Abyzemen

Be a part of peace; take a stand; demonstrate peace in all your interactions. On December 10, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. accepted The Nobel Peace Prize. In his acceptance speech in part he said: Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

A German court sentenced a German-Russian man to 14 years behind bars on Tuesday for a bomb attack on the Borussia Dortmund (BVB) football team bus on April 11 last year as part of a money-making scheme. The defendant, 29, identified by authorities only as Sergei W., had admitted to setting off the roadside bomb, which injured one of the club's players, but said he wanted to make money rather than harm or kill anyone. He had been charged with attempted murder, inflicting grievous bodily harm and causing an explosion. "The deed was planned meticulously over a long period of time," Judge Peter Windgaetter told the court. The defendant, he added, had acted out of greed and reckoned with the possibility that people in the bus could be killed. The team had been heading to the club stadium – Germany's biggest with a capacity of 80,000 – for a Champions League match against AS Monaco when the bomb went off. Spanish defender Marc Bartra and a police officer were ...

The European Union (EU) will next month consider further sanctions against Russia over the latest flare-up in the Ukraine conflict, the foreign minister of Austria, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said Tuesday. "On the issue of further sanctions, time will tell. We have a summit in December," Karin Kneissl told reporters after talks with her German counterpart Heiko Maas. "Everything depends on the accounts of events and the actions of both sides. But it will need to be reviewed." Kneissl said it was "one side's account versus the other's" in the latest tensions, in which Kiev declared martial law in response to Moscow's seizure of three of its navy vessels.  Thus the facts would need to be studied before conclusions could be drawn, she said. German foreign minister Heiko Maas repeated Berlin's call for Russia to release the seized ships and sailors "as soon as possible".  "Both sides must now do their ...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened a summit in Istanbul on Saturday with the leaders of Russia, Germany and France aimed at finding a political solution to the seven-year Syrian war.  "The eyes of the world are on us today... I am convinced that we will not fail to meet their expectations," Erdogan said at the summit, which was also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Ahead of the summit, Erdogan met with Merkel and Putin separately, the Russian leader also spoke with Macron via phone and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Russia, which supports the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Turkey, which backs the rebels, have held previous talks with Iran on the issue, in efforts that have often been greeted with suspicion in the West. But Saturday's summit will be the first to bring together the Turkish and Ru...

To help pave the way for a political solution to the Syrian crisis, Turkey, Russia, and Iran will meet in the Kazakh capital Astana on Wednesday for the 11th round of peace talks.  The efforts to establish a constitutional committee that will rewrite the country's constitution is expected to top the agenda. Staffan De Mistura, the outgoing UN special envoy to Syria, will also be present in the meeting. There have been two major peace initiatives over the years – one led by the UN, known as the Geneva talks, backed by the U.S. and Europe. The other called Astana peace talks led by three key players in the region, Turkey, Russia, and Iran.  Both groups are now focused on the constitutional committee, an issue that is perceived as crucial for the political future of Syria. On October 27, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted a four-way summit on Syria, including  Russia, Germany, and France, in Istanbul.  During the meeting, German Chancellor...

Spain has welcomed visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday with a grand ceremony as Xi kicked off his official visit to the country on Tuesday. Xi and his wife Madam Peng Liyuan were received by Spanish King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia at the Royal Palace of Madrid. Xi is currently in Spain for a state visit from November 27 to 29, the first by a Chinese head of state to Spain in 13 years.  President Xi arrived in Madrid on Tuesday local time and has held talks with Spanish King Felipe VI, in which both leaders vowed to boost bilateral ties and strengthen communication and coordination in multilateral affairs. Xi told the Spanish King that ties between China and Spain are at the best period in history. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain as well as the 13th anniversary of their comprehensive strategic partnership.

French President Emmanuel Macron sought to calm angry protests on Tuesday, as ongoing tensions highlight social divisions over green policies and the link between energy and political stability. In a speech on the country's energy policy, Macron said “we must listen to these protests of social alarm,” after 10 days of demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of people across France which have left at least two people dead and hundreds arrested. Macron acknowledged that his policies needed to avoid establishing a “two-speed France,” with many citizens feeling increased fuel duties were being “imposed on them from above.” While warning that the planned tax increases on diesel would go ahead as planned, the French president said the government would review the rises every three months and account for global oil price fluctuations. The proposed hikes, which will come into effect from January 1, have led to the “gilets jaunes” (yellow jackets) movement, a leaderless ini...