Author: staff

Standing outside a closed polling station on Sunday, Georgescu claimed the Consitutional Court was “cancelling democracy” by anulling the first round of the presidential vote. Romania’s defiant far-right presidential candidate, Călin Georgescu, stood outside a closed polling station on Sunday in protest of the country’s top court’s unprecedented decision to annul the first round of the vote in which he emerged as the frontrunner.The Constitutional Court cancelled the election on Friday after a trove of declassified intelligence alleged Russia organised a sprawling campaign across social media to promote Georgescu.“Today is Constitution Day and there is nothing constitutional in Romania anymore.…

More than 13 million Syrians have been forcibly displaced by the conflict — 6.2 million of them fleeing overseas. The war shaped the circumstances for the rise of the especially barbaric jihadist group Islamic State. Whether ordinary Syrians are winners depends on what happens next in Syria and if the country steers away from more violence and develops along peaceful lines. Some fear there will be a power vacuum and that the country’s various political factions and religious groups will clash. There is some cause for concern. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main insurgent faction, is designated a terror group…

Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly Abu Mohammed al-Golani, has evolved from an al-Qaida affiliate leader to a rebranded figure promoting pluralism as Syria’s insurgency topples Assad. Despite his attempts at moderation, doubts remain about his democratic intentions. A jihadist and an extremist? Or a new face of a modern and tolerant Syria?Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the militant leader whose insurgency toppled President Bashar Assad, has long pursued a political and military agenda.He has shifted his political stance many times to gain support and at times defied orders to eliminate rivals.Now, he is working hard to reinvent both his relationship with Syria and his…

The so-called “Dronegate” scandal plaguing the Canadian women’s football team is the latest use of technology being used to gain an advantage at the Olympic Games. Before the Paris Olympic Games officially began, the Canadian women’s football team were embroiled in a scandal involving a drone flown over an opponent’s practice. New Zealand reported to French police that their practice on July 22 was disturbed by a drone, with police tracking it back to analyst Joseph Lombardi with the Canadian team. Lombardi, head coach Bev Priestman and official Jasmine Mander were all issued one-year suspensions from any football-related activity by FIFA in…

Bashar Assad, Syria’s now former dictator, has fled the country, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, after opposition forces stormed the Syrian capital with scant resistance from the regime. After negotiations with the rebels who took over Damascus — the capital — early Sunday, Assad “decided to resign from the presidency and left the country, instructing a peaceful transfer of power,” the ministry said in a post on Telegram. His whereabouts are still unknown, with some reports claiming he died in a plane crash. Russia is asking “all parties involved to renounce the use of violence and to resolve all…

The Olympics are going on without disruption even after a ransomware attack hit several Paris museums that are hosting events. A ransomware attack targeted Paris’ Grand Palais and other museums in France’s national network, including some venues for the Olympic Games. The attack, detected on Sunday, hit data systems used by around 40 museums across France, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday. There’s been no disruption to the Olympic events, according to Paris authorities. The Grand Palais is hosting fencing and taekwondo competitions, while the Château de Versailles, also part of the network, is the venue for equestrian sports…

British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner welcomed the collapse of the ruling faction in an interview on Sky News. “What we need to see is a political resolution in line with the U.N. resolutions,” she added. “We need to see civilians and infrastructure protected. Far too many people have lost their lives, we need stability in that region.” In the early hours of Sunday morning, Syrian rebels pushed into the capital, Damascus, declaring victory in a brutal civil war that has lasted over a decade and claimed the lives of more than half a million people. The Sunni militant group…

“Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has lost 43,000 soldiers who died on the battlefield,” plus 370,000 who have been wounded, Zelenskyy said in his post. “And this is taking into account that in our army approximately 50 percent of the wounded return to service, and all injuries are recorded, including minor and repeated ones,” he said. “And let’s not forget we managed to return 3,767 warriors from Russian captivity,” Zelenskyy added. The Ukrainian figures compare with 600,000 dead and wounded reported for the Russian side. Zelenskyy insists that Moscow’s losses are larger than that. “Updated data on…

Trump made the comments after a trilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on Saturday. Zelenskyy said earlier that it was a “good and productive” meeting, but he hinted that Kyiv stands by its position of seeking to secure a “just peace.” “We all want this war to end as soon as possible and in a just way. We spoke about our people, the situation on the ground, and a just peace,” Zelenskyy said in a statement after Saturday’s meeting. “We agreed to continue working together and keep in contact. Peace through strength…

As the offensive unfolded others agreed with al-Jolani, who has seemingly now dropped his nom de guerre and is using his birth name Ahmed al-Sharaa. They noted how fragile the regime appeared. “The Syrian Arab Army is a hollowed-out shell, far weaker than its ostensible numbers and weapons would indicate,” said former U.S. diplomat Alberto M. Fernandez. “Syria is an economic basket case. Officers supplement their meager salaries by taking bribes for soldiers to take extended leave and work at other jobs back home. Some units seem to have broken and fled after losing their officers.” Nonetheless, al-Jolani’s role in…