A court in Catania, Italy, has sentenced 23-year-old Haj Hammouda Radouan to life in prison for manning an illegal migrant ship that capsized in the Mediterranean, killing an estimated 200 people. It is the first such sentence in Italy’s history, a precedent arriving just as the nation prepares for the summer rise in African migrants attempting to reach European shores.
Up to 1,200 migrants fleeing fighting in Syria and Afghanistan have arrived on the Greek island of Kos in just two days. They join the nearly 30,000 immigrants who have risked perilous sea crossings to land on Greek soil this year alone.
The European Commission has called on EU member states to take in 40,000 asylum seekers from Syria and Eritrea who land in Italy and Greece over the next two years.
Greece is facing a June ‘cash crunch’ in the latest development in its ongoing fiscal crisis. The country will be unable to find the €1.6bn (£1.1bn) sum it is due to hand the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month, one
As a high profile lawyer and wife to one of Hollywood’s most recognisable stars, Mrs Amal Clooney is surely a woman used to getting her own way. It must therefore come as a shock to her that Greece has rejected her proposal
Iran forces Afghans to fight in Syrian regime’s collapsing army; Debate over the number of European jihadists in Syria; Greece makes debt payment as even leftists lose sympathy
Greece makes one debt payment, wonders if it can make the next; Europeans reject more bailout money for Greece, for now; Jean-Claude Jüncker warns of Anglo-Saxon threat to eurozone
German President Joachim Gauck has stirred his government by remarking in an interview that Germany should at least “consider” demands by leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that the nation pay billions of euros in reparations for the Nazi occupation of Greece.
Greek authorities have started preparing for a possible Eurozone exit with contracts being drawn up for “payments in euros or any national Greek currency” as the government admitted yesterday the country was broke. Since the Syriza government was elected to power,
Days after being pulled back from leading the Greek diplomatic team in talks with the European Union regarding the nation’s astronomical debt, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and his wife, Danae Stratou, were the victims of an anarchist mob attack while dining out.
Iran seizes cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz; Greece’s PM Tsipras desperately seeks financial crisis solution
Bloomberg Business understandably sees all sorts of signals in Greece’s decision to pull Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis back from bailout negotiations, a move it describes as “clipping Varoufakis’ wings” and “reining him in” after three months of debt talks failed to produce an agreement.
The Turkish government announced it had captured 350 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from the port region of Mersin to Italy or the greater EU.
Greece’s government will confiscate cash reserves from all public institutions; Greece’s people face the future with anxiety and dread; China speeds up its military takeover of the South China Sea; Vietnam and the Philippines establish a strategic military partnership to counter China
The European Union’s summit to deal with the Mediterranean refugee crisis is underway, and based on leaked documents, it appears a major component of the strategy will involve returning most migrants to their countries of origin.
While the ongoing migrant crisis in the Mediterranean Sea has captured the world’s attention after more than 800 people drowned in a capsized ship headed to Italy last week, a parallel situation has begun to unravel in the Aegean, with more than 100 mostly Syrian refugees drowning in the last 48 hours as they attempted to reach Greece.
The Christian population of Turkey is evaporating rapidly. The nation, a NATO member since 1952, has experienced a reduction in its Christian population from 20% 100 years ago to only 0.2% today. The latest blow in the community occurred at the Hagia Sophia during Easter holy week.
Saudi Arabia appears headed for a quagmire in Yemen; US escalates conflict by sending warships to Yemen to confront Iran; ECB examines a possible ‘second currency’ for Greece – government IOUs
The leadership of Greece’s nationalist Golden Dawn party went to court Monday for the first day of what is expected to be a long trial of unprecedented scope for the nation. Golden Dawn’s leadership, who have exhibited Neo-Nazi sympathies, are being accused of running a criminal organization masked as a political party.
ISIS claims responsibility of major terrorist attack in east Afghanistan; Afghanistan becomes more ungovernable as US-led coalition withdraws; Greece scrapes the bottom of the barrel as bankruptcy talk increases
Bookmaker William Hill has stopped taking bets on whether Greece will exit the Euro during 2015, saying the country could “begin the process of departing very shortly”. But experts have said that a Grexit could be disastrous for the bloc,
Gaza prepares for all-out war with Israel; Iran and Qatar give Hamas money and weapons to fight Israel; Israel prepares for war with Hamas in Gaza; Greece denies reports that it’s preparing for a default
Holy Fire from Jerusalem’s Easter celebration arrives in Athens; Pakistan and Turkey refuse to support Saudi Arabia in Yemen; Pakistanis fear repercussions from neutrality on Yemen
In what was received as a pleasant surprise by the European Union, Greece made its first 460 million euro payment to the IMF this week. The Mediterranean country continues to struggle with generating enough revenue to pay off their multi-billion-dollar debt, and one major international player looking to capitalize on their need for business is China.
Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp descends into the ‘deepest circle of Hell’; Palestinians flip-flop on Syrian action in Yarmouk refugee camp; Europe demands list of reforms from Greece after numerous delays; Iran’s demands on sanctions threaten to unravel nuclear deal
