Benjamin Netanyahu made the first-ever visit by an Israeli leader to Cyprus, to discuss offshore gas development and a possible new pipeline. But Turkey objects to the plans, claiming sections of the exploration blocs as under its continental shelf rights.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed its concern over the trial of Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, which involves his investigations of acts that occurred during the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco.
The Greek cabinet approved new austerity measures demanded by the EU and IMF, as unions began a two-day general strike. This second bailout would cut €3.3 billion from state spending, lower the minimum wage by more than 20%, and lay off thousands of workers.
As ethnic Albanian protesters blocked the road linking Kosova to Serbia, the government is building a four-lane highway to link the country to Albania—a project protested as a nationalist boondoggle by the Serb minority.
Police in Bucharest fired tear gas to disperse thousands of demonstrators who blocked traffic in the city’s University Square to protest IMF-imposed austerity measures and poor living standards, demanding the resignation of President Traian Basescu.
Thousands of followers of the far-right Jobbik party protested against the EU in Budapest over European measures against a power-grab by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s rightist government. Last week, thousands of leftists marched against Orban.
Internet restrictions passed last year are set to go into effect in Belarus, amid international criticism. The new law creates several tiers of limitations on use of the Internet, imposing penalties for visiting “blacklisted” sites.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), successor to the good ol’ Soviet-era KGB, applies pressure on Facebook and the VKontakte social networking site in a bid to snuff post-electoral protests against Vladimir Putin’s continued rule.
Strikes and protest occupations were reported across Europe this week, as thousands of workers walked off the job in Greece, Bulgaria, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Teachers in the Czech Republic have also called a strike.
German police on battled thousands of anti-nuclear protestors—many chained to railroad tracks—who blocked the shipment of radioactive waste returning from a French treatment plant. The rails were blocked for 18 hours.
A 24-hour strike in Portugal against proposed austerity measures adopted in return for a $100 billion EU/IMF bail-out grounded flights and halted public transport, in what labor leaders called a “red card” for the government.
Despite the media line that Greece’s new “austerity” government is being staffed by non-ideological “technocrats,” the administration includes figures from the old-line Greek fascist right, spawn of the military junta that ruled from 1967 to 1974.
