Germany: Libya civil war Berlin meeting
23 Jan 2020
The Berlin conference on Libya, attended by rival leaders in the civil war and many international leaders including Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Erdogan, concluded on 19 January. It set forth mechanisms for the establishment of…
Switzerland: Davos - climate change
23 Jan 2020
The World Economic Forum annual meeting of 3,000 of the world's richest and most powerful people took place this week in Davos. One of the speakers was Greta Thunberg, who opened a debate entitled, ‘How to…
The leader of the German Evangelical Alliance, Reinhardt Schink, spoke out against the tragedy of Christian refugees and migrants who are sent back to Afghanistan and Iran, even though they could face prison, torture and death.…
Ireland: general election
16 Jan 2020
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that Ireland will hold a general election on Saturday 8 February. It is unusual for Ireland to hold elections on a Saturday; they are usually on a Thursday or Friday. As…
Europe: countries redeploy troops
09 Jan 2020
Despite a call by the Iraqi parliament for the withdrawal of its forces, the USA stated it has no plans to do so, even though a draft letter signalling a pull-out was sent to Iraq’s prime…
Ukraine jet crashes, killing 176
09 Jan 2020
On 8 December, a Ukrainian jet bound for Kiev crashed soon after taking off from Tehran. The majority of passengers were from Iran and Canada. Ukraine initially blamed engine failure, but later retracted the statement. President…