Author: Stavros Demetriallis

President Biden appeared to nibble at the shoulder of a startled little girl during his departure from Helsinki on Thursday. A video of the incident, which took place as the president greeted embassy staff members and their families before he boarded Air Force One at Helsinki-Vantaan International Airport, shows Biden leaning into a young girl and placing his mouth on her shoulder as he nibbled lightly. The little girl — who appeared frightened during the experience — later turned her head when Biden, who will turn 81 in November, tried to give her a peck on the head. Footage from the…

The Vatican is involved in a peace mission to try to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Pope Francis said on Sunday (30 April), adding that it was also ready to help repatriate Ukrainian children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied land. “There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it,” the pope told reporters during a flight home after a three-day visit to Hungary. “I think that peace is always made by opening channels. You can never achieve peace through closure. … This is not easy.” The pope…

The Daily Telegraph has reported that India is mulling over throwing its diplomatic weight behind Greece and other nations in quest of reclaiming artefacts from the United Kingdom. This is a part of India’s global initiative to support victims of “colonial appropriation”. Greece has spent years making efforts to prise the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum; however, diplomatic support from a leading global power like India could now help Athens materialise its long-cherished dream. India leading a global cultural revolution Officials in India’s Ministry of Culture said that India wants to form an informal alliance of nations that are…

Frankfurt, Brussels (5/5 – 50) Following the Greek Supreme Court’s decision released on May 2, a total of 36 parties and party coalitions will run in the May 21 Greek elections. Of the initial 50 parties, coalitions, and independent candidates that had submitted applications, the Supreme Court rejected 14 parties, including “National Party – Hellenes”, which was founded by jailed neo-Nazi Ilias Kasidiaris. Kasidiaris, 42, founded the party after receiving a 13-year prison sentence in 2020. He was convicted as a leading member of an extreme right party, Golden Dawn, which was blamed for multiple attacks against migrants and left-wing…

Frankfurt, Brussels (6/4 – 75) Alikhan Smailov was reelected Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, through a degree formalized by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, on 30 March 2023. Prime Minister Smailov was born in 1972 in the city of Almaty (Almaty was renamed “Astana” in May 1998, as it became the new Kazakh capital). He graduated from Al-Farabi Kazakh State National University and the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research. Between 2015 and 2018, Smailov served as Assistant to the President. Smailov was First Deputy Prime Minister under Askar Mamin, Kazakhstan’s former Prime Minister, from 2019-2022, while simultaneously holding the post…

In an attempt to improve the professionalism of the Russian military, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee has said that Russia must increase the length of its military service. “I have long been in favor of increasing the period of military service. The longer soldiers and sailors spend in the army, the more experienced they are, and the unit is more coordinated, something our troops often lack now,” Alexei Zhuravlev told the Russian news agency Ura.ru. Zhuravlev also said that servicemen should not enter the army for the various material benefits and perks soldiers receive, but to earn the “respect…

In the 1970s, the world economy experienced an energy price shock after major oil producers imposed an embargo against the West for supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. As the price of oil increased, energy independence became a priority, and Germany started commissioning more nuclear reactors. By the end of the 1980s, around 29% of Germany’s energy supply came from nuclear. It took the nuclear disasters in Chernobyl in 1986, which was then part of the Soviet Union, and Fukushima, Japan, in 2011 to shift German public opinion against nuclear energy. Germany’s decision to end its reliance on nuclear…

The European Commission has announced two pilot projects with Romania and Bulgaria aimed at stopping irregular migration at the EU’s external borders. “Strengthening the external borders with enhanced surveillance measures to be implemented at the Bulgaria-Turkey border is a key priority,” stated the EU Commission as it announced the ‘pilot project’ on Monday (March 20). The project will use a multidisciplinary approach to strengthen border control, including deploying cameras, vehicle patrols and watchtowers to monitor the movement of migrants. As well as increasing border protection it will mean “fast asylum procedures and more effective returns [of migrants],” said European Home…

From February 24, 2022, to January 3, 2023, Europe received 7,915,287 refugees from Ukraine, Report informs, citing the UN Refugee Agency. According to the UNHCR, Russia received the most refugees – 2,852,395 people. This is followed by Poland (1,553,707), Germany (1,021,667), the Czech Republic (476,025), Italy (173,231), Spain (164,705), the UK (152,200), Bulgaria (148,451), France (118,994), and Slovakia (105,205). In other states, this number doesn’t exceed 100,000. Since February 24, as many as 17,139,782 people have arrived from Ukraine in neighboring countries. At the same time, 8,180,679 people crossed the border in the opposite direction.