England’s defeat on penalty kicks in the final of the European soccer cup caused a barrage of online racist attacks against Black players who missed goals in the shootout. The Euro 2020 soccer final between Italy and England played at Wembley stadium Sunday night was nerve-racking for fans of both teams. Italians were very concerned when …
Read more “Racist Attacks on England’s Black Soccer Players Condemned “
The World Health Organization reported Monday that COVID-19 cases rose globally for the fourth consecutive week and that the number of deaths rose after 10 weeks of declines — driven by the highly contagious delta variant, which was first detected in India. The delta variant has now been reported in more than 104 …
Read more “Global COVID Cases Up for 4th Consecutive Week, WHO Says”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned racist social media attacks against Black players on Britain’s soccer team following its 3-2 loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 championship Sunday. After the Italy and Britain remained 1-1 following regulation and extra time play, the teams were forced into a penalty shoot-out to decide the game. Black …
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European vacationers had hoped this year’s northern hemisphere summer would see unhindered movement and be largely free of travel restrictions, but countries across southern Europe are now scrambling to re-impose pandemic curbs amid alarm at rising cases of the delta variant, a highly contagious coronavirus strain first detected in India. Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus …
Read more “EU Countries Begin Tightening Entry Rules Again “
Europe’s soccer champions returned home at dawn Monday to the ecstatic cheers of Italians who spent the better part of the night honking horns, setting off fireworks and violating all sorts of coronavirus precautions to celebrate their team’s 3-2 penalty shootout win over England at Wembley. Captain Giorgio Chiellini, his fist pumping the air, …
Read more “Italy Erupts as Europe’s Soccer Champions Come Home to Rome”
Italians celebrated the European Championship soccer title as a new beginning not only for their youthful national team but for a country that’s been yearning to return to normalcy after being hit hard and long by the coronavirus pandemic. A cacophony of honking cars, fireworks and singing fans filled the night in Rome as thousands of people took to the …
Read more “Italy Explodes in Joy After Winning European Soccer Title”
Several thousand people protested Sunday evening in front of the Georgian parliament, demanding that the ex-Soviet nation’s prime minister resign over the death of a journalist who was attacked and beaten by anti-LGBT protesters. Cameraman Alexander Lashkarava was found dead in his home by his mother earlier Sunday, according to the TV Pirveli channel he …
Read more “Protests Erupt in Georgia After Beaten Journalist Dies”
Italian soccer’s redemption story is complete. England’s painful half-century wait for a major title goes on.And it just had to be because of a penalty shootout.Italy won the European Championship for the second time by beating England 3-2 on penalties on Sunday. The match finished 1-1 after extra time.Gianluigi Donnarumma dived to his left and …
Read more “Italy Wins Euro 2020, Beats England in Penalty Shootout”
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic has won his record-tying 20th Grand Slam title, defeating Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-7,6-4,6-4,6-3 in the men’s Wimbledon final Sunday. With the win, the top-ranked Djokovic joins his rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with 20 major championships. Sunday’s win was Djovovic’s sixth Wimbledon title overall and his third straight championship on …
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is condemning pervasive arbitrary detention and torture by both government and Russian-backed separatists in the seven-year eastern Ukraine conflict. The condemnation comes in a report submitted Friday to the U.N. Human Rights Council.The analysis by the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine finds …
Read more “UN Report: Human Rights Violations Permeate Conflict in Eastern Ukraine “
Pope Francis on Sunday made his first public appearance since major intestinal surgery last week, greeting well-wishers as he stood for 10 minutes on a hospital balcony, offering hearty thanks for all the prayers for his recovery and calling health care for all a “precious” good. Francis, 84, has been steadily on the mend, according to …
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Bulgarians are voting in a snap poll on Sunday after a previous election in April produced a fragmented parliament that failed to form a viable coalition government. Latest opinion polls suggest that the rerun could produce similar results but also a further drop in support for former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s GERB party, after the current caretaker government …
Read more “Bulgarians Elect New Parliament Amid Corruption Worries”
Polling stations in Moldova opened Sunday morning with voters eager to choose the new parliament after the previous one was dissolved by new President Maia Sandu to shore up her position against pro-Russia forces. Sandu, who wants to bring Moldova into the European Union, in November defeated Kremlin-backed incumbent Igor Dodon on a pledge to fight …
Read more “Polls Open in Moldova’s Snap Election Set to Weaken Russia’s Influence”
Pope Francis is recovering from colon surgery in a Rome hospital and the Vatican has announced that he will deliver his weekly Sunday blessing from there. An exact date for his release has not been given, although the Vatican had said he would spend about seven days in the hospital, barring complications.Pope Francis has been recovering …
Read more “Pope to Deliver Sunday Angelus Prayer From Rome Hospital “
Ukraine and NATO have conducted Black Sea drills involving dozens of warships in a two-week show of their defense ties and capabilities following a confrontation between Russia’s military forces and a British destroyer off Crimea last month.The Sea Breeze 2021 maneuvers that ended Saturday involved about 30 warships and 40 aircraft from NATO members and …
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Top-seeded Ashleigh Barty became the first Australian to win the Wimbledon women’s singles tennis title in 41 years on Saturday in London.Barty defeated the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 to claim the title in the first three-setter in a Wimbledon final since 2012.It’s the second Grand Slam title for Barty, who won …
The global economic recovery is at risk from the rise of new coronavirus variants and poor access to vaccines in developing countries, finance ministers of the world’s 20 largest economies warned on Saturday.The G-20 gathering in the Italian city of Venice—the ministers’ first face-to-face talks since the start of the pandemic—also endorsed a move to …
Read more “G-20 Warns of Risk to Global Recovery From Virus Variants”
Ukraine and NATO have conducted Black Sea drills involving dozens of warships in a two-week show of their strong defense ties and capability following a confrontation between Russia’s military forces and a British destroyer off Crimea last month.The Sea Breeze 2021 maneuvers set to wrap up Saturday involved about 30 warships and 40 aircraft from …
Read more “Black Sea Drills Showcase Strong NATO-Ukraine Defense Ties”
Voters will go to the polls in Bulgaria for the second time in three months this weekend after no party secured enough support in an April parliamentary election to form a government.Former three-time Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s GERB party performed best in the inconclusive election, but it received only 26% of the vote. Public discontent …
Read more “Corruption Anger May Yield New Leadership as Bulgaria Votes”
The World Health Organization said health care is under siege in Afghanistan as the United States accelerates its troop withdrawal from the country.Afghanistan is one of the largest and longest-standing humanitarian emergencies in the world. The country is subject to almost every type of hazard — an escalating conflict, a rapidly spreading pandemic and most recently …
Belarusian authorities on Friday raided the offices of several media outlets outside Minsk and searched the homes of independent journalists, in the second straight day of the country’s latest crackdown on independent press critical of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.The raids, most of which took place in the western city of Brest, came a day after the …
Read more “More Raids on Independent News Outlets as Belarus Steps up Crackdown”
France will withdraw more than 2,000 troops from an anti-extremism force in Africa’s Sahel region by early next year and pivot its military presence to specialized regional forces instead, President Emmanuel Macron said Friday. Macron announced last month a future reduction of France’s military presence, arguing that it’s no longer adapted to the needs in the …
Read more “France to Pull More Than 2,000 Troops From Africa’s Sahel”
Hannah Kumari has been an English soccer fan since childhood, but she never wanted to fly an England flag. Until now.Kumari is one of millions of fans ecstatic that England’s men’s team has reached the final of a major tournament for the first time since it won the World Cup in 1966. But like many …
Read more “Diverse England Team Wins Fans in Nation Eager for Good News”
Police in Sweden say a small plane carrying skydivers crashed outside the south-central city of Orebro late Thursday, killing all nine people on board. Regional police told reporters they were notified of the crash around 7:30 p.m. local time. Aviation officials say the plane, a single-engine DHC-2 Beaver, crashed shortly after takeoff. Officials confirmed …
Read more “Swedish Plane Carrying Skydivers Crashes, Killing 9”