A multi-pronged crackdown on the press continued throughout 2018, the Committee to Protect Journalists concludes in a report published Thursday. Imprisonment, intimidation and allegations that journalists produce “fake news” surged in 2016, when U.S. President Donald Trump won the election, CPJ found. Trump has been a vocal critic of the press, often chastising journalists as “very dishonest people.” The number of journalists in jail dipped 8 percent, from 272 in…

The head of the U.N. agency focusing on AIDS says he’ll leave his post in June, an early departure announced a week after independent experts looking into sexual harassment at UNAIDS blasted its “defective leadership.” Executive director Michel Sidibe made the announcement during a UNAIDS board meeting Thursday in Geneva, said agency spokesman Mahesh Mahalingham. He did not elaborate. Sidibe’s term was supposed to end in January 2020. On Friday,…

European Union leaders will offer Ukraine help for its regions affected by Russia’s actions in the Azov Sea when they meet Thursday, according to a draft summit statement seen by Reuters on Wednesday.  But there is no mention of consideration of further sanctions against Russia, reflecting division among member states. Diplomats expect a rollover of existing sanctions but no consensus on increases sought by more hawkish governments.  Condemning Russia, the EU will reiterate its support for Ukrainian…

Hungary’s parliament has approved the creation of a new court system to deal with matters related to public administration, giving Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government close control over what will become a crucial part of the judiciary. According to the bill approved Wednesday, the justice minister will have final say over the appointment, promotion and salary of judges in the new system, which could hear cases on a wide range…

The Russian military says two of its nuclear-capable strategic bombers were flown over the Caribbean Sea during a 10-hour training mission. A pair of Tu-160 bombers arrived Monday at Maiquetia airport outside Caracas. The Russian Defense Ministry said they were escorted by Venezuelan fighter jets during part of the training mission Wednesday to practice interaction. The Tu-160 is capable of carrying conventional or nuclear-tipped cruise missiles with a range of…

Slouched on a bench at a Barcelona police station, five teenagers waited patiently on a recent Friday evening to find out where they would sleep that night: a shelter for young migrants or on that bench. Earlier that day, another group of boys had been successfully transferred to a nearby shelter, but it was uncertain if any more beds were available. The boys from Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa had all…

Anti-slavery activists on Tuesday hailed a United Nations global pact on migrants as a potential milestone in the fight against human trafficking but warned a lack of detail left millions at risk. On Monday, the vast majority of U.N. members signed a deal aimed at improving the way the world copes with rising migration, but almost 30 stayed away from the ceremony in Morocco due to disagreement over its contents.…

Greece’s parliament on Tuesday voted to scrap plans to cut state pensions, in a motion led by the left-led governing coalition hoping to shore up its flagging support ahead of a general election next year. Athens agreed two years ago to cut pensions in 2019, in an attempt to placate lenders and get the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to back a third financial bailout the country clinched with its euro…

EU economics affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday said Brussels will keep close watch over France’s new spending plans, a day after President Emmanuel Macron unveiled new measures to quell violent protests. “The European Commission will closely monitor the impact of the announcements made by President Macron on the French deficit and any financing arrangements,” Moscovici told AFP. “We are in constant contact with the French authorities,” added Moscovici, who…

British Prime Minister Theresa May is set for talks Tuesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as she seeks to keep alive a deal for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. The already disorderly departure from the EU turned even more chaotic Monday when May postponed a House of Commons vote on her Brexit agreement, which took months of tortuous negotiations with Brussels to conclude.…