World

Council of Europe calls on Czech Republic to protect minority languages like German and Romani more

2.12.2015 18:40 The Council of Europe (CoE) has called on the Czech Republic to increase its efforts to protect and support minority languages, especially German and Romani. The CoE's press release issued today says its Committee of Ministers (CoM) has sent many recommendations to Prague on the basis of a report by its Committee of Experts assessing the degree to which the country complies with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.  full story

Slovakia: Investigation of 2013 police raid on Romani settlement exonerates the officers involved

1.12.2015 16:30 News server SME.sk reported on 25 November that investigators in Slovakia have halted the prosecutions of police officers for abusing their powers, torturing people and trespassing during their raid on the Romani settlement of Moldava nad Bodvou in June 2013. The course of the investigation had been complained about previously not just by the Romani residents of the settlement and their attorney, but also by international organizations and Slovak Ombudsman Jana Dubovcová.  full story

Macedonian Police discriminated against Roma at border crossing, family to be compensated

30.11.2015 16:16 The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) has been reporting on a case in which police in Macedonia refused to let a Romani couple travel out of the country two years ago. Now the Macedonian Interior Ministry must pay compensation of approximately EUR 500 to each person harmed, according to a court verdict that has taken effect.  full story

Tyson Fury, boxer with Romani roots, defeats Klitschko to become world champion

30.11.2015 2:59 The boxer Tyson Fury, who is proud of his Romani roots, has just become the heavyweight champion of the world in Düsseldorf, Germany. Legendary Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko, who has not been defeated in 11 years, was defeated by Fury on points and stripped of championship belts from the WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF.  full story

French newspaper for children and teens explains the Paris attacks, asks Muslim children how they are affected

29.11.2015 0:31 For many parents it has been difficult to speak with their children about the Paris assassinations during which 130 people perished, and it has been especially difficult for Muslim families. A French daily written for children has, therefore, devoted an issue to young Muslim readers.  full story

Canada: High percentage of indigenous people among murder victims

28.11.2015 0:40 Canada is increasingly becoming a safer country, at least when it comes to violent deaths. This year the number of murders in the state of 35 million reached its lowest level in half a century.  full story

Germany: Romani heritage boxer Tyson Fury will fight the legendary Klitschko on Saturday

27.11.2015 23:05 On the evening of Saturday 28 November the boxer Tyson Fury, who is proud of his Romani roots, and Wladimir Klitschko, a modern legend of pro boxing, will face off at the Esprit Arena boxing ring in Düsseldorf. "I think this will be one of my easiest fights. I know that sounds crazy, because he's a super champion, but I see many chinks in his armor," Fury recently told The Guardian.  full story

European Commission President: Schengen is in a coma and must be resurrected or a united Europe is meaningless

25.11.2015 19:29 The Schengen system of freedom of movement has fallen into a coma after the terrorist attacks and because of the migration crisis, which is why it is necessary to resurrect it once more. That was the message of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as he addressed a plenary session of the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg today.  full story

Australian-British choreographer works with refugees and Romani people in the Czech Republic as part of international project

24.11.2015 21:15 Bridget Fiske, an Australian-British choreographer, is currently working with asylum-seekers, refugees temporarily living in the Czech Republic, and Romani people. She is currently the artist-in-residence with Tanec Praha (Dance Prague) as part of a European project called "Be SpectACTive!"  full story

Commentary: Jewish representative in Germany expresses the racist view that hatred is an "ethnic problem" of Arabs

23.11.2015 19:24 According to the Czech News Agency, the chair of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, has expressed himself as being in favor of establishing a maximum number of refugees that the country can accept. Schuster said he sees the problem of the current migration wave as consisting, among other things, of the fact that the refugees "are coming from cultures wherein hatred toward Jews and intolerance are a fixed component".  full story

Slovakia: Roma Spirit award won by those who saved two human lives

21.11.2015 15:00 On 15 November 2015 there was a gala evening for the Roma Spirit awards ceremony at Bratislava's New Stage Theater (Divadlo Nová scéna) and the well-wishers included the moderators of the evening - Gitana and Marián Mitaš, Mirka Partlová, Božena Ferancová, and musical legend Antonín Gondolán. During the evening there was a performance by the group Chalani z chatrče, who were joined by singer Marián Labuda, Jr.  full story

Islamists occupy luxury hotel in Mali, taking 170 hostages

20.11.2015 18:01 Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that unknown armed men assaulted the Radisson Blu hotel today in Bamako, the capital of Mali, taking 170 people hostage. According to initial reports the hostages included Chinese people, French people and Turkish people.  full story

Mastermind of Paris assassinations was killed during police raid on Wednesday

20.11.2015 16:08 The alleged main organizer of the terrorist attacks in France, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed during a police raid on Wednesday of the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, according to the Paris Prosecutor. "Abdelhamid Abaaoud was formally identified. He was killed during the police raid," reads the prosecutor's press release.  full story

Berlin Economic Institute: Refugees will be of long-term economic benefit to Germany

17.11.2015 18:46 Refugees can be of economic benefit to Germany in the long run as long as the country manages to employ them. In the current issue of the weekly Der Spiegel that statement is made by the President of the Berlin Economic Institute (DIW), Marcel Fratzcher.  full story

Police identify more of the Paris attackers

16.11.2015 19:17 French detectives are gradually managing to identify the attackers who murdered at least 129 people in Paris on Friday and to accumulate more information about them. The following is an overview of the basic facts about the individual presumed perpetrators as reported by the international media.  full story

Czech PM Sobotka: The Czech Republic must think of its own security

15.11.2015 22:46 Speaking on Czech Television today in response to Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris, which claimed the lives of as many as 130 people, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) said the Czech Republic must aid people in need while simultaneously thinking about its own security. He also said he was disappointed by the words of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker about maintaining the EU's current approach to immigration.  full story

Seven people connected to one assassin detained in France, some commandoes apparently managed to flee

15.11.2015 21:29 As reported earlier, François Molins, the Paris Prosecutor, has announced that French investigators have identified the first of the assassins who killed 129 people in Friday in Paris during a coordinated attack. Omar Ismail Mostefai (age 29) was identified by one of his fingers that was found at the crime scene of the Bataclan concert hall.  full story

Police have identified the first of the Paris assassins

15.11.2015 20:12 François Molins, the Paris Prosecutor, has announced that French investigators have identified the first of the assassins who killed 129 people in Friday in Paris during a coordinated attack. Omar Ismail Mostefai (age 29) was identified by one of his fingers that was found at the Bataclan concert hall.  full story

International Romani Union: Freedom is the most important value

14.11.2015 17:44 The International Romani Union has sent the following letter to the French President about the 13 November terrorist attacks in Paris:  full story

Islamic State claims responsibility for assassinations in Paris

14.11.2015 15:09 The Islamic State (IS) organization has released a statement claiming responsibility for Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris. Shortly before that French President François Hollande had attributed the assassinations to them.  full story