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Spy Swap: Norwegian spy Frode Berg freed by Russia

By 1111 0

Russia has released at least two Lithuanian spies and a Norwegian spy, Frode Berg, from their custody. In return, the country has managed to get at least two of its spies freed from the Lithuanian custody.

The three country spy swap deal is the most complicated deal the continent of Europe has witnessed in its recent history.

Norway is the one which has played a central role to get this deal materialised. Why they have gone that far is because the country was under severe pressure to get Mr. Berg, who was a high level officer, freed.

The family members of Mr. Berg have expressed their happiness in the deal. His daughter has already reached the city where he is expected to land within the next few hours.

Lithuania was an integral part of the erstwhile Soviet Union. Since the independence of the country, the spies of Lithuania are on continuous battle with its Russian counterparts.

The case is not very different with Norway, though it has no direct link with either the erstwhile Soviet Union or its successor, the present Russia.

Russia, Norway and Lithuania are situated very close to each other. Both Norway and Lithuania see Russia situated close to them as a threat.


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International Relations News

West closely observes developments in Hong Kong

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The western powers, such as the US, UK, Germany and France, are closely observing the developments in the Asian city of Hong Kong.

For the last few months, the city has been struggling under the clutches of violence. Several people have lost their life due to violence in the city.

Recently, an elderly man, who was working as a cleaning staff, lost his life when he accidently trapped between two protesting groups aggressively throwing stones against each other. He was struck by a stone. He later succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment in a hospital.

Similarly, a young protester has lost his life last week when he had fallen from a building while resisting a police action.

Protesters say that as the police use fatal weapons against them they find it important to upgrade the materials they use for their defence.

What the streets of the city have been witnessing for the last few days has been nothing less than an aggressive street war between the police and the protesters.

When the police have used real bullets against the protesters, the latter has increased the effectiveness of their defence materials, like petrol bombs and stones, considerably.

With China not ready to pay heed to what its integral part has to say, it is up to the west to decide whether this city deserves peace or not.

The west earlier urged the Asian country of China to take a humanitarian stand on the issue concerning to the city of Hong Kong.

What has China repeatedly proved is the country is not ready to consider the Hong Kong issue through the prism shown to them by the west.

Actually, the west is the backbone of the Hong Kong economy. For that reason, the opinion of the west on the issue cannot be dismissed that easily.


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Trending

Donald Tusk advises the UK not to leave EU

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European Council President Donald Tusk has advised the United Kingdom not to leave the European Union.

He opined that the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union would mark the actual end of the Great British Empire.

Mr. Tusk is going to step down from the post in the near future itself, as his term is expected to end next month.

The warning of the European Council president has come at the time the UK government is trying to convince its parliament to approve the deal it reached with the EU in the matter of the proposed exit of the European country from the most powerful economic union in the world.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently asserted that he would try his best to convince the parliament to approve the Brexit deal.

He even criticised the parliamentarians for standing against the verdict of the people of the country.

He, it seems, is of the opinion that the parliamentarians have noting much to do in the matter of the Brexit and are supposed to give their assent as early as possible to the decision taken by the people of the country.

Will the EC president’s comment make any impact is yet to be seen.


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Trending

Student march jolts France

By 1057 0

Students have gathered in large numbers in several public venues, especially outside educational institutions and government buildings, across France, to express their solidarity with a student, who tried to end his life by torching himself due to his financial difficult.

The protesting students say that the self-immolated student is the representative of the French student community. They add that what he tried to tell to the French society, especially its political elites, is the difficulty the student community faces.

The student protest has disrupted the functioning of several institutions, especially several educational institutions.

The self-immolated student has suffered serious burn injuries (almost 90 per cent). His condition still remains critical.

The incident happened in a university restaurant. Hours before the incident, through his social media platform, he had declared his financial difficulties and expressed his anger towards the political system and leaders, who, he thinks, is responsible for his difficulties – France President Emanuel Macron, at least two of his predecessors, far-rightist leader Le Pen, his country’s government and the European Union had found mention in his statement.

What the student protest shows is that the French youth is frustrated and is very angry. It is needless to say that the things become complicated if the issue is not addressed promptly.


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Entertainment News

Poland angry with Netflix documentary about Nazi death camps

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The Polish government has expressed its dissatisfaction against a documentary released by digital content giant Netflix.

What that the aforesaid documentary discusses is the sensitive story of Nazi death camps.

The Polish government has criticised the digital giant of misrepresenting certain facts about the Nazi occupation in Poland.

The government has opposed the portrayal of the issue in the manner that Poland was also responsible to what happened to those admitted in the Nazi death camps during the Second World War.

Poland has criticised the digital giant of not highlighting the fact that Poland was annexed by Germany prior to the erection of the death camps in Auschwitz.

The digital giant has not yet given an elaborate statement on the issue. Yet, it has acknowledged the awareness of the concerns raised by Poland. And, it has assured of taking serious actions to address the crisis.

This is not the first time a Netflix documentary has invited criticism; earlier, a Netflix documentary about OSHO attracted similar allegation of misrepresentation.

At this moment, it remains unclear whether the Polish government would take any serious action against the digital content giant in this matter.

Netflix has tens of thousands of customers in Poland. So, it cannot handle this issue as insensitively as it handled the OSHO issue.


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News

Spain criticises forced removal of Bolivian supremo by military

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The Spanish government has strongly criticised the formed removal of Bolivian supremo Evo Morales by his country’s military.

The removal has come amidst growing protest in Bolivia against the alleged irregularity committed by Mr. Morales during the recent presidential election.

It was a regional organisation which first exposed the irregularity. Later, similar stand was taken by many, including the US.

Notably, the majority of those who stand against the Bolivian president are from the political right. And, the majority of those who stand with the president are from the political left; importantly, Spain is at present in the political left platform.

Not only Spain but also several others like Venezuela and Mexico has come out publically in favour of the Bolivian president.

Anyway, it is from Russia the most unexpected support has come.

The Russian government, even though is a political right country, has taken a different stand than that of its fellow rightist countries. It has strongly criticised the action of the Bolivian military.

Mr. Morales has accepted the asylum offer extended by the Mexican government. He has called his ouster a coup. He has hinted about his return in his statement.

In his statement, he said that it was very painful for him to fly away from his country. He added that he would return with more energy and power in the near future itself.

The alleged coup has put the country in chaos. The supporters of Mr. Morales have gathered in the city centres in large numbers. In many places, they have openly clashed with the police. The Bolivian military, with an intention to bring stability, has sent their members to support the police.

Notably, Jeanine Anez, the deputy leader of the Senate, is likely to take charge as the interim president. She has announced her intention recently. Anyway, it needs the assent of the senate. It is not clear whether she may be able to get the support of the senate dominated by the supporters of Mr. Morales.

Whoever becomes the interim president gets at least 90 days to conduct election.


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News Politics

Spain Election: Rightists make major gains; Socialists retain power

By 1107 0

The fourth election in Spain in less than four yours has also contributed the crisis of political deadlock, like what it contributed in the past three occasions.

This time also, making the situation bad to worse, no political party has gained a clear majority in the Spanish parliament.

The Spanish parliament has nearly 350 seats. So, for a simple majority at least 176 seats is needed.

In the latest election, the ruling PSOE (socialists) has gained around 120 seats – which is at least three seats less than what it wristed in the previous election.

Meanwhile, the rightist political parties like the PP and the Vox have made major gains in the election.

The PP has increased its seat count to around 88 from less than 66, and the Vox to 52 from 24. As what can be clearly read from the data, the far-rightist Vox is the one that has made the biggest gain.

In the previous time, the socialists failed to find a supporter for its government. When it called for a snap election, its expectation was that it would be able to gain a clear majority this time.

What the election result tells is a different story. The result shows the decreasing popularity of the socialists and the increasing popularity of the rightists.

A political expert says that it is not wise to lose this chance. He adds that if the leftists lose this chance, they may not be able to come to power in the country anything in the near future.

The Spain election result has a message for the entire Europe. In Europe, the political left and the political liberal are shrinking. What that is occupying that space is the political right – sadly, the political far-right.

Unlike others, the political far-right is not easy to deal with. It is not clear whether the political left and the political liberal know how to deal with that front rightly.


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Crime News

Shocking! Youth gunned down by Police

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A shocking report from Hong Kong has jolted the social media platforms today. It is the report about a young boy who has been gunned down by a policeman.

It is not the first time a report about police atrocity has come from the former British colony.

The region for last few months is in a disturbed state. In the recent past, several time agitated Hong Kongers have confronted the police.

The protesters want China to exercise less authority over the internal affairs of their region.

They are not of the opinion that Hong Kong is an integral part of China. And, they are not happy with the centralised government policy, but are in support of the two government policy – thus, the idea of greater autonomy to Hong Kong.

The continuing police atrocities mean that the Hong Kong government, which is under the control of China, is ready to go to any extent to suppress the protest against the government.

The government has recently attracted severe criticism from the west, especially from the European countries such as Germany.

The government knows very well that it cannot continue like this forever. It is also worried about the warned exist of multinational companies from the region.

The economy of the country heavily relies on the MNCs based in the region. If the MNCs leave this land, it will bring a huge disaster.

It was a bill, which seeks the easy extradition of criminals from Hong Kong to China, triggered the protest. The bill was later shelved permanently. But, the protesters were not ready to settle with that alone. Thus, the protest, emerged as a small agitation against an unwelcoming bill, transformed into a huge political movement aimed to achieve greater autonomy and less foreign (especially, Chinese) intervention.

The entire world is watching the developments in Hong Kong.

Are you in Hong Kong? If it is safe to do so, please share us about the present political situation in the region. The world wants to hear you!


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Food News

German students reach top court with tough question

By 1490 0

Two German students have reached the corridor of the European country’s top court with the tough question of whether collecting food materials from the dustbin of a supermarket could be considered as a stealing crime.

A local court in the country earlier imposed a heavy fine on the students for the same.

Actually, the students have reached the top court to challenge the verdict made by the local court.

Many social organisations have come to the support of the students.

The main argument of the students is that by collecting food from the supermarket’s dustbin they helped the organisation to reduce the amount of waste they disposed.

Supermarkets in Germany dispose tonnes of food materials daily; it is when thousands in the country rely on food banks to meet their daily food requirement.

Inspired from the case, some European supermarkets have pledged to reduce their daily food waste considerably in the near future itself.


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News

Spain to polls

By 1139 0

The European country of Spain is set to return to the polling stations tomorrow to decide who should lead the country in future.

It is the fourth time the people of the country, in the short span of four years, have been asked to share their opinion on who should be allowed to lead them.

In all the three times, the election results were inconclusive. In the last time, the Socialists emerged as a major force. But, unfortunately, they failed to convince their natural allies to join them.

Spain is a very powerful European power. It is a member of the European Union – not just a member, but is a main pillar like Germany and France on which the economic union stands.

At present, the country is under the clutches of several serious political issues; the Catalonian independence movement is one of them.

The country requires a stable government to overcome these troubles. It is hoped that Spain votes for the best option available.


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