Tag Archives: Europe

SERBIA: Lesbian PM Attends Pride With Heavy Security

The Associated Press reports: Serbia’s first-ever openly gay prime minister joined several hundred gay activists Sunday at a gay pride march that was held amid tight security in the conservative Balkan country. Holding rainbow flags, balloons and a banner reading “For change,” pride participants gathered in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, before setting off on a march through the city. Many …

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SPAIN: Catalonia Parliament Approves “Binding” Secession Vote, PM Vows To Block Via High Court

The BBC reports: Parliament in Spain’s restive Catalonia region has approved an independence referendum on 1 October which Madrid has vowed to outlaw. Separatist parties which hold a slim majority backed the referendum law and legal framework needed to set up an independent state. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has asked the constitutional court to nullify it. He will hold an …

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SPAIN: Barcelona Hit In Likely Terror Attack [VIDEO]

The Telegraph reports: At least two people have reportedly been killed and several others are injured after a suspected terrorist crashed into a crowd of people on a pavement in a popular tourist area of Barcelona. There are also reports of a live hostage incident at a Turkish restaurant near the scene. The vehicle hit pedestrians in Las Ramblas, a …

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GERMANY: President Signs Marriage Bill, Weddings To Start October 1st Unless Bavaria State Challenges

Bloomberg reports: Germany’s president has signed legislation legalizing gay marriage, his office said Friday, paving the way for the bill to take effect this fall. Lawmakers approved the bill on June 30 in parliament’s last session before Germany’s September election. The move became possible after Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose conservative party had long been reluctant to budge on the issue, …

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Malta Becomes World’s 24th Nation To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage In Lopsided 66-1 Vote By Parliament

Reuters reports: Maltese lawmakers voted on Wednesday to legalize same-sex marriage on the Roman Catholic Mediterranean island, fulfilling Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s campaign promise to make this the first law brought before parliament in his new term. Malta was the 24th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage with today’s vote coming just two weeks after German lawmakers approved …

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MALTA: Marriage Equality Now Only Days Away

The Independent reports: Parliament this evening approved the second reading of the bill introducing gay marriage, with one Nationalist MP, Edwin Vassallo, voting against. The committee stage, as announced this evening by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, will take place on Thursday and Friday with a final vote on the third reading to be taken on Wednesday 12 July. The Bill, …

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REPORT: Poland’s Government Promised White House They’ll Provide Cheering Crowds For Trump’s Visit

The Associated Press reports: Trump’s first trip to Europe as president in May saw a series of awkward encounters, including a tough speech to the leaders of NATO countries urging them to spend more on their armed forces, an uncomfortable handshake with France’s new president, and a caught-on-camera moment when Trump pushed past the prime minister of Montenegro, Europe’s newest …

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SERBIA: Lawmakers Elect Openly Gay Prime Minister

The Associated Press reports: Serbian lawmakers have elected a lesbian as the country’s first female prime minister, making history in the predominantly conservative Balkan country. Parliament voted 157-55 on Thursday to approve the government of 41-year-old Ana Brnabic, who became the nation’s first openly gay head of government. Serbia’s powerful President Aleksandar Vucic nominated the Western-educated Brnabic for the post …

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GERMANY: Right Wing Pols Panic At Abrupt Marriage Vote, Claim Constitution Must First Be Amended

Germany’s The Local reports: “The interior and justice ministries have always been of the opinion that same-sex marriage can’t happen without a change to the constitution,” Günter Krings [photo] told the Rheinische Post on Wednesday. “There is a lot of evidence to suggest that the proposed change to the law will contravene the constitutional definition of marriage.” The Grundgesetz (German …

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GERMANY: Marriage Equality Vote Confirmed For Friday

The Associated Press reports: The German Parliament plans to vote Friday on whether to legalize same-sex marriage — only days after Chancellor Angela Merkel backed off her conservative party’s long-standing refusal to budge on the issue. The German news agency dpa reported Wednesday the Parliament’s legal committee had given its OK for the vote to take place Friday. Her comment …

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SERBIA: President Nominates Gay Prime Minister

