A spokesperson for Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Monday that a NATO mine destroyer had been discovered at the Nord Stream 1 offshore gas pipeline in 2015. The spokesperson, Sergei Kupriyanov, said the device was pulled out and rendered harmless …
Greece and Turkey set up new ‘friendship’ ferry line
Setting aside longstanding strategic rivalry, Greece and Turkey on Monday inaugurated a “friendship line” ferry link between Thessalonika in northern Greece and the western Turkish port of Izmir. Greek-based shipping company Levante Ferries announced t…
Ukraine: UN wants Black Sea deal to be extended for a year
The 120-day deal on exporting grains from Ukraine agreed with Moscow and Kyiv, which runs out on November 19, should be extended for a year, a UN chief said on Monday. The United Nations’ humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said he was “reasonably conf…
Algeria and France hail ‘new dynamic’ with economic forum
The Algerian and French prime ministers on Monday hailed a “new dynamic” as they launched a joint economic forum during a visit to Algiers by France’s Elisabeth Borne. Borne’s two-day trip to the former French colony and major gas exporter comes just w…
Ukraine invasion: US ‘condemns’ Russian missile strike
US President Joe Biden condemned on Monday’s widespread Russian missile attacks in Ukraine, saying they targeted civilians and served no military purpose, and vowed that the United States and its allies will continue to impose costs on Moscow. “The Uni…
Down but not out: An Islamic State resurgence?
Though no longer in control of territory, the Islamic State (IS) continues to exploit dire conditions in Iraq and Syria to wage an insurgency and rebuild. Recent developments in Syria’s civil war and political turmoil in Iraq threaten to disrupt counte…
Iran students, workers defy protest crackdown
Iranian protesters remained defiant Monday with students staging sit-ins and some industrial workers going on strike despite a crackdown activists say has left dozens dead and hundreds more imprisoned. Videos posted on social media indicated that prote…
UN refugees chief warns of ‘severe cuts’ without urgent new funding
The head of the UN refugee agency said Monday that his organisation will need to make deep cuts with dire consequences for displaced people, unless it receives urgent new funding. Speaking at the start of UNHCR’s annual executive committee meeting in G…
20 Palestinian prisoners join ongoing mass hunger strike
Twenty more Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails joined on Saturday an ongoing mass by 30 detainees who have been refusing food for two weeks to protest the Israeli policy of administrative detention. The collective hunger strike, which launched in m…
Google celebrates birthday of Egypt’s Mostafa El-Abbadi
Google on Monday celebrated the birthday of the late Egyptian historian Mostafa el-Abbadi, considered a leading Egyptian scholar of the Greco-Roman world. Cairo-born El-Abbadi – who would have been 94-years-old today – died aged 88 in 2017, and was cel…