Travels News
Britain’s business minister said Wednesday the army would begin driving fuel tankers in response to shortages at gas stations around the nation brought on by a dearth of truck drivers. For about a week now, a shortage of around 100,000 truck drivers in Britain has made it difficult for oil companies to get gasoline from …
Read more “British Government to Use Army to Help Ease Fuel Trucker Shortage”
Russia threatened Wednesday to block Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube after Russian state-backed broadcaster RT’s German-language channels were deleted, and said it was considering retaliating against German media. YouTube said on Tuesday that RT’s channels had breached its COVID-19 misinformation policy, a move Russia’s Foreign Ministry described as “unprecedented information aggression.” Russian state communications regulator Roskomnadzor said …
Read more “Russia Threatens YouTube Block After RT TV’s German Channels Are Deleted”
Weeks before a high-profile climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Danish officials are talking up an ambitious program to develop the world’s largest offshore wind energy complex, with the potential to provide enough green energy to power not just Denmark, but some of its neighbors as well. The complex, to sit on and around an artificial …
Read more “Massive North Sea Wind Farm Could Power Denmark, Neighbors”
The pandemic has made Spain’s affordable housing crisis worse and civil organizations are now pressuring the government to pass a housing law that includes making available vacant, foreclosed homes. The push is causing new friction between Spanish political factions and raising concerns among real estate investors. Jonathan Spier narrates this report by Alfonso Beato in …
It’s still not clear who will be the next leader of Germany, after Sunday’s election failed to give any party a ruling majority. Talks between rival parties over forming a coalition government are under way. As Henry Ridgwell reports, Olaf Scholz is the narrow favorite to take over from Angela Merkel as chancellor — but …
Read more “German Election: Olaf Scholz Narrow Favorite to Succeed Angela Merkel”
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny is facing a new criminal probe by Russian investigators that could lead to 10 more years in prison. The investigation, launched Tuesday by the Russian government’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, accuses Navalny of creating and directing an “extremist network” the goal of which was “changing the foundations of …
Read more “Kremlin Critic Navalny Hit With New Probe, Could Face 10 More Years in Prison”
Police and fire officials in Goteburg, Sweden say an explosion in an apartment building early Tuesday injured at least 20 people, some of them seriously, and investigators have ruled out a natural cause for the blast. Emergency officials say they were alerted to the blast just before 5 a.m. local time in the Annedal district …
Read more “At Least 20 Injured in Swedish Apartment Building Explosion”
Concerns are growing over the reach of the national security law that China imposed on Hong Kong as Britain warned several of its citizens that they could face arrest and extradition to the former British colony. China passed the national security law in June 2020 in response to months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong. …
Read more “Britain Warns Citizens of Hong Kong Extradition Threat”
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake rocked the Greek island of Crete Monday morning, leaving at least one person dead and several injured. Across the island, people were reportedly seen running out of buildings and homes, while many older buildings suffered damage. “The earthquake was strong and was long in duration,” Heraklion Mayor Vassilis Lambrinos told private …
A Canary Islands volcano that has been erupting for over a week fell silent Monday as coastal residents were confined over toxic gas fears when the lava hits the sea. La Cumbre Vieja, which straddles a southern ridge in La Palma in the Atlantic archipelago, erupted on September 19, spewing out rivers of lava which …
Read more “Volcano Lava Flow Halts but Many Confined Over Toxic Gas Fears”
Up to 90% of British fuel stations ran dry across major English cities on Monday after panic buying deepened a supply chain crisis triggered by a shortage of truckers that retailers are warning could batter the world’s fifth-largest economy. A dire post-Brexit shortage of truck drivers emerging after the COVID-19 pandemic has sown chaos through …
Read more “Panic Buying Leaves Fuel Pumps Dry in Major British Cities “
The joke in Berlin before Germans went to the polls Sunday was that the country’s longstanding chancellor, Angela Merkel, would have to delay her retirement from politics, and would end up delivering the traditional New Year’s address to the nation come January. And that looks likely. Germany is facing months-long horse-trading and wrangling over the …
