Europe
Thursday, 28 May 2015 01:00
EU leaders at eastern summit meeting
This week EU leaders convened in Riga for the eastern partnership summit. They met with officials from the six eastern partners. Latvian foreign affairs minister Edgars Rinkevics hoped it would be ‘an opportunity to look at…
Thursday, 28 May 2015 01:00
Azerbaijan host European Games next month
A few countries span more than one continent - transcontinental states. Azerbaijan is on both European and Asian maps, but this year’s European games place it firmly in Europe. An anomaly? Baku, the capital city of…
Thursday, 21 May 2015 01:00
Irish bishops urge ‘no’ vote in gay marriage referendum
On Sunday four Irish bishops simultaneously published statements urging Catholics to vote ‘no’ in Ireland's referendum on gay marriage. They defend marriage between a man and a woman as the natural order and argue that a…
Thursday, 21 May 2015 01:00
Russia: Increased fines for ‘extremist’ texts
Russian people and religious organisations charged with distributing banned ‘extremist’ texts face sharply increased fines after changes to the law this month. Confiscations of religious texts from all religions, mostly during raids or detentions, frequently result in…
Wednesday, 13 May 2015 01:00
Macedonia: a country on the brink?
Eight policemen and 14 gunmen were killed following a day-long gun battle in the Republic of Macedonia. Native Albanians from Kosovo are believed to be behind the violence, but on Wednesday the opposition claimed that the…
Wednesday, 13 May 2015 01:00
Gardai monitoring Islamic radicals ahead of Prince Charles's Irish visit
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will visit Ireland and Northern Ireland next week, and security is being stepped up. Concerns have been raised that Irish Islamic extremists may try to target the visit. In…