Month: October 2020

A trio of space travelers has launched successfully to the International Space Station, for the first time using a fast-track maneuver to reach the orbiting outpost in just three hours. NASA’s Kate Rubins along with Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos lifted off as scheduled Wednesday morning from the Russia-leased Baikonur space launch …

Read more “Russian-US Crew Launches on Fast Track to the Space Station”

Saudi Arabia failed in its bid to win a seat on the controversial U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday, but other nations with abysmal rights records, including China and Russia, made it on to the 47-nation body.   “Today is a black day for human rights,” Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch, a Geneva-based rights …

Read more “Saudis Lose Bid for Seat on UN Human Rights Council”

Britain’s opposition Labor Party Leader Keir Starmer on Tuesday called on the government to implement a three-week temporary nationwide “circuit breaker” lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19 throughout Britain.Starmer made the proposal in a speech in London, one day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced his three-tiered regional alert plan designed to simplify and …

Read more “British Opposition Leader Calls for Three-week ‘Circuit Breaker’ Lockdown”

Turkish drones are playing a big role in supporting Azerbaijan’s offensive in Nagorno Karabakh. With Turkey deploying them from Syria to Libya, they have become an integral part of Ankara’s efforts to project its power beyond its borders. But as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the Turkish drone industry is facing international pushback. …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told European Union (EU) members that a Brexit trade deal with Britain is “in the interest of all,” but added that they must be prepared in case an agreement is not reached.Merkel made the comment Tuesday as she addressed a meeting of the EU committee of regions via video link. She …

Read more “Germany’s Merkel: Brexit Trade Deal in Everyone’s Interest”

As France helps spearhead diplomatic efforts to end the latest clashes over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the country’s Armenian diaspora along with leading French politicians are calling on Paris to abandon neutrality and side with Armenia. The uptick in violence is also increasing tensions between France and Turkey — as Lisa Bryant reports for …

Read more “In France, Calls Grow for Paris to Back Armenia”

Fighting between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan is now in its third week — and has killed and injured hundreds in Europe’s south Caucasus region. But as Charles Maynes reports from Moscow, the conflict is also testing Russia’s traditional influence over the region.Producer:  Ricardo Marquina …

Turkish police detained dozens of people on Tuesday in a search for 167 suspects, many of them active duty soldiers, in a move against supporters of a Muslim preacher the government accuses of organizing a failed coup in 2016, state media reported.   The detentions were the latest in a four-year-old crackdown targeting the network of U.S.-based …

Read more “Media: Turkey Issues Detention Warrants for 167 Over Suspected Gulen Links”

Belarus’ government says police will now be permitted to use firearms against protesters “if need be” as demonstrations demanding the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko continued Monday.The Interior Ministry said in a statement Monday that the rallies “have become organized and extremely radical.””In this regard, the Interior Ministry’s employees and internal troops will not leave …

Read more “Belarus Allows Police to Use Firearms Against Protesters”

NGHE AN, Vietnam – Le Minh Tuan has curled up in the bed of his deceased son every night since the young man suffocated in a truck in Britain alongside dozens of other Vietnamese migrants one year ago. Four men are on trial in London over the deaths of the 39 Vietnamese men and women, facing various …

Read more “‘I Don’t Blame Anyone’: Vietnam Truck Tragedy Families Speak Out One Year On”

An independent commission reported Monday that authorities in the Austrian Alpine region of Tyrol acted too slowly to shut down ski resorts in March after they were warned about COVID-19, particularly in the resort town of Ischgl, the scene of what was one of the earliest outbreaks in Europe. The commission, appointed by the Tyrolean regional …

Read more “Austria’s Tyrol COVID-19 Commission Faults Resort Town for Ignoring Warnings”

French Prime Minister Jean Castex warned Monday that France could impose further restrictions — including a lockdown — as the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, and the situation in hospitals is deteriorating there.In an interview with news broadcaster France Info on Monday, Castex said the country was facing a “strong” second wave of new infections and …

Read more “France Says Further Restrictions Possible If Coronavirus Surge Continues”

Hundreds of people in northwest Poland have been evacuated for a few days to allow Navy sappers to neutralize a British World War II giant Tallboy bomb resting under a waterway leading to the port of Szczecin. The 5.4 ton bomb was found in Sept. 2019 during work to deepen the waterway. It’s located on …

Read more “Poland Evacuates 750 people as WWII Tallboy Bomb is Defused”

Britain’s Boris Johnson sees himself and Donald Trump as kindred spirits. The British leader, who has taken as much delight as the U.S. President in upending political norms and establishment conventions, had been banking on securing a transatlantic trade deal early in a second Trump term. Trump, too, has praised Johnson, dubbing him “Britain Trump.”  But …

Read more “Will Britain’s Brexit Chickens Come Home to Roost? “

Dozens of protesters in Belarus were arrested Sunday during the 10th straight weekend of demonstrations against longtime authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.Since the president claimed victory in a disputed August 9 election, protesters have regularly taken to the streets demanding his resignation and the release of political prisoners.Belarus Protesters Face Physical, Social Repression Activists say those …

Read more “Dozens Arrested on 10th Straight Sunday of Belarus Protests”

Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal has won his record-extending 13th French Open title, defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-0,6-2,7-5 on Sunday.With the win at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, the Spaniard notched his 20th Grand Slam title, moving into a tie with Swiss tennis great Roger Federer for most men’s major titles ever.Nadal dominated …

Read more “Nadal Wins French Open, Captures 20th Grand Slam Title”

Millions of people in northern England are anxiously waiting to hear how much further virus restrictions will be tightened as one of the British government’s leading medical advisers warned Sunday that the country is at a crucial juncture in the second wave of the coronavirus. England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said the U.K. …

Read more “UK at ‘Tipping Point’: England Braces for More Restrictions “

About 40 unidentified people armed with metal bars and using fireworks as projectiles tried to storm a police station in the Paris suburbs on Saturday night, officials said.   “Violent attack last night on the police station of Champigny with mortar shots and various projectiles. No police officer was injured,” the Paris police headquarters said on Twitter …

Read more “Dozens Stage Attack on Police Station in Paris Suburb “

The world marks the International Day of the Girl Child on Sunday, during a year in which a global pandemic and subsequent economic downturn has created further challenges for girls.The United Nations, which created the day in 2011 to promote girls’ rights, says difficulties already faced by girls have been exacerbated by the coronavirus health …

Read more “Pandemic Worsens Challenges Faced by Girls Globally”

Lithuanians will be encouraged to bring their own pens to minimize infection risk at Sunday’s parliamentary election, which is seen as a vote of confidence on Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis’ handling of the coronavirus crisis.The centrist Farmers and Greens party, an agrarian grouping that leads Skvernelis’ ruling coalition, is neck-and-neck in opinion polls with the …

Read more “Bring Your Own Pen: Lithuania Votes Amid Pandemic”

“It will end with our victory,” said a soldier, grinning in red-rimmed sunglasses near a telecom company in Stepanakert, the regional capital of Nagorno-Karabakh.One journalist laughed and said, “I like your glasses.”Two days earlier, a cluster bomb smashed out nearby ATMs, burned out parked cars and left curious pink ribbons near blast holes in the …

Read more “Underground Life in the Battle for Nagorno-Karabakh”

Belarus’ authoritarian president on Saturday visited a prison to talk to opposition activists who have been jailed for challenging his reelection, which was widely seen as having been manipulated and triggered two months of protests.President Alexander Lukashenko spent more than four hours talking to his jailed political foes at the Minsk prison that belongs to …

Read more “Belarus’ Authoritarian Leader Visits Foes in Prison”

A cease-fire between Armenian and Azerbaijani went into effect Saturday at noon local time (0800 UTC), at least temporarily halting deadly hostilities over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, which each country claims.Official sources on both sides accused each other of firing missiles and rockets on civilian areas on Saturday, in the hours before the cease-fire.Armenia and …

Read more “Nagorno- Karabakh Cease-Fire Takes Effect”

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a cease-fire in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region beginning at noon Saturday.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made the announcement in Moscow in the early hours Saturday after mediating 10 hours of talks between the two sides.The agreement stated the truce would allow both sides to exchange prisoners and recover the …

Read more “Armenia and Azerbaijan Agree to Cease-Fire in Nagorno-Karabakh”