Thousands of people have poured into the Armenian capital’s main square as the opposition continues its campaign to pressure Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to quit over last month’s cease-fire deal with Azerbaijan. The protesters gathered in Republic Square on December 22 and chanted slogans such as, “Nikol, traitor” as riot police guarded the prime …
Read more “Thousands Rally in Armenia Demanding PM’s Resignation”
Over 40 countries have imposed travel bans on people arriving from Britain, after the government announced last week it had detected a new, more contagious strain of the coronavirus. As Henry Ridgwell report from London, the restrictions have caused major disruption as Britain struggles to contain its latest outbreak.Camera: Henry Ridgwell Producer: Henry Ridgwell …
The head of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute, the country’s national public health organization, says it is likely the variant of the coronavirus recently identified in Britain has already made its way to Germany.Speaking to reporters Tuesday in Berlin, Lothar Wieler said that while he has not heard of any actual case in Germany, he said …
Read more “German Health Official Suggests New Coronavirus Strain Already in the Country”
FIFA has filed a criminal complaint against former president Sepp Blatter over the finances of its loss-making soccer museum in Zurich. Soccer’s governing body said on Tuesday it suspected “criminal mismanagement by FIFA’s former management and companies appointed by them” to work on the museum — long seen as a pet project of Blatter’s — in a renovated …
Read more “FIFA Files Criminal Complaint Against Blatter Over Museum “
U.S. officials are considering a requirement for all travelers from Britain to offer proof they have tested negative for COVID-19.News outlets say the White House coronavirus task force met Monday and discussed crafting a rule that passengers prove they have taken a negative test within 48 or 72 hours before leaving Britain.The proposed rule comes …
Read more “US Considers Requiring Travelers from Britain to Prove They Tested Negative for COVID-19”
EU and British trade talks inched onward under renewed pressure Monday as transport chaos triggered by the emergence of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus in Britain overshadowed efforts to reach a Brexit deal. Only 10 days are left until January 1, when Britain will leave the EU single market and customs union. Hopes of …
Read more “Brexit Talks Flirt With Failure as Latest Deadline Blown”
Over 40 countries have imposed travel bans on people arriving from Britain, after the government announced last week it had detected a new, more contagious strain of the coronavirus. As Henry Ridgwell reports from London, the restrictions have caused major disruption as Britain struggles to contain its latest outbreak.Camera: Henry Ridgwell …
Britain became more isolated Monday as additional countries imposed bans on British commercial airline flights, automobile journeys and cross-Channel trains and freight because of rising international alarm over a more infectious coronavirus strain that has flared in London and southern England.Countries imposing travel bans include France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, India …
Read more “Britain Holds Urgent Talks With France to Lift Coronavirus Blockade”
Relations between Israel and Turkey could be on the verge of a breakthrough, with a Turkish presidential adviser confirming bilateral talks and that full diplomatic relations could be restored by March. Relations between the once close allies all but collapsed with Turkey withdrawing its ambassador in 2017, amid escalating tensions.FILE – Mesut Casin, a foreign …
Read more “Turkey Poised for Reset in Relations With Israel”
The remaining signatories of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal Monday expressed “their readiness to positively address” the potential return of the United States to the agreement. President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2018, arguing it unfairly favored Iran. But President-elect Joe Biden, who was part of the U.S. …
Read more “Iran Nuclear Deal Parties Ready to Address Potential US Return”
A German court has handed a life sentence to a convicted right-wing extremist for an attack on a synagogue last year in the city of Halle. On October 9, 2019, Stephan Balliet, 28, killed two people after he failed to enter the synagogue where worshippers were celebrating Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day. A …
Read more “German Court Hands Life Sentence to Extremist Over Synagogue Attack”
A German court is to hand down its verdict Monday on a deadly far-right attack in Halle last year that nearly became the country’s worst anti-Semitic atrocity since World War II.A bolted door at the eastern city’s synagogue with 52 worshippers inside marking Yad Vashem, the holiest day of the Jewish year, was the only …
Read more “German Verdict Due in Deadly Anti-Semitic Rampage”
A free trade agreement reached this month would help Vietnam revamp its massive manufacturing sector after the coronavirus pandemic and solidify the global outreach of its deal partner, the United Kingdom, after its looming departure from the European Union, experts believe.The two countries finished negotiations December 11 on a two-way free trade deal that would …
MOSTAR, BOSNIA — Preliminary results from the first local election in 12 years in the Bosnian town of Mostar on Sunday showed most votes going to the Croat and Bosniak parties whose rivalry had left the ethnically divided town without a city council. The coalition of multiethnic moderate parties BH Bloc won enough votes …
Read more “In Bosnia’s Mostar, Ethnic Parties Win First Local Vote in 12 Years”
The German government has brought home three women and 12 children from refugee camps that hold families of Islamic State (IS) fighters in northeastern Syria.Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a press release Sunday that he was “relieved” that the German nationals were repatriated in an operation carried out Saturday in cooperation with Finland.“The repatriation …
Read more “Germany Repatriates Three IS Women, 12 Children From Syria ”
A Belarusian human rights group says security forces have detained dozens of people during protests calling on strongman Alexander Lukashenko to step down. The Vyasna rights group said on December 20 that at least 42 people had been detained in the capital, Minsk, and the cities of Barysau, Homel, Hrodna, and Salihorsk. Marches …
Read more “Dozens of Anti-Lukashenko Demonstrators Detained in Belarus “
Deep into a crucial weekend of negotiations, a breakthrough on fishing rights remained elusive for the European Union and Britain, leaving both without a trade agreement that would dull the edge of a chaotic, costly economic break on New Year’s Day. With hundreds of thousands of jobs at stake throughout the economy, the tiny sector of …
Read more “EU-UK Trade Talks Floundering over Fish as Cutoff Day Nears “
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said early Sunday there are 76.3 million global COVID-19 cases.The U.S. continues to lead the world in case numbers at 17.6 million, followed by India with 10 million and Brazil with 7.2 million.U.S. lawmakers are expected to vote Sunday on a nearly $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package. The package …
Read more “British Prime Minister: ‘We Can’t Continue with Christmas as Planned’”
U.S. President Donald Trump is downplaying the severity of a massive cybersecurity breach by suspected Russian operatives that has exposed the networks of government agencies and private sector companies, contradicting the assertions of his secretary of state and lawmakers briefed on the matter.After days of silence, Trump took to Twitter on Saturday for his first …
British and EU negotiators have dug in their heels and each is demanding more concessions from the other as post-Brexit trade talks dragged on into Sunday, deadlocked on fishing rights.Sources from each side said that unless the other backed down on access to U.K. waters, Britain would leave the single market at midnight December 31 …
Read more “EU, UK Each Demand Concessions as Post-Brexit Talks Stall”
A report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council criticizes Ukraine’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and warns that the Russian-backed conflict in eastern Ukraine threatens efforts to curb the pandemic. The report, which assesses the impact of COVID-19 on human rights in Ukraine, covers the period from February 20 to December 6. Issued Friday, it …
Read more “UN Report: Ukrainian Measures to Slow COVID-19 Are Inadequate”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed new coronavirus lockdown measures in England Saturday, reversing initial plans to ease restrictions during the holiday season after a new strain of the coronavirus was detected in the country. “I know how much emotion people invest in this time of year …I know how disappointing this will be,” Johnson said …
Read more “Britain Imposes Tougher Coronavirus Lockdown Measures”
British scientists were scrambling Saturday to work out whether a mutant strain of the coronavirus, which has been spreading rapidly in England this month, may be resistant to the crop of newly developed vaccines.The strain was first identified on December 13 in the county of Kent in southern England, and initial analysis by government scientists …
Read more “Britain Sounds Alarm About Mutant Coronavirus Strain”
Irma Baralija is looking forward to Sunday, when she intends to vote and hopes win her race in the first local election in 12 years held in her hometown — the southern Bosnian city of Mostar.To make that possible, the 36-year-old Baralija had to sue her country in the European Court of Human Rights for …
Read more “Bosnian City of Mostar to Hold First Local Election in 12 Years”