Travels News
People took to the streets in several European cities over the weekend to protest tighter coronavirus restrictions. As parts of the EU see record spiking cases, lawmakers in some of the bloc’s countries have begun limiting public life for the unvaccinated. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …
Violence broke out at a protest against anti-covid measures in Brussels on Sunday, where police said tens of thousands of people were participating. The march began peacefully but police later fired water cannon and tear gas in response to a group of participants throwing projectiles, an AFP photographer witnessed. Several of the demonstrators caught up …
Read more “Violence Erupts at COVID Curb Protest in Brussels”
China reduced the level of its diplomatic relations with Lithuania to below ambassador level Sunday in retaliation for the Baltic nation allowing Taiwan, the island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, to open a representative office. China earlier expelled the Lithuanian ambassador, reflecting its intense sensitivity over the status of Taiwan, which …
Read more “China Reduces Ties with Lithuania in Taiwan Spat “
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Sunday called the migrant crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border, the EU’s eastern frontier, the “greatest attempt to destabilize Europe” since the Cold War. The premier issued his strong remarks as he prepared to meet with EU leaders at a time when Warsaw is facing not only a border crisis …
Read more “Poland Says Border Crisis ‘Greatest’ Bid to Destabilize Europe since Cold War”
Seven Turkish citizens who were being held in eastern Libya have been brought back safely to Turkey, the country’s foreign ministry said on Sunday. The seven people were mostly restaurant employees and had been held in Libya’s east for two years, according to state-owned Anadolu news agency. Qatari intelligence cooperated with Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency …
Read more “Turkey Repatriates 7 Citizens Held in Eastern Libya”
As coronavirus infections hit Ukraine, a single shift for Dr. Oleksandr Molchanov now stretches to 42 hours — 24 of them in Kakhovka’s hospital, followed by another 18 hours spent visiting tents set up to care for 120 COVID-19 patients. While vaccination rates in Eastern Europe have generally lagged, Ukraine has one of the lowest …
Read more “COVID-19 Wave Pushes Ukraine’s Doctors to the Limit”
They are shivering in barracks without heat, going hungry and have no money. They say their passports have been taken by their Chinese employer and that they are now stuck in Serbia with no help from local authorities. These are the Vietnamese workers who are helping build the first Chinese car tire factory in Europe. …
Read more “Vietnamese Workers at Chinese Factory in Serbia Cry for Help”
Police arrested seven rioters in The Hague on Saturday night after youths set fires in the streets and threw fireworks at officers. The unrest came a day after police opened fire on protesters in Rotterdam amid what the port city’s mayor called “an orgy of violence” that broke out at a protest against coronavirus restrictions. …
Read more “Dutch Riot Over COVID Restrictions a Second Night; 7 Arrested”
Tens of thousands of people, many of them far-right supporters, protested Saturday in Vienna against coronavirus restrictions a day after Austria’s government announced a new lockdown and said vaccines would be made compulsory next year. Whistling, blowing horns and banging drums, crowds streamed into Heroes’ Square in front of the Hofburg, the former imperial palace …
Read more “Tens of Thousands March in Vienna Against New COVID Measures”
Police opened fire on protesters in rioting that erupted in downtown Rotterdam around a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions late Friday night. The Dutch city’s mayor called it “an orgy of violence.” Police said that two rioters were hospitalized after being hit by bullets, and investigations were underway to establish if they were shot by police. …
Read more “Dutch Police Open Fire on Rioters Protesting COVID Restrictions”
This was supposed to be the Christmas in Europe where family and friends could once again embrace holiday festivities and one another. Instead, the continent is the global epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic as cases soar to record levels in many countries. With infections spiking again despite nearly two years of restrictions, the health crisis …
Read more “Europe’s COVID Crisis Pits Vaccinated Against Unvaccinated”
Guillermo Arránz spends his days in a forest hacking into pine trees to extract what is to him, liquid gold. Some might see it as lonely and backbreaking work, but to Arránz it brings great satisfaction. He is his own boss and spends his days enjoying nature. Arranz is one of Spain’s resineros, or resin …
Read more “Spain’s Ancient Practice of Resin Harvesting May Hold Key to Energy Future”
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili agreed on Friday to end a 50-day prison hunger strike that had raised political tensions in the former Soviet republic and drawn expressions of concern from the United States. Saakashvili agreed to end his protest after authorities offered to move him to a military hospital from a prison hospital where …
Read more “Georgia’s Ex-president Saakashvili Agrees to End 50-day Hunger Strike “
Hundreds of Kurds who had camped along Belarus’ border for weeks were forced to return home Thursday after failing to enter the European Union. At Irbil International Airport, VOA Kurdish stringer Ahmad Zebari interviewed some of the returnees and filed this report narrated by Namo Abdulla. Producer and camera: Ahmad Zebari. …
Crowds of rioters in the port city of Rotterdam torched cars and threw rocks at police, who responded with bullets and water cannons, as protests against COVID-19 measures turned violent Friday night. “We fired warning shots and there were also direct shots fired because the situation was life-threatening,” police spokesperson Patricia Wessels told Reuters. “We …
Read more “Two Wounded During Protest of COVID-19 Restrictions in Netherlands”
British Home Secretary Priti Patel on Friday said she had banned the Palestinian militant group Hamas, a move that brought the U.K.’s stance on Gaza’s rulers in line with those of the United States and the European Union. “Hamas has significant terrorist capability, including access to extensive and sophisticated weaponry, as well as terrorist training facilities,” …
Read more “Britain Outlaws Palestinian Militant Group Hamas, Minister Says”
Poland accused Belarus on Friday of trucking hundreds of refugees to the two countries’ border and encouraging them to illegally cross into Polish territory to enter the European Union, an accusation that comes hours after Belarusian officials cleared the refugee camp where thousands had been hunkered down. Approximately 2,000 refugees, many of them Middle Eastern, …
Read more “Poland Accuses Belarus of Creating Border Crisis After Refugee Camps Cleared “
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday the situation at the border between Poland and Belarus is “deeply concerning” and the alliance stands ready to help its allies involved. Stoltenberg made the comments in Berlin, where he met with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the issue and others facing NATO member nations. Poland and the EU accuse the government of Belarusian …
Read more “NATO Chief Calls Situation at Belarus-Poland Border ‘Deeply Concerning’ “
Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced Friday the government will begin a nationwide lockdown Monday and mandate vaccinations for all, making it the first European nation to reimpose COVID-19 measures, as cases throughout the region surge. At a news conference Friday, Schallenberg said Monday’s lockdown will be reevaluated after 10 days, but they will run a …
German health officials said Friday the current COVID-19 situation in the country is a national emergency and called for immediate measures to be taken to mitigate the situation — including lockdowns, even for people who have been vaccinated. Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases (RKI) reported 52,970 new COVID-19 cases Friday, the third straight …
Read more “German Officials: Current COVID Surge Is ‘National Emergency’”
Ukraine said Friday that one of its soldiers had been killed by pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country, as the West accuses Moscow of a troop build-up near Ukraine. Kiev’s army has been battling fighters in two breakaway regions bordering Russia since 2014, after Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Ukraine and its Western …
Hungary’s opposition leader wants to restore his country’s frayed ties with the West — and also has a message for American fans of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban. “Let me state very strongly for all Americans that to be a part of Putin’s fan club doesn’t make you a conservative,” said Peter Marki-Zay, a self-described …
Read more “Hungary Opposition Leader Vows to Restore Western Alliances”
Officials in Belarus have cleared a refugee camp on the Poland-Belarus border where thousands of refugees had hunkered down in the hope of entering the European Union via Poland. Approximately 2,000 refugees, many of them Middle Eastern, were moved Thursday into a large warehouse, enabling them to escape the freezing cold of the outdoor makeshift …
The European Union’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, said Thursday that unvaccinated individuals account for much of the “fourth wave” of COVID-19 infections in the region and encouraged EU member nations to close the vaccination gap. During its regular COVID-19 briefing at EMA headquarters in Amsterdam, EMA biological threats chief Marco Cavaleri told reporters that in EU states, unvaccinated people, particularly those over the age of 50, are most likely to be hospitalized with severe COVID-19, be placed in intensive care or die. …
Read more “Drug Regulator Says Europe Must Close Vaccination Gap to Stop COVID Surge”