Legislatures

Archbishop Elpidophoros of America said he mourns the death of Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat who served in the US Congress for more than three decades, calling him "a true giant of the omogeneia (diaspora) and the nation."

Politicians from Poland's governing coalition have fallen back on the typical anti-German tropes to justify the veto.

Paul Sarbanes, a longtime US senator from Maryland who championed the enforcement of an arms embargo against Turkey after the 1974 invasion of Cyprus, has died at the age of 87.

His death was announced by his son, US Representative John Sarbanes. 

"My father, Senator Paul S. Sarbanes, passed away peacefully this evening in Baltimore," his son's statement said.

The US embassy in Moldova reacted angrily on Thursday after the Moldovan parliament cancelled the sale of the former Republican Stadium in Chisinau intended for a new US embassy.

New Zealand has declared a climate change emergency and committed to a carbon-neutral government by 2025, in what the prime minister Jacinda Ardern called "one of the greatest challenges of our time".

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener has said they are in favor of continuing the Nation Alliance, noting the rumors about the government aiming to make changes in the electoral system.

The Ministry of Environment submitted a new multi-bill to Parliament this week that seeks to regulate construction, especially in areas outside urban zones, and which reportedly includes several radical changes and amendments to pre-existing legislation.

US Senator Chris Van Hollen has told Kathimerini that a Biden-led administration will help restore damaged transatlantic ties, adding that Athens and Nicosia should expect a stricter attitude toward Ankara.

Here are the full quotes by Van Hollen, who served as a member of the House of Representatives for 14 years before being elected senator in 2016.

Presidential High Advisory Board member and former Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç resigned on Nov. 24 after his division with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the imprisonment of jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala and former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş.

Two US Senators and two members of Congress have urged US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to pressure Turkey into calling off its drilling plans in the eastern Mediterranean.