Month: July 2020

European Union leaders reached an agreement early Tuesday on a $2.1 trillion budget and coronavirus relief package.    The agreement includes $857 billion in coronavirus funding that will be issued as loans and grants to the hardest-hit countries. It came after negotiations stretched on for four days and nights, well beyond what was expected.  A main sticking point was a …

Read more “EU Leaders Reach Budget, Coronavirus Relief Deal”

Poland’s justice minister says it would be unacceptable for the European Union to force the conservative country to legalize gay marriage so it can get EU financial aid. “There is a real risk that we may find ourselves in a situation where the EC (European Commission) will effectively force us to introduce the so-called homosexual marriages with …

Read more “Polish Justice Minister: ‘Unacceptable’ for EU to Force Poland to Embrace Gay Marriage”

The United States on Monday slapped sanctions on the regional strongman leader of Russia’s republic of Chechnya over human rights violations including torture and extrajudicial killings. Ramzan Kadyrov, 43, has run Chechnya like his personal fiefdom, relying on his security forces to quash dissent. International human rights groups have accused Kadyrov and his lieutenants of abductions, …

Read more “US Slaps Sanctions on Strongman Ruler of Russia’s Chechnya “

Britain’s government suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong on Monday and blocked arms sales to the former British territory, after China imposed a tough new national security law. As tensions grow with Beijing, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he had concerns about the new law and about alleged human rights abuses in China in …

Read more “UK Suspends Extradition Arrangements With Hong Kong”

Police and security officials in Frankfurt, Germany, announced Monday they have banned late gatherings in that city’s opera square after a party there turned violent over the weekend, resulting in 39 arrests.The square – known locally as the “Opernplatz” – had become a popular gathering place for what locals called “corona parties” as German clubs …

Read more “Frankfurt Security Officials Ban Parties After Saturday Riot”

Amber Heard began giving testimony at Britain’s High Court on Monday against ex-husband Johnny Depp, who she has accused of abusing her both physically and verbally during their tempestuous relationship. Depp, 57, is suing News Group Newspapers, publisher of the Sun, and the paper’s executive editor, Dan Wootton, at the court in London over an …

Read more “Amber Heard Accuses Johnny Depp of Abuse During Relationship”

European Union leaders took a break Monday morning on their fourth day of talks aimed at agreeing on a $2 trillion budget and funding to help member states cope with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The negotiations, which were originally meant to run only through Saturday, were due to resume Monday afternoon. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the leaders were …

Read more “EU Leaders in Extended Talks to Find Agreement on Financial Package”

Canada’s Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the flight data recorders from a Ukrainian passenger plane downed by an Iranian missile are in Paris where they are expected to be taken to France’s Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authority for analysis Monday. Champagne said on Twitter that officials from Canada’s Transportation Safety Board will be present for the investigation. Most of the 176 …

Read more “Downed Ukrainian Airline’s Flight Data Recorders in France for Analysis”

Britain and China issued new salvos of criticism against each other Sunday, with the U.K. foreign secretary hinting that he may suspend the U.K.’s extradition arrangements with Hong Kong over China’s moves against the city-state.     Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also accused Beijing of “gross and egregious” human rights abuses against its Uighur population …

Read more “UK Ratchets Up Criticism of China Over Uighurs, Hong Kong”

The coronavirus outbreak in Florida grew more dire Sunday as nearly 50 hospitals throughout the state say they have no available beds in their intensive care units. The state is not only the COVID epicenter in the United States, it is one of the world’s hot spots, with more than 12,000 new cases reported Sunday – the fifth straight day that number exceeded 10,000. Miami …

Read more “No Available Beds in 50 Florida Hospital ICU Units”

Turkey has suspended flights to Iran and Afghanistan as part of measures against the coronavirus outbreak, the Transport Ministry said on Sunday.   Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that 25 million people may have been infected with the coronavirus in Iran, although health officials later sought to play down the estimate.   Turkish Airlines had gradually restarted …

Read more “Turkey Suspends Flights to Iran, Afghanistan Due to Coronavirus Outbreak “

Authorities in Catalonia on Sunday urged more than 96,000 people in three towns to stay at home, as coronavirus cases continued to rise in one of Spain’s worst-hit regions.This is in addition to some four million people in the region, including in its capital Barcelona, that were on Friday urged to stay at home as …

Read more “Catalonia Urges Thousands of People to Stay Home as Coronavirus Cases Rise “

For all its ancient glory, marvelous monuments and historic core, Athens is largely an ugly, 20th-century metropolis that grew rapidly and lawlessly in recent decades. Its population has tripled and the fleet of cars on its streets has surged to over 2 million, or about 20 times more than the tiny European capital’s roads can …

Read more “COVID-19 Creates Leg Room for Greece’s Congested Capital”