Author: staff

According to the tight projections by pollster CURS quoted by Euronews Romania, the currently governing Social-Democrats lead with 26% of the votes. National exit polls estimate that Romania’s future parliament and government will continue Romania’s strong pro-EU, pro-NATO and pro-Ukraine national strategy, despite a surge by the ultra-nationalist contenders.According to the tight projections by pollster CURS quoted by Euronews Romania, the currently governing Social-Democrats lead with 26% of the votes, followed by the moderate-nationalist AUR with 19%. The third and fourth places are disputed within the margin of error by the Liberals, currently in the coalition government with the Social-Democrats,…

“These unresolved issues remain challenging and additional time will be needed to address them effectively.” This week’s meeting in Busan, South Korea, was meant to be the culmination of two years of talks, with U.N. member states having previously agreed to “forge an internationally binding agreement by 2024.” But hopes of an agreement were scuppered when countries failed to resolve their differences over whether to reduce plastic production, whether and how to phase out problematic plastic products and chemicals of concern in plastic products, and how to finance the legal instrument. Saudi Arabia and Russia led a group of oil-rich…

DUBLIN — Irish voters thwarted Dublin’s best-known gangland boss from gaining a seat in parliament following a marathon election count full of shocks and twists. Gerry “The Monk” Hutch had launched an out-of-the-blue campaign for a Dublin Central seat after flying in from Spain, where he awaits trial on money-laundering charges. Last year, Hutch was acquitted of murder in connection with a criminal underground feud that left 18 dead, including his own brother. Few media analysts expected Hutch to make an impression in an already crowded Dublin Central field featuring some of Ireland’s biggest political names, such as Sinn Féin…

Thousands of insurgents also fanned out across Aleppo in vehicles with improvised armour and pickups, a day after they entered the city. The insurgents faced little resistance from government troops during the shock offensive, according to residents and fighters. Witnesses said two airstrikes on the city’s edge late on Friday targeted insurgent reinforcements and hit near residential areas. A war monitor said 20 fighters were killed. Syria’s armed forces said in a statement on Saturday that to absorb the large attack on Aleppo and save lives, it has redeployed and is preparing for a counter-attack. The statement acknowledged that insurgents…

Syria’s military rushed in reinforcements on Sunday to push back insurgents from advancing farther into the northern Hama countryside after they seized Aleppo. The insurgents led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took over most of Aleppo on Saturday in a surprise offensive and have now claimed to have entered the city of Hama. There was no independent confirmation of their claim. Rebel commander Col. Hassan Abdulghani said separately the insurgents also took control of Sheikh Najjar, also known as the Aleppo Industrial City, northeast of the city, Aleppo’s military academy and the field artillery college to the southwest. Iranian Foreign Minister…

It said in a statement after the vote that Parliament “failed to protect children and young people today,” and blamed the EPP and far-right groups for blocking “critical recommendations” to extend public bans against e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. As a result, the S&D group was “forced to vote against the watered-down resolution to preserve the integrity of smoke-free policies,” it said. Tiemo Wölken, S&D coordinator for the environment, public health and food safety committee said: “It is cynical and scandalous that the EPP does not want to combat the number one cause of cancer and instead falls for the…

The bloc’s new foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, European Council President António Costa and European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos visited Kyiv on Sunday, on the first day of the new European Commission’s mandate, to reaffirm their “unwavering support to the Ukrainian people,” Costa said on X. Russian lawmakers had already approved the budget plans in late November. With the war in Ukraine approaching the three-year mark, tensions have escalated recently. Moscow last week threatened to strike government buildings in Kyiv and has launched massive aerial attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector — which the Kremlin said were in response to Kyiv’s…

Icelanders headed to the polls on Saturday with the issues of immigration, energy policy and the economy playing a central role in the election, according to AP. European Union membership also resurfaced in the campaign for the first time in more than a decade, Reuters reported, with public support for joining the bloc reaching 45 percent. Iceland’s Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson dissolved the parliament in October and called the snap election, citing growing disagreements among the three governing parties — his Independence Party, the Progressive Party and the Left-Greens. All three parties in the outgoing government appeared to have lost…

Addressing a packed media room, with journalists and delegates spilling out into the hall, French Energy Minister Olga Givernet said: “We … are worried by the continuing obstruction by the so-called like-minded countries; and we know definitely that it may be a minority, but still we have to be all together the most as we can to push [the talks] forward.” The EU’s Special Envoy for Climate and Environment Diplomacy Anthony Agotha said: “Despite the fact that in these final hours, we’re still with great concern about the outcome, I feel a lot of good vibrations in this room … In these final…

A string of top officials including the Georgian ambassadors to Italy, the Netherlands and Lithuania have resigned in protest at the move, as well as Deputy Foreign Minister Temur Janjali. “What we see is this resistance has really gone beyond previous public demonstrations,” said Tinatin Akhvlediani, a senior researcher with the EU foreign policy unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies. “The ruling Georgian Dream party is in trouble because it’s difficult to see how they can justify making this announcement given widespread support for joining the EU, and it looks like they will use all their forces to…