The European Parliament has imposed severe sanctions on a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP), for unsavory comments he made against women. Janusz Korwin-Mikke, who made the comments during a debate in the parliament, was sanctioned by President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani. The sanctions are unprecedented. The far-right Polish MEP … Read more
Dutch people rejected “the wrong kind of populism”, Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said, as he celebrated victory in Wednesday’s election. “The Netherlands said ‘Whoa!’” he declared after his centre-right VVD party’s lead positioned him for a third successive term as prime minister. With nearly all votes counted, his party easily beat the anti-immigration Freedom … Read more
A diplomatic spat between Turkey, the Netherlands and Germany spread online on Wednesday when a large number of Twitter accounts were hijacked and replaced with anti-Nazi messages in Turkish. The attacks, using the hashtags #Nazialmanya (NaziGermany) or #Nazihollanda (NaziHolland), took over accounts of high-profile CEOs, publishers, government agencies, politicians and also some ordinary Twitter users. … Read more
Employers are entitled to ban staff from wearing visible religious symbols, the European Union’s top law court ruled on Tuesday, a decision Muslims said was a direct attack on women wearing hijabs at work. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) said it does not constitute “direct discrimination” if a firm has an internal rule banning … Read more
French presidential candidate Francois Fillon has been placed under formal investigation over an alleged diversion of public funds, prosecutors say. The centre-right contender is suspected of paying hundreds of thousands of euros to his family for work they may not have done. He denies wrongdoing, but had earlier said he would quit the presidential race … Read more
The EU unveiled an ambitious plan Tuesday to support the reconstruction of war-torn Syria, calling it a “dividend” to encourage warring parties to reach a peace deal. Ahead of an April 5 Syria conference in Brussels, European Union foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini released proposals ranging from demining to organising elections. “Too many times the … Read more
Gabonese President Ali Bongo has offered to hold talks with opposition parties in an apparent bid to ease tensions over his contested re-election last year, but his main political rival swiftly rejected the call for dialogue. Responding to a presidency statement issued late on Friday, opposition leader Jean Ping branded the proposal for talks starting … Read more
British citizens should be allowed to keep the benefits of EU membership, according to the chief Brexit negotiator at the European Parliament. Guy Verhofstadt said allowing individuals to keep rights, such as freedom to travel and vote in European elections should be a priority. The former Belgian prime minister said Brexit had been a “tragedy” … Read more
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye is one of a long list of world leaders to have gone through an impeachment process or forced to resign following legal proceedings against them. Not all impeachment proceedings are successful: The best-known survivor is probably former US president Bill Clinton, who remained in office despite an attempt to remove … Read more
French presidential candidate Francois Fillon has suffered another blow as his campaign manager quit late on Friday. Patrick Stefanini said his resignation will take effect on Sunday night. Earlier, the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) called on Mr Fillon’s Republican Party to choose another candidate in the wake of a scandal over payments. It … Read more
The European Parliament has voted to end visa-free travel for Americans within the EU. It comes after the US failed to agree visa-free travel for citizens of five EU countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania – as part of a reciprocity agreement. US citizens can normally travel to all countries in the bloc … Read more
The European Parliament has lifted French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s immunity from prosecution after she tweeted pictures of so-called Islamic State (IS) violence. Ms Le Pen is under investigation in France for posting three graphic images of IS killings in 2015, including the beheading of US journalist James Foley. Her position as an MEP … Read more
European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday presented options for reforming the bloc to shore up its unity and popular support after Britain’s shock decision to withdraw. Five scenarios in a ‘white paper’ that the president of the European Commission delivered to the European Parliament ranged from changing little to scaling back to just … Read more
The European Union (EU) Chief Observer of Ghana’s 2016 Elections, Tamas Mezerics has expressed worry about the State media’s bias in the coverage of the 2016 elections. Making references to the report of the European Observer Mission (EOM), he mentioned the state owned media like Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and its numerous radio networks including … Read more
Far-Right leader Marine Le Pen could become French president in May, riding the same wave of anti-establishment resentment which led to Donald Trump’s victory, according to several former prime ministers. Former conservative prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said: ‘Madame Le Pen could be elected.’ Another former premier, the Socialist Manuel Valls, has also warned of the ‘danger’ … Read more
Greece must not be granted a “bail in” that would involve creditors taking a loss on their loans, Germany’s deputy Finance Minister said in an interview broadcast on Sunday, reiterating the German government’s opposition to debt relief for Athens. “There must not be a bail-in,” Jens Spahn told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, according to a written … Read more
European parliamentarians warned communist Vietnam on Thursday that a failure to improve its human rights record threatens to hinder the ratification of a free trade pact negotiated by the two powers. The trade agreement, which was approved by Brussels and Hanoi in 2015 and is slated to come into effect next year, would slash nearly … Read more
US President Donald Trump was speaking to supporters on Saturday when he apparently referred to the Scandinavian country as the site of a terror incident — the latest example of his administration naming a non-existent attack. The Republican was addressing a campaign-style rally in Florida when he launched into a list of places that have … Read more
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that the whole world benefited from a strong European Union and that the bloc and his country needed to lead the international economy in challenging times. Trudeau told the European Parliament that the Union was an unprecedented model for peaceful cooperation in a speech that marked his … Read more
Britain’s lower house of Parliament passed legislation Wednesday to allow Prime Minister Theresa May’s government to officially begin the Brexit process. Now that the legislation has been approved by the House of Commons, it will be put before the House of Lords for a final decision later this month. Members of the House of Commons … Read more