Read more “Goodbye Chancellor Merkel, Hello Chancellor Merkel”
Preliminary results Monday showed Germany’s center-left Social Democrats winning the largest share of the vote in national parliamentary elections as parties battle to see who will succeed outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Social Democrats received 25.7% of the vote Sunday, followed by 24.1% for Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union. State Governor Armin Laschet of the …
Read more “Social Democrats Win Most Votes in German Election”
Iceland briefly celebrated electing a female-majority parliament Sunday, before a recount produced a result just short of that landmark for gender parity in the North Atlantic island nation. The initial vote count had female candidates winning 33 seats in Iceland’s 63-seat parliament, the Althing, in an election that saw centrist parties make the biggest gains. …
Read more “Recount Finds Iceland Just Misses Female-majority Parliament”
Switzerland voted by a wide margin to allow same-sex couples to marry in a referendum on Sunday, bringing the Alpine nation into line with many others in western Europe. Official results showed the measure passed with 64.1% of voters in favor and won a majority in all of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, or states. Switzerland’s …
Read more “Swiss Approve Same-sex Marriage by Landslide in Referendum”
The EU and U.S. will this week embark on a tricky effort to deepen ties on tech regulation, but with France resisting the project in the wake of a falling out with Washington over a submarine deal. High-level talks will begin in the U.S. city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday despite efforts by Paris to …
Read more “EU-US to Seek Shared Tech Rules Despite French Anger”
The Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Spanish Canary Islands continues to spew lava and debris, one week after it erupted and forced thousands of people to flee their homes. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more …
A contentious campaign comes to a head Sunday as Swiss voters go to the polls to decide on whether same-sex marriage should be allowed. Earlier this month, thousands of people attended a high-spirited Pride parade in Zurich to support the legalization of same-sex marriage. They held up posters touting “Marriage for All” campaign slogans. They …
In a first in Europe, women hold more than half of the seats in Iceland’s new parliament, final election results showed Sunday. Of the 63 seats in the Althing, 33 were won by women, or 52 percent, according to projections based on the final results. No other European country has had more than 50 percent …
Read more “Majority of Women in Iceland’s New Parliament, European First”
Germany’s 60 million eligible voters will set their country on a new course in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. The winning lawmakers will decide who will replace the country’s outgoing and popular chancellor, Angela Merkle. The newly elected politicians will likely have to form a coalition government, meaning it may take some weeks before Merkle’s replacement is …
Britain will issue up to 10,500 temporary work visas to truck drivers and poultry workers to ease chronic staff shortages, the government announced Saturday, in a U-turn on post-Brexit immigration policy. The short-term visas, to run from next month until late December, come as ministers try to fix a shortfall of drivers and other key …
Read more “UK to Offer 10,500 Post-Brexit Visas to Counter Growing Worker Crisis”
Thousands of people demonstrated in cities across Italy on Saturday to support Afghan women and demand continued international pressure on the country’s Taliban leaders to let women participate in the educational and political life of the country. Among the groups organizing the protests were members of the Pangea Foundation, which had worked for 20 years …
Read more “Italians Come Out to Demand Support for Afghan Women”
Iceland’s government was poised to win a majority in Saturday’s election, early results showed, though it remained to be seen if Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir’s left-right coalition would agree to continue in power together. The three-party coalition has brought Iceland four years of stability after a decade of crises. Jakobsdottir’s Left-Green Movement, the conservative Independence …
Read more “Iceland Government Poised to Win Majority, but Future Uncertain”
International recognition of the Taliban “at the present juncture is not on the table,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday at the United Nations. Among the Taliban’s promises are ensuring an inclusive government; respecting human rights, especially for women; and preventing Afghanistan from becoming a haven for terrorists. But the interim Taliban government, Lavrov said, …
Read more “World Recognition of Taliban ‘Not on Table,’ Russia Says at UN”