Spain’s government declared a state of emergency in Madrid Friday, taking control of efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 from local authorities after a regional court struck down restrictions as the region faces one of the most significant outbreaks in Europe. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government took the step at a special cabinet …
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The effort to unseat autocratic Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko may be heading for a new phase. Belarusian activists, impressed by the success of protests in Kyrgyzstan, where protesters managed to pull off a “revolution in one day,” are now debating whether to copy the Kyrgyz tactics and storm key government buildings in Minsk. …
Read more “Rapid Change in Kyrgyzstan May Escalate Belarusian Protest Tactics”
The World Food Program (WFP) has won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat the threat of hunger.Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairperson of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the WFP was awarded the prize “for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting …
Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to participate in Moscow-mediated talks to end the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry said Friday. As deadly clashes over the breakaway Azerbaijani region continued overnight Thursday, foreign ministers of both countries accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to meet for the first negotiations since fighting erupted Sept. 27.”Baku and Yerevan have confirmed their participation,” AFP quoted Russian ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying. The preparations were underway, she said.Armenia and AzerbaijanThe Kremlin said in …
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As U.S., French, and Russian officials hold mediation talks in Geneva, fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh region continues, with thousands of people fleeing into both Armenia and Azerbaijan. While families say they are exhausted from the battles that span more than 30 years, they also say only victory for their side will truly end the conflict. …
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Turkey’s backing of Azerbaijan in the conflict with Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave is coming under increasing scrutiny. Despite international pressure, Turkey is rejecting calls to back an unconditional cease-fire, as Ankara steps up its support of Azerbaijan’s military goals. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.Producers: Berke Bas, Rod James. Videographers: Berke Bas, agencies. …
Britain and Ukraine have signed a bilateral agreement to support Kyiv’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s “malign influence,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office says. The U.K.-Ukraine Political, Free Trade, and Strategic Partnership Agreement was signed Thursday, the second day of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to Britain.The deal “lays the foundation …
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America’s allies in Europe are watching closely as the U.S. presidential election enters its final leg. Transatlantic relations have at times been strained under President Trump, and some key European allies hope for a return to more stability under a Joe Biden presidency. But some other NATO members have welcomed Donald Trump’s demands for Europe to pull its weight. Henry Ridgwell reports …
Read more “With Relations Strained at Times, NATO Allies Closely Watch US Election”
Germany’s health officials said Thursday new COVID-19 cases are spreading at the fastest rate since April.Health Minister Jens Spahn joined Robert Kock Institute for Disease Control President Lothar Wieler at a news conference in Berlin, where they said the number of new cases of the coronavirus has been rising steadily in Germany since early September. …
America’s allies in Europe are watching closely as the U.S. presidential election enters its final leg.Transatlantic relations have at times been strained since U.S. President Donald Trump took office, and analysts say some European capitals hope for a return to more stability under a Joe Biden presidency.Other European NATO allies have welcomed Trump’s demands for …
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After a surge in COVID-19 cases over two weeks, Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Wednesday announced new restrictions for the country, including the closing of all pubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh and a 16-day nationwide ban on indoor alcohol consumption beginning Friday.The number of COVID-19 cases in Scotland has been accelerating since mid-September, with 1,054 …
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Turkey’s bid to become a member of the European Union appears to be in jeopardy after the bloc’s executive branch on Tuesday said it is displeased by what it called Ankara’s failures to sustain democracy and fight corruption. In its annual report on the country, the European Commission cited too much political power in the hands …
Experts from a global chemical weapons watchdog confirmed Tuesday that the substance used to poison Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was from the banned Soviet-style Novichok family of potent nerve agents. The Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, his wife, Yulia, and son, Zahar, pose for a picture in Berlin, in this undated image obtained from social …
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Germany’s Interior Ministry Tuesday released a new report showing that right-wing extremism is not a systemic problem among the nation’s security forces. At a Berlin news conference, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told reporters the study, conducted by Germany’s domestic security agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, BfV, indicated less than one percent …
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Since anti-government protests began in Belarus, the number of people who have been the victims of retaliation for publicly coming out against the government of longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko is uncountable. Activists say the repression is taking many forms: Some protesters have suffered physical attacks while others have lost their jobs – they say – in retribution. Ricardo Marquina has more from Minsk in this report narrated by Jonathan Spier. …
Europe is under growing pressure to offer a more robust response to Russia, following the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Siberia in August. German doctors say he was poisoned with Novichok, a Russian nerve agent. Navalny was flown to Germany for treatment and emerged from a coma in September. Doctors say he …
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Three scientists have won this year’s Nobel Prize in physics for their discoveries related to black holes. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Tuesday it gave half the $1.1 million prize to Roger Penrose of Britain for using math to prove that black holes are a “direct consequence of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.” Germany’s …
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Peaceful, pro-democracy protests are continuing in Belarus following a contested election on Aug. 9, when incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory for a sixth consecutive time. In recent days, as protesters marched through Belarusian cities demanding new elections, U.S. lawmakers passed — for the fourth time in the last 16 years — an expanded version of the Belarus Democracy Act, a …
British rock band Led Zeppelin on Monday effectively won a long-running legal battle over claims it stole the opening guitar riff from its signature 1971 song Stairway to Heaven. The band, one of the best-selling rock acts of all time, was handed victory after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case, meaning that …
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The World Health Organization says roughly one in 10 people around the world may have been infected with the coronavirus. The head of the health emergencies program at the World Health Organization, Michael Ryan, said Monday that the agency’s “best estimates” indicate 10 percent of the world’s population could have contracted the virus. That estimate, …
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday there would be “tough times ahead” for businesses, as another international company announced it was suspending operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Johnson spoke with reporters as it was announced that Cineworld will temporarily close 127 theaters in Britain and 536 theaters in its U.S. Regal movie theater chain …
Read more “Britain’s Johnson Says ‘Tough Times Ahead’ for Business as Pandemic Takes Toll”
Germany’s foreign minister met with the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Monday to discuss the future relations of the 27-member group with Britain after a transition period ends on December 31, 2020. After several delays, the British Parliament finally ratified the withdrawal agreement and Britain left the EU on January 31, 2019. Standing alongside Michel …
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Seven bodies were found in a region straddling the French-Italian border near Nice on Sunday after torrential rains swept houses and roads away, officials in both countries said.Five of the bodies were discovered in northwestern Italy, including four washed up on the shore between the towns of Ventimiglia and Santo Stefano al Mare, near the …
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Police in Minsk, Belarus used water cannon to disperse crowds as protests against President Alexander Lukashenko continued for the ninth straight Sunday. An estimated 100,000 people took to the streets of the capital Sunday.Since the longtime president claimed victory in a contested election August 9, protesters have regularly taken to the streets demanding his resignation …
Read more “Thousands Take to Streets of Minsk in Ongoing Protests”