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Europe’s human rights court on Monday ruled against Romania for punishing a judge over his social media posts which were critical of the judiciary. The European Human Rights Court ruled that Romania had violated former Judge Cristi Danileț’s freedom of expression in a landmark ruling that upheld judges’ free speech rights. The former judge was sanctioned  by the Supreme Court...

Romanian President Nicușor Dan said Europe must send an unmistakable signal to Moscow that it is prepared to defend itself, even as it seeks to avoid war. In an interview with France 24, he stressed that Romania and its partners do not want armed conflict in  Europe  but Russia must be clearly told that any attack would be met with...

Bitcoin and the wider crypto markets were fairly muted last week despite the US Federal Reserve again lowering interest rates (at their latest FOMC meeting), the third cut this year. Although rate cuts have traditionally given a boost to cryptoasset prices, cautious forward guidance from the Federal Reserve weighed on market sentiment. Fed policymakers now see only one cut to...

Lawyer and former Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile José Antonio Kast has been elected Chile’s president with 58% of the vote.  Commentators say he won because of his efficiency in addressing Chile’ problem of rising organized crime: what he called “great firmness in confronting all those who harm us”. In the past ten years, the numbers of migrants...

Ukranian President Zelensky has offered to drop Ukraine’s aspirations to join the NATO. This is the latest development after five hours of talks with US envoys (notably Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner) in Berlin on Sunday, and the only tangible claim made so far.  Zelensky’s advisor Dmytro Lytvyn told the world to wait for further comment...

Hundreds of Romanians protested Sunday evening in Bucharest and other cities for the fifth night in a row demanding reforms to the justice system. In Bucharest, demonstrators gathered in University Square and marched towards Victory Square. Among them are elderly people, but also parents with babies. Some of them have a waved the Romanian flag. They held banners saying: "Free justice!...

Romania's last confirmed case of leprosy was during the communist regime, 44 years ago. Romanian authorities say two masseuses have been diagnosed with leprosy at a spa in the northwestern city of Cluj. They are the first confirmed cases of the disease in more than 40 years. The Indonesian nationals aged 21 and 25, were being treated and two others are...

Thousands took to the streets in Romania on Saturday for the third day in a row to demand a cleanup of the judiciary and an end to political interference. The protest came after Recorder aired a damning  investigation on Tuesday claiming abuses by judges and political interference to suspect high-level suspects. People demonstrated in the capital, Bucharest and the cities of Cluj,...

The European Union has indefinitely frozen Russia’s assets in Europe to stop Hungary and Slovakia,whose governments are Kremlin-friendly from preventing the billions of euros from being used to support Ukraine. The EU used a special procedure meant for economic emergencies to block the assets until Russia gives up its war on Ukraine and compensates its neighbor for the destruction it...

Nicolas Sarkozy's 200-page memoir, "A Prisoner's Diary", is a colourful account of what it’s like to be a former president in prison.  Sarkozy, now 70, was released from La Santé prison in Paris last month after serving 20 days of a five-year jail sentence for taking part in an election campaign funding conspiracy.  That means he wrote about ten or more...