Russia says it will allow a bilateral adoption agreement with the United States to remain valid for the next year, despite Russia’s recent passage of a law banning the practice. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency that the adoption agreement will remain in force until early January […]
US: Associate of Russian Arms Dealer Arrested in Australia
Posted January 10th, 2013 at 11:55 am (UTC-5)
U.S. officials say an associate of convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout has been arrested in Australia. The Drug Enforcement Administration and a U.S. prosecutor announced that Richard Ammar Chichakli was arrested Wednesday by Australian authorities at the request of the United States. Chichakli has been charged with conspiring with Bout and others to buy […]
Three Kurdish Activists Shot Dead in Paris
Posted January 10th, 2013 at 9:20 am (UTC-5)
French police say three Kurdish activists, including a founding member of the PKK militant group, have been shot to death in Paris, in what the French interior minister has termed an “assassination.” Police said Thursday that the bodies of three women were found with bullet wounds in the early morning hours in a Kurdish information […]
Dutch Group Searching for Human Settlers for Mars
Posted January 9th, 2013 at 5:35 pm (UTC-5)
In the early years of manned space flight, having the “right stuff” meant being brave enough to fly the first rocket-propelled planes. Today, it means spending perhaps the rest of your life on the planet Mars. Dutch-based Mars One, which plans to set up the first human colony on Mars in 2023, has announced a […]
Kurdish Militants Killed in Southeast Turkey
Posted January 8th, 2013 at 11:05 am (UTC-5)
Twelve Kurdish militants and a Turkish soldier were killed in fighting along the country’s southeast border. Military officials say the rebels opened fire from northern Iraq and attacked a military post near the border late Monday night. Turkish soldiers returned fire on the militants killing 12. The attack comes as government officials hold talks with […]
Eurozone Unemployment Reaches Record High
Posted January 8th, 2013 at 6:20 am (UTC-5)
The unemployment rate across the eurozone has reached a record high of 11.8 percent. Joblessness figures released Tuesday by the European Union showed the rate for November 2012 had crept up a tenth of a percent in October of the same year. The report shows nearly 19 million people were unemployed in the countries using […]
Former Italian PM Berlusconi Aligns With Northern League, Won’t Stand for PM
Posted January 7th, 2013 at 12:05 pm (UTC-5)
Former Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi says he has struck a deal with the Northern League to jointly run in next month’s elections. But he will not stand as candidate for prime minister. Mr. Berlusconi announced the alliance during an interview with Italian radio. Northern League leader Roberto Maroni later told a news conference that as […]
French Actor to Assume Russian Citizenship
Posted January 5th, 2013 at 11:50 am (UTC-5)
French actor Gerard Depardieu traveled to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, in Russia, Saturday to meet with President Vladimir Putin and obtain Russian citizenship to dodge higher taxes in France. Mr. Putin publicly granted Depardieu citizenship on Thursday after the actor expressed dismay over a new French millionaires’ tax rate of 75 percent. In […]
Record Interest in Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp
Posted January 4th, 2013 at 12:40 pm (UTC-5)
Officials at Poland’s World War Two Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp say the site hosted a record number of tourists in 2012. In a statement on the museum’s website Friday, officials said more than 1.4 million visitors toured the Holocaust memorial site in southern Poland last year. The visitors came from all over the world, including Poland, […]