The Associated Press reports: Serbia’s president on Thursday nominated the highly conservative country’s first openly gay prime minister, a move likely to infuriate both the Christian Orthodox church and ultranationalists. President Aleksandar Vucic announced that Ana Brnabic, 41, was nominated as the prime minister-designate, which could also make her the first female head of government in the country’s history. Her …

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MOLDOVA: Riot Police Evacuate LGBT Rights Marchers After Orthodox Protesters Throw Eggs [VIDEO]

Radio Free Europe reports: A protest march organized by Moldova’s LGBT community on May 21 in the capital, Chisinau, was halted after just several hundred meters as police sought to avert a confrontation with participants in a counterprotest made up of “Orthodox priests and believers.” Scores of participants in the LGBT march, who were wearing white shirts with the logo …

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Portugal Wins Eurovision Song Contest [VIDEO]

I really thought Italy and the dancing gorilla had this, especially since the video for their entry has over 114 million views on YouTube. Sky News reports: Portugal has won its first-ever Eurovision Song Contest for Salvador Sobral’s performance of Amar Pelos Dois. Sobral, who has fought ill health to take part in the competition, was crowned winner during a …

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LIVE VIDEO: Trump And NATO Chief Hold Presser

USA Today reports: President Trump and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg hold a joint presser at 4pm ET Wednesday. The meetings at the White House come as tensions with Russia have reached a high point over a U.S. air strike against Syria, a Russian ally, last week. That strike came in response to a Syrian chemical weapons attack against civilians two …

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BRUSSELS: Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson Gives NATO Allies Two Months To Boost Their Defense Spending

Or else…what? The Associated Press reports: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned NATO allies Friday to boost defense spending or come up with plans to reach the alliance’s budget guidelines within two months. Tillerson, in his first talks with NATO counterparts in Brussels, said that Washington is spending a “disproportionate share” on defense compared with its 27 partners, and …

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NETHERLANDS: Progressive GreenLeft Party Hailed As Slowing Anti-Europe Populist Movement [VIDEO]

The Guardian reports: The big winner of Wednesday’s election – and now the largest party of the Dutch left for the first time – was GreenLeft, headed by 30-year-old Jesse Klaver, hailed by his enthusiastic supporters as the “Jessiah”. With more than 95% of votes counted, the party – formed 25 years ago by a merger of communists, pacifists, evangelicals …

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NETHERLANDS: Exit Polls Forecast Solid Trouncing Of White Supremacist Geert “Dutch Trump” Wilders

The BBC reports: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s party has won the most seats in parliamentary elections, first exit polls say. His centre-right VVD Party won 31 out of 150 seats, polls suggest. His party came far ahead of the next three parties, including Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration Freedom Party (PVV), the Christian Democrats and the D66 Party, which each got …

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CROATIA: Nazis March In Support Of Trump [VIDEO]

Buzzfeed reports: Today in “things that aren’t great,” a small group of far-right protesters in Croatia carried the US flag while shouting pro-Nazi slogans and pledged support to President Donald Trump. The few dozen black-clad demonstrators were members of the small Indigenous Croatian Party of Rights (A-HSP), a far-right political group that is too small to be represented in Croatia’s …

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SLOVENIA: Same-Sex Marriage Becomes Legal Today

Reuters reports: Slovenia permitted same-sex marriages for the first time from Friday under a law giving gay couples largely the same rights as heterosexuals though barring them from jointly adopting children. The head of the unit in charge of weddings in Slovenia’s second largest city Maribor, Ksenija Klampfer, told Reuters the first lesbian wedding would take place there on Saturday. …

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FINLAND: Parliament Rejects Last Ditch Attempt To Stop Same-Sex Marriage, Weddings Start March 1st

Finland’s national broadcaster reports: Finnish MPs defeated a bill to strike down same-sex marriage on February 17. Opposition to the proposal was strong, as 120 parliamentarians voted against it, with 48 in support. Two members of parliament voted absent and 29 MPs did not cast a vote. A Finnish movement called Aito avioliitto (True Marriage) that seeks to uphold marriage …

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