The Economist “Anti-corruption demonstrations sweep across Russia” Vladimir Putin won his first presidential election on March 26th, 2000. Exactly 17 years later, tens of thousands of Russians across the country came out to protest the corruption that has come to define his tenure. The demonstrations, the most significant challenge to Mr. Putin’s regime since 2012,....
BBC “St Petersburg metro explosion kill ten” At least 10 people have been killed in an explosion between two underground stations in St Petersburg. The head of Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said the blast hit the train between Sennaya Ploschad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations. Images posted on social media showed a badly mangled carriage, with....
The Guardian “Western agencies scramble to obtain samples from Syria chemical attack” Western intelligence agencies are seeking biological samples from survivors of the chemical weapons attack in northern Syria to compare against specimens of sarin taken from the Syrian military’s stockpiles four years ago. The testing will be used to established whether the nerve agent....
BBC “Melania Trump wins’ damages from Daily Mail over ‘escort’ allegation” The UK’s Daily Mail newspaper has agreed to pay damages and costs to the first lady of the United States over an article about her modelling career. The newspaper had reported allegations that Melania Trump once worked as an escort, but later retracted its....
New York Times “Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen Advance in French Election” In France’s most consequential election in recent history, voters on Sunday chose Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen to go to a runoff to determine the next president, official returns showed. One is a political novice, the other a far-right firebrand —....
Reuters “Congress moves closer to deal to avert government shutdown” The U.S. Congress was moving closer to crafting a deal to avoid shutting down at the stroke of midnight on Friday, but the details and even broad strokes of an agreement were still murky. Some lawmakers are optimistic they can hammer out a budget bill....
BBC “Brexit: UK and EU at odds over size of ‘divorce bill’” The UK won’t pay a 100bn-euro (£84bn) «divorce bill» to leave the EU, Brexit Secretary David Davis has said, as the two sides clashed over the issue. He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain the UK would pay what was legally due, in line....
CNN “Firing James Comey is Donald Trump’s most unpredictable and dangerous move yet” James Comey found out he had been fired as FBI director just like the rest of us: By watching it on television. The move, announced late Tuesday via a letter sent from President Donald Trump to Comey, marked the most unpredictable moment....
The Washington Post “Putin offers to provide Congress with details of Trump disclosures to Russian envoys” Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he would be willing to provide the U.S. Congress a record of President Trump’s meeting with top Russian envoys, possibly offering new details on the disclosures of reportedly highly classified intelligence information. The....
CNN “The Pope and President: Unpredictable pair finally meet” After meeting with Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia and visiting sacred sites in Jerusalem, President Donald Trump’s tour of world religions concluded Wednesday at the Vatican, the Catholic Church’s holy headquarters. There, at the Apostolic Palace, Trump met with Pope Francis — finally. It’s a meeting....
CNN “UK responds to Merkel: ‘We will be a strong partner to Europe’” Britain reacted Monday to Angela Merkel’s assertion that Germany could no longer «completely depend» on its traditional allies by saying it would continue to seek a «deep and special partnership» with Germany and the rest of Europe after Brexit. Speaking less than....
The Guardian “Kabul: at least 80 killed by massive car bomb in diplomatic quarter” Scores of civilians have been killed after a massive explosion in a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul left at least 80 people dead and wounded more than 360, the Afghan public health ministry has said. The attack is the deadliest....
BBC “Qatar rift: Saudi, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt cut diplomatic ties” A number of Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region. They say Qatar backs militant groups including so-called Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda, which Qatar denies. The Saudi state news agency SPA said....
CNN “Theresa May condemns ‘sickening’ attack on Finsbury Park Muslims” A man died and 10 people were injured after a van was rammed into a crowd of worshippers near a mosque in north London, in the latest terror attack to hit the UK this year. Eyewitnesses reported chaotic scenes as the incident unfolded just after....
BBC “Queen’s Speech: Brexit bills dominate government agenda” A host of proposed new laws designed to prepare the UK for a «smooth and orderly» departure from the EU have been announced in the Queen’s Speech. Of 27 bills, eight relate to Brexit and its implications for key industries. As well as a bill to convert....