Category: News

Spain’s state television on Friday condemned a racist comment made by a guest sports commentator during the presentation of Real Madrid player Eduardo Camavinga.   During Wednesday’s presentation of Camavinga, analyst Lorena González was heard off camera saying “this guy is blacker than his suit.”   The 18-year-old Camavinga, a French player born in Angola, …

Read more “Spanish TV Apologizes for Racist Comment About Black Madrid Player”

Britain’s Prince Andrew has been served with a lawsuit by a woman accusing him of sexually assaulting and battering her two decades ago, when she says she was also being abused by the financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to a Friday court filing. In an affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Cesar Sepulveda, identifying …

Read more “Prince Andrew Receives Lawsuit Accusing Him of Sexual Abuse “

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Friday that all-out war with neighboring Russia was a possibility, and that he wanted to have a substantive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Asked at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) summit if there could really be all out-war with Russia, which seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and …

Read more “Ukrainian President Says War With Russia Is Worst-case Possibility”

Russia has been treading carefully in its dealings with the Taliban, engaging with them but so far withholding formal recognition of Afghanistan’s new rulers.Russian President Vladimir Putin and his aides have been quick to cheer the U.S.-led NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan, presenting it as a strategic setback for Washington. But they fear Afghanistan falling apart …

Read more “With NATO Forces Gone, Russia Looks South to Afghanistan, Warily”

Russia has been treading carefully in its dealings with the Taliban, engaging with them but so far withholding formal recognition of Afghanistan’s new rulers.Russian President Vladimir Putin and his aides have been quick to cheer the U.S.-led NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan, presenting it as a strategic setback for Washington. But they fear Afghanistan falling apart …

Read more “Russia Looks South to Afghanistan, Warily”

Gazprom said Friday it had finished construction of the Nord Stream 2 subsea pipeline to Germany, completing Moscow’s project to increase its gas export capability and bypass Ukraine, but flows have yet to be cleared by regulators.The much-politicized pipeline will double Russia’s gas exporting capacity to Europe via the Baltic Sea and will allow Moscow …

Read more “Russia Completes Nord Stream 2 Construction, Gas Not Yet Flowing”

In an interview Thursday, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said there are questions about how the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan was handled, “but we need to first save the lives [of Afghans].”Rama, whose country is temporarily hosting 4,000 Afghan refugees, said that as a NATO member country, Albania has to take its “share of …

Read more “Afghan Withdrawal Raises Questions, But Saving Lives Comes First, Says Albanian Prime Minister”

With no masks in sight, buzzing offices and concerts drawing tens of thousands, Denmark on Friday ditches vaccine passports in nightclubs, ending its last COVID-19 curb.The vaccine passports were introduced in March 2021 when Copenhagen slowly started easing restrictions.They were abolished at all venues on Sept. 1, except in nightclubs, where they will be no …

Read more “Denmark Lifts All COVID Curbs”

Leaders of the BRICS nations discussed Afghanistan at a virtual summit Thursday, with participants underscoring the importance of preventing terrorists from using Afghan soil to stage attacks on other countries.  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the five-nation group that comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The talks come weeks after the Taliban …

Read more “BRICS Nations Say Afghan Territory Should Not Be Used by Terror Groups “

Teams working on two continents have marked similar milestones in their respective efforts to tap an energy source key to the fight against climate change: They’ve each produced very impressive magnets.  On Thursday, scientists at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in southern France took delivery of the first part of a massive magnet so …

Read more “Advances in Magnets Move Distant Nuclear Fusion Dream Closer”

Britain has approved plans to turn away boats illegally carrying migrants to its shores, deepening a rift with France over how to deal with a surge of people risking their lives by trying to cross the Channel in small dinghies.    Hundreds of small boats have attempted the journey from France to England this year, …

Read more “Britain Threatens to Send Migrant Boats Back to France “

The next nine months will determine the fate of 20 people on trial for the 2015 terror attacks in Paris. Of the ten-man team believed to have carried out the coordinated assault, just one is still alive. Salah Abdeslam was among the 14 suspects in court on Wednesday, the first day of the trial that …

Read more “2015 Paris Terror Attack Trial Expected to Last Nine Months”

Organized crime, a struggling economy, and repression continue to drive many Central Americans from their homelands with increasing numbers opting to head for Spain, rather than the United States.  More than 120,000 Hondurans make up the largest group of Central Americans in Spain. Alfonso Beato in the northeastern Spanish city of Girona filed this report, narrated by Jonathan Spier.Camera:  Alfonso Beato Produced by:  Rod …

Read more “Costs, Opportunity Prompt More Honduran Migrants to Choose Spain Over US”

Europe’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, said Thursday it is reviewing four additional COVID-19 vaccines and could issue new authorizations before the end of the year.     During a news briefing from the agency’s headquarters in Amsterdam, EMA officials said they are awaiting additional data on Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and China’s Sinovac …

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Fourteen people are dead and several more were injured after a fire ripped through a North Macedonia COVID-19 field hospital Wednesday night.   The hospital was set up in the western city of Tetovo to deal with a surge in COVID-19 cases in the area.   ”It is a tragedy that I can’t even explain,” …

Read more “14 Dead in North Macedonia After Fire Rips Through COVID Field Hospital”

Russia’s parliamentary elections in less than two weeks’ time are shaping up to be the least free since Vladimir Putin came to power 21 years ago, warn opposition leaders and independent election observers. Polling data suggests that just 26% of Russians are ready to vote for the ruling United Russia Party in parliamentary elections on September …

Read more “Russia Heading for ‘Least Free Elections’ in 20 Years, Say Opposition Leaders  “

Turkey is voicing caution over Afghanistan’s interim government as it continues talks with the Taliban on restarting air traffic at the Kabul airport.Turkey was among the first countries calling for talks and engagement with the Taliban after it swept to power last month. But the Taliban’s announcement of an interim government this week saw Turkish …

Read more “Turkey’s Erdogan Voices Caution Over New Afghan Government”

Twenty people linked to the November 2015 terrorist attacks in France went on trial in Paris Wednesday in proceedings expected to last nine months.Six defendants are being charged in absentia. Reports say five of the six are presumed dead in Iraq or Syria. Nine Islamic State terrorists, mostly from France and Belgium, left a trail of …

Read more “Paris Begins Trial of 2015 Terror Attackers”

Russian Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev died during a training exercise in the Arctic on Wednesday, RIA news agency cited the ministry as saying.The 55-year-old Zinichev, who had headed the high-profile emergencies ministry since 2018, died while saving someone’s life, RIA said, without providing further details.“…Zinichev died tragically while performing his official duties during inter-departmental drills …

Read more “RIA: Russia’s Emergencies Minister Dies During Arctic Training Exercise”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas are hosting talks Wednesday with a group of partners and allies to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, including efforts to continue the flow of humanitarian aid to the country after the Taliban’s takeover. A U.S. State Department official said ahead of the ministerial meeting that one theme of …

Read more “US, Germany Hosting Talks on Afghanistan ”

Four years ago, newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron called for Europe to build “the capacity to act autonomously” in security matters so that the continent would be less dependent on the United States and could decide to act without U.S. backing. Most European leaders derided Macron’s idea as far-fetched. “Illusions of European strategic autonomy must come …

Read more “European Leaders Mull Strategic Autonomy but Doubts Persist”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out plans Tuesday to raise taxes on workers, employers and some investors to try to fix a health and social care funding crisis, angering some in his governing party by breaking an election promise.After spending huge amounts of money to fight the coronavirus pandemic, Johnson is returning to an …

Read more “British PM Johnson Raises Taxes to Tackle Health, Social Care Crisis”

Twenty people linