Author: staff

Seville is up in arms these days because the newly restored face of the Virgin of La Macarena, a 17th century carving by an unknown artist and of incalculable value to thousands of the faithful which, well, no longer looks the same. After having undergone several retouches between 16 and 20 June, her eyes are somewhat smaller, her gaze is sadder, her eyelashes are longer and even her appearance seems lighter.The Brotherhood of the Macarena of Seville had commissioned the professor and conservator Francisco Arquillo Torres to touch up the Virgin, although the result, as the reactions of the parishioners…

Saturday’s protest ended around 10 p.m., when some anti-government protesters moved to confront a counter-protest of Vučić’s backers, Reuters reported. Police deployed scores of officers in riot gear around government buildings, parliament and nearby Pionirski Park. Protesters threw bottles, rocks and flares at the police, who used force to disperse them in several locations across Belgrade’s city center, according to media reports. President Vučić wrote on his Instagram page that “you cannot defeat Serbia with violence”, and in a separate post commended police for their “patriotic, serious approach” to “defeat the attackers with minimal use of force.” Almost 50 officers…

Ukraine needs protection “from ballistic and other missiles, from drones, and from terror,” Zelenskyy said. “Ukraine must strengthen its air defense — the thing that best protects lives. These are American systems, which we are ready to buy. We count on leadership, political will, and the support of the United States, Europe, and all our partners. I thank everyone who is helping,” Zelenskyy added. Earlier this week, during a press conference in The Hague, after a verbal exchange with a Ukrainian journalist, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. needs Patriots too. “They [Ukrainians] want to have the anti-missiles, as…

Israel attacked Iran’s highly protected nuclear facilities with drones and warplanes in mid-June, aiming to prevent the regime in Tehran from building a nuclear bomb. The U.S. initially sought to stay out of the conflict, but waded into the fighting a week later by bombing key Iranian nuclear sites.   The strikes have triggered counterattacks by Iran on Israeli cities and an American airbase in Qatar, although U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran last week. Questions remain over whether Iran moved its stockpile of enriched uranium prior to the strikes, and whether centrifuges remain intact at…

In December 1918, the HMS Cassandra was headed towards Tallinn to support Estonian efforts to break away from Bolshevik rule at the end of World War I. She hit a mine and sank off the island of Saaremaa. Most of her 400 crew survived, but 11 went down with the cruiser. Around 100 metres deep, the site of the wreck of the Royal Navy ship was only discovered in 2010. Inside it, a hidden environmental time bomb in the form of oil. Matt Skelhorn, who is currently on board a ship surveying the HMS Cassandra, says it is “exceptionally preserved”,…

The agreement comes as the EU and the U.S. are locked in high-stakes trade talks ahead of a July 9 deadline, when U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to jack up tariffs on European goods to as high as 50 percent if no deal is reached. In a sign of détente, the EU, Canada, Japan and the U.K. agreed to exempt the U.S. from applying the 15 percent minimum tax on multinationals in a bid to avert Washington’s countermeasures. The minimum tax was a key plank of a deal, brokered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, that was…

It’s embarrassing that European and British pleas for deescalation were ignored and worse that America’s supposed allies were kept out of the military loop. But the most egregious suggestion is that Trump was actively using the diplomatic efforts of his supposed “friends” across the Atlantic to mislead Iran into thinking any attack was potentially weeks away.  According to a lengthy report by the New York Times, Trump’s statement that he would take as long as two weeks to decide on whether to strike Iran — because of a “substantial” chance for diplomacy — was always merely a calculated misdirection. At around 5…

The Vatican’s income is mainly derived from property assets and donations including from bishops and Peter’s Pence, the annual June collection by churches for the pope’s “mission” and charitable works. But donation revenue has fallen with increasing secularism and financial scandals. Donors from the U.S., the number one contributing country, were put off by Francis’ more liberal teachings on LGBTQ+ and marriage as well as corruption scandals including a botched investment by the Vatican’s top financial institution in London real estate, said John Yep, president of Catholics for Catholics, a conservative NGO.   ‘Very equilibrated’ The momentum behind Leo as a…

The Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union will officially end on 30 June. At a press conference in Brussels, Donald Tusk summed up the six months of the Presidency, referring above all to defence. European and Polish politicians also commented on the Presidency.Donald Tusk on Europe without war: naïve European faithDonald Tusk summed up the six months of the Polish Presidency, drawing attention above all to defence. As he stated, during the presidency Poland managed to “convince Europe that the current geopolitical situation requires bold and unprecedented decisions”, crediting Poland with changing the EU paradigm.”The European Union…

Opposition parties were quick to criticize the appointment of Plevris. “The far-right line of Mitsotakis continues unabated with the choice of Thanos Plevris, an inhumane, dead-end and frightening line overall for the refugee issue and the image of the country,” the Syriza party said in a statement. The New Left party called his appointment “a message of hatred, racism, authoritarianism.” In a statement, the party recalled comments by Plevris in the past that “border security cannot exist if there are no casualties and, to be clear, if there are no deaths.” The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is pursuing dozens of cases…