Roman Abramovich recently threw an $8 million New Year’s Eve party. He once dropped $86 million on a Francis Bacon painting. And he owns a $90 million vacation home in St. Bart’s. That’s in addition to his chateau on the …
On Sept. 15, 2011, as Colonel Muammar Gaddafi scurried from one hideout to another, British Prime Minister David Cameron traveled to Benghazi to congratulate rebel leaders on their victory. Aware that the U.K. had supported their …
In a nation where the weather changes by the hour, it’s useful to consult the morning forecast. For the two million public sector workers who walked out of their jobs across the U.K. this morning, today’s outlook likely seemed heavy with symbolism. Blustery winds across the northwest matched the chill of newly announced austerity …
This morning, as James Murdoch faced bruising questions from parliamentarians investigating phone hacking at News International, he had no choice but to stare at a garish red painting. Before him hung a twenty-foot canvas splattered with deep reds and maroons; behind him, an equally brash work of art in crimson and scarlet. For a man …
In November 2006, as ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko lay dying of radioactive poisoning, his wife Marina held a bedside vigil. At first doctors at his London hospital blamed an E. coli infection for Litvinenko’s yellowing skin, sunken eyes and dramatic weight loss. But Marina sensed something more sinister. “We asked many times …
The kidnapping of two goats may seem to have little relevance to politics. But then you realize the four-legged victims belong to the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which has built up massive support by scapegoating immigrants.
Zottel, the SVP’s official mascot, has come to symbolize the party’s anti-immigrant stance, and …
In the three days since a Ukrainian court convicted ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko of abuse of power, the country’s president Viktor Yanukovych has been portrayed as a modern-day Joseph Stalin. Leaders from Brussels to Moscow accused his regime of staging a show trial in which his main political rival was sentenced to seven years …
The judge read out the guilty verdict, and Yulia Tymoshenko’s supporters shouted “Shame!”
This afternoon a court ruled that Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s former Prime Minister, had acted against the national interest when she signed a natural gas deal with Russia in 2009, leading to $190 million in damages to Ukraine’s state-run …
Donald Tusk, Poland’s center-right prime minister, won re-election on Sunday night, marking the first time since the fall of communism in 1989 that a ruling government has managed to keep its grip on power. With more than 99% of all votes counted, Tusk’s pro-market Civic Platform party claimed 39% of all votes, putting it nine points …
When the Liberal-Conservative coalition led by Lars Lokke Rasmussen came to power in Denmark in 2001, it relied on support from the right-wing and staunchly anti-immigrant Danish People’s Party (DPP). As a result of that union, Denmark passed some of the strictest immigration and asylum laws in Europe. Among other things, its …
Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch sitting on an estimated fortune of $16 billion, “betrayed and blackmailed” his erstwhile mentor, coercing him to sell his stake in a Russian oil company at a fraction of its value, a High Court in London heard this morning.
Boris Berezovsky, once one of Russia’s most influential oligarchs, …
The charge that a relative of a Roma clan leader killed a Bulgarian teenager sparked anti-Gypsy demonstrations across the country last weekend. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in at least 20 towns and cities, including the capital, Sofia. “A total of 168 have been arrested for violation of public order, the majority — …
Britain’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the U.K. government will pay compensation to the families of those killed and wounded by British soldiers during the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre. The precedent set by the payouts could pave the way for families of those killed in other skirmishes and attacks during Ireland’s Troubles …
