfed hundreds of villages in Siberia – and spread as far as Seattle and Vancouver,” reports Georgi Kantchev for the Wall Street Journal. Russian scientists point to climate change and temperatures rising...

Uncertainty for Italy: Guardian

Angela Giuffrida August 21, 2019
Italy and its populist forces are in political crisis. Giuseppe Conte resigned as prime minister and “The president, Sergio Mattarella, is now calling the shots in a crisis triggered when Matteo Salvini pulled the plug on the League’s tenuous relationship with the Five Star Movement (M5S) in an attempt to capitalise on his popularity and become PM,” reports Angela Giuffrida. The president has...

UK Faces Dire Shortages With Brexit: Reuters

Kate Holton and William James August 19, 2019
Trade has represented more than half of the United Kingdom’s GDP since 2005, reports the World Bank. Leaked government documents suggest that the country will contend with dire shortages of essential goods by leaving the European Union without a trade deal. Government officials suggest the country is preparing for the worst-case scenario. “Setting out a vision of jammed ports, public protests...

Nuclear Accident in Russia: US News & World Report

Paul D. Shinkman August 15, 2019
Russia conducted a failed missile test on a platform in the White Sea near Severodvinsk in northern Russia, killing seven workers and injuring others, but the world knows little more. Analysts suspect the test was relate to a nuclear-powered ballistic missile. “A deadly nuclear mishap with a yet-unclear fallout threatens to derail Russia's ambitions to develop a new generation of weapons...

US May Withdraw Troops From Germany: DW

Timothy Jones August 9, 2019
The United States argues that Iran is an international security threat after withdrawing from a nuclear deal. Germany does not agree and has remained in the agreement along with Russia, China and the European Union. The two countries also do not agree on a budget and funding sources for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The US ambassador has suggested that the United States could withdraw...

Burqas Banned in Some Dutch Buildings: DutchNews

August 1, 2019
The Netherlands joins France and Belgium in imposing a ban on wearing garments that cover the face, including burqas, niqabs and ski masks, in public buildings and transport. Denmark, Germany, Spain and Italy impose partial bans. In the Netherlands, “The ban has been 13 years in the making and dates back to the time Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam PVV party propped up a minority government formed by...