Belarus: winds of change?
20 Aug 2020
Belarus is known as ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’. After being elected on an anti-corruption platform President Lukashenko ruled for 26 years, betraying his mandate and the trust of his people. When citizens cast their ballots recently they…
Migrant boy found dead on Calais beach
20 Aug 2020
Two teenagers unsuccessfully tried to cross the Channel in a three-foot dinghy using shovels as oars. They wanted to cross by themselves, bypassing people smugglers who charge high prices. One was a 16-year-old Sudanese boy who…
Russia: persecution of missionaries
20 Aug 2020
Individuals of almost every religious affiliation continue to face prosecution under Russia’s ‘anti-missionary legislation’ for exercising their right to freedom of religion and belief. Despite a 2018 constitutional court decision which offered some clarification of what…
Russia: vaccine approved for use
13 Aug 2020
Vladimir Putin said a vaccine for Covid-19 has been given regulatory approval after less than two months’ testing on humans. It has passed all the required checks, and he added that his daughter had already been…
Albania: ‘take more care of people’
13 Aug 2020
Monsignor George Frendo, chair of Albania’s interfaith council, has appealed for the country to take more care of its people’s health. ‘Have we reconciled with the coronavirus? Or are we afraid that more restrictions will create…
Germany: attack on anti-Semitism commissioner
06 Aug 2020
The government-appointed commissioner to combat anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, was criticised in an open letter to Angela Merkel from sixty academics, authors and artists in Germany and Israel. They warned the Chancellor concerning ‘provocative, factually and legally…