Social distancing is not usually part of the ballroom dancing lexicon. But in an industrial zone on the outskirts of Rome, couples of every age twirl and turn across the dance floor, even through a pandemic, just as ballroom dancers have done for decades around the world. While much of Italy is in a coronavirus lockdown, with live music and theatrical performances barred, …
Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov may have difficulty holding on to power after a surge of votes in an election Sunday for anti-establishment and anti-corruption parties that want him out.Exit polls forecast his center-right GERB party to remain the largest party in parliament, but with around 25% of the vote, compared with the 33.5% it …
Read more “Protest Parties Surge in Bulgaria Election, Threatening Prime Minister Borissov”
Kosovo’s parliament has appointed a 38-year-old U.S.-educated female law professor and candidate of the ruling Vetevendosje party as the country’s new president, following an election in February.Vjosa Osmani took over as acting president of Kosovo last November when her predecessor, Hashim Thaci, resigned ahead of his impending war crimes trial in the Netherlands.Osmani’s initial mandate …
Read more “Kosovo Parliament Elects Vjosa Osmani as National President”
British police said Sunday that 107 people were arrested in London during demonstrations against government plans to increase police powers. Thousands marched in towns and cities across the country on Saturday to protest the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, defying coronavirus restrictions. Police said the “Kill the Bill” protests were mostly peaceful and most of those …
Read more “UK Arrests Over 100 in Protests Against Policing Bill “
A Swiss startup is looking to boost confidence in the safety of air travel amid the coronavirus pandemic, by using decades-old technology. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi shines light on this story. …
Pope Francis celebrated a second Easter as the coronavirus pandemic shows no signs of easing in Italy and has again forced a nationwide lockdown. The pope urged access to care and to vaccines for everyone, especially in low-income countries. He also decried “too many wars” that are still raging in the world. Pope Francis celebrated …
Read more “Pope Francis Calls for Access to Care and Vaccines for All “
Bulgarians began voting in a parliamentary election on Sunday that will decide whether long-serving Prime Minister Boyko Borissov wins a new four-year mandate despite persistent concerns about corruption in the European Union’s poorest member state. Opinion polls suggest Borissov’s center-right GERB will again be the largest party, with 28-29% of the vote, but will fall short …
Kosovo’s parliament failed to confirm a new president Saturday, despite backing from the reformist camp that swept this year’s elections, with politicians resuming the vote Sunday after a night of deadlock.Albin Kurti and his leftist movement Vetevendosje claimed more than 50% of February’s vote, promising to eradicate corruption in the poor nation that has been …
Russian troops have been clearing an area of around 500 hectares of unexploded ordnance, or UXO, in Laos’ Xieng Khouang province with plans to build a new airport and military facility as part of an expansion of military aid to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, according to Lao officials.A Russian demining team has been working …
Millions of Christians around the world are celebrating Easter Sunday in unusual circumstances again this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there are fewer restrictions than the last year in some countries.In the United States, as more than 100 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, churches in some states …
Read more “Christians Celebrate Easter in Unusual Circumstances Again This Year”
Pope Francis, leading an Easter vigil service scaled back because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Saturday that he hoped the dark times of the pandemic would end and that people could rediscover “the grace of everyday life.”This year is the second consecutive Easter that all papal services are being attended by about 200 people in …
Read more “Pope, at Easter Vigil, Hopes for Post-pandemic Rebirth “
Cars were set alight and masked people pelted a police van with petrol bombs Saturday, the second straight evening of disorder in pro-British parts of Northern Ireland amid rising post-Brexit tensions in the region.Many pro-British unionists fiercely oppose the new trade barriers introduced between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom as part …
Read more “Unrest Breaks Out in Northern Ireland for Second Straight Night “
Thousands of demonstrators joined rallies across Britain on Saturday against a proposed law that would give police extra powers to curb protests, with some scuffles breaking out following a march in London.The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill aims to toughen measures officers can take to disperse demonstrations, such as imposing time and noise limits, …
Read more “Scuffles Erupt in London as Thousands Join ‘Kill the Bill’ Rallies Across Britain”
As Italy struggles with a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, the government announced a new nationwide lockdown across the country for the Easter holiday weekend. The measures come as the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, officiated at the Way of the Cross procession in a nearly empty Saint Peter’s Square Friday, ahead of …
Read more “Vatican Readies for Easter, Again With No Crowds”
Once-warm relations between the European Union and China have taken a sharp turn for the worse, punctuated by a series of tit-for-tat sanctions imposed by Beijing and Brussels.Only three months after China and the EU struck a landmark economic treaty, the 27 foreign affairs ministers of the EU announced sanctions last week against officials involved …
Workers in Brussels were cleaning up the city’s Bois de la Cambre park early Friday after an April Fools’ Day prank brought thousands of young people there Thursday amid a COVID-19 lockdown, leading to clashes with police.A social media posting last month advertising “La Boum” (The Party) for Thursday, April 1, promising a concert was …
Read more “Police in Brussels Clash With April Fools Partiers”
Iran and the United States said on Friday they would hold indirect talks in Vienna from Tuesday as part of broader negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and global powers.Tehran has ruled out face-to-face bilateral discussions, but the presence of both Iran and the United States in the Austrian capital – welcomed …
Read more “US, Iran Head to Vienna for Indirect Nuclear Deal Talks”
After a week or more of temperatures from Britain to eastern Europe running as much as 20 degrees above average, forecasters are saying the region will be plunged into record cold next week with a likelihood of snow in some areas. Meteorologists say a strong high pressure system remained over much of Europe the last half …
Read more “After Week of Record Warmth, Europe Temperatures to Nosedive”
President Joe Biden Friday expressed strong U.S. support Friday for Ukraine in a call with the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the White House said. “President Biden affirmed the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression in the Donbass [sic] and Crimea,” the statement said. …
Read more “Biden Affirms US ‘Unwavering Support’ for Ukraine in Call”
ABOARD THE MSC GRANDIOSA — Italy may be in a strict coronavirus lockdown this Easter with travel restricted between regions and new quarantines imposed. But a few miles offshore, guests aboard the MSC Grandiosa cruise ship are shimmying to Latin music on deck and sipping cocktails by the pool.In one of the anomalies of lockdowns …
Read more “Italy May Be in Easter Lockdown, But the Party’s On at Sea”
Christians in the Holy Land are marking Good Friday this year amid signs the coronavirus crisis is winding down, with religious sites open to limited numbers of faithful but none of the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the Holy Week leading up to Easter.The virus is still raging in the Philippines, France, Brazil and other …
Read more “Christians Mark Good Friday Amid Lingering Virus Woes”
Caretaker Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte fought for his political life Thursday in a bitter parliamentary debate about the country’s derailed process of forming a new ruling coalition following an election last month.Rutte’s conservative party, known by its Dutch acronym VVD, won the most seats in parliament in the vote, putting him in line to …
Read more “Dutch Prime Minister Fights for Political Life in Tough Debate”
Russia’s espionage agencies are redoubling efforts to penetrate NATO, Western intelligence officials say, and are focusing on recruiting moles in the defense ministries of the pact’s member states.Italy expelled two Russian diplomats this week after they were caught in a parking lot in Rome handing cash to an Italian naval captain in exchange for sensitive …
Read more “Russian Spies Augment Effort to Grab NATO Secrets, Say Western Officials “
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday accused Moscow of building up troops on his country’s border as the United States warned Russia against “intimidating” Ukraine.Kyiv has been locked in a conflict with Russian-backed separatists since 2014, and this week Ukrainian officials reported Russian troop movement in annexed Crimea and on the border, near territories controlled …
Read more “Ukraine: Russia Massing Troops on Border; US Warns Moscow”