Canada Will Cut More Diplomats From Its Embassy in Cuba Following Another Mysterious Illness

(TORONTO) — Canada announced Wednesday it is removing up to half of the Canadians at its embassy in Cuba after another diplomat was found to have fallen mysteriously ill.

Canada has confirmed 14 cases of mysterious health problems since early 2017. Twenty-six American embassy workers in Cuba have also been affected, suffering a range of symptoms and diagnoses including mild traumatic brain injury, also known as concussion.

Global Affairs Canada said in a statement Wednesday that tests confirmed a 14th case.

Canada said in November it was considering all options regarding its embassy in Cuba after a 13th case was confirmed. Canada is going from about 16 positions for Canadian staff at the Havana embassy to up to eight.

Canada ordered the families of diplomatic staff in Cuba to return home last April. The 14 Canadians affected includes diplomats and some of their family members. A senior Canadian government official said in a briefing for journalists that the latest case involves a d..

A Dutch Church’s 24/7 Vigil to Protect Refugees Ended With a Government Deal

(THE HAGUE) — A Dutch Protestant church ended a months-long, round-the-clock service Wednesday that started in October to protect a family of Armenian asylum-seekers from deportation after the government announced changes to its immigration policy.

The Bethel Church, a small chapel in a Hague residential neighborhood, announced the end of the 24-7 service a day after the Dutch ruling coalition announced it will review hundreds of asylum applications by children that previously were rejected.

“We are incredibly grateful for a safe future in the Netherlands for hundreds of refugee families,” church official Theo Hettema said in a statement.

The church service began Oct. 26 to protect the Tamrazyan family — including the parents, their two daughters and a son. Dutch law prohibits authorities from entering a church building while a service is underway.

At a news conference late Tuesday, the government minister in charge of immigration issues, Mark Harbers, said authorities will again r..

Mike Pompeo Is Sending a Team to Asia to Arrange a Second U.S.-North Korea Summit

(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he is sending a team “someplace in Asia” to set up a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by the end of February.

Pompeo on Wednesday told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity that his team is “headed that way now to lay the foundations” for steps toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as well as “a brighter future for the North Korean people.”

Trump tweeted earlier Wednesday: “I look forward to seeing Kim Jong Un shortly. Progress being made – big difference!”

On Tuesday, however, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress that intelligence information does not support the idea that Kim will eliminate his nuclear weapons or the capacity for building more.

Švédské volání Kateřiny Janouchové: Trestá se za kritiku migrace. Hlavně penzisty, až 7500 Kč. Paní z toho umřela. Dospělí migranti ve škole dětmi

ROZHOVOR Přinášíme vám první díl rozhovoru se spisovatelkou a novinářkou Kateřinou Janouchovou, která v roce 1974 spolu s rodiči pronásledovanými v Československu komunistickým režimem uprchla do Švédska. Tehdy bylo Švédsko otevřenou a svobodnou zemí, jak ale Janouchová přiznává, společenské klima v zemi se mění k horšímu. „Každý podvědomě řeší, co se smí a co se nesmí říkat,“ uvádí spisovatelka. Za nevhodné názory vám může hrozit i policejní vyšetřování. Vlídná severská země si neumí s novými problémy poradit. „Švédsko chce být humanitární velmoc, chce ukázat, že se o všechny může postarat a pomoci,“ dodává Janouchová.

Čeština funguje, jazykový zákon nepotřebujeme, tvrdí jazykovědec Oliva

Návrh skupiny poslanců KSČM na uzákonění češtiny coby státního jazyka vzbudil minulý týden ohlas zejména kvůli hrubce, kterou předkladatelé udělali hned v první větě. Jazykovědec a bývalý šéf Ústavu pro jazyk český Akademie věd ČR Karel Oliva má za to, že jazykový zákon není potřeba a ze strany předkladatelů jde spíše o populistickou snahu předstírat péči o národní hodnoty.

The Quick Read on Venezuela’s Political Crisis

What Happened This Week:
The U.S. government continues to tighten the screws on Nicolas Maduro’s regime in Venezuela; on Monday, the Trump administration announced extensive sanctions against Venezuela’s state-oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) in a push to collapse the regime in favor of Venezuela’s parliamentary leader and self-proclaimed “interim president,” the 35-year-old engineer Juan Guaido. On Tuesday, the Trump administration handed control to a number of Venezuelan government accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York over to Guaido, ratcheting up pressure further.

Why It Matters:
Because Venezuela continues to be the world’s worst economic-cum-humanitarian disaster. The economic policies of the Maduro administration have largely been an attempt to replicate the socialist welfare policies of late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who presided over the country at a time of sky-high oil prices. Unfortunately for both Maduro and the Venezuelan people, those ambitiou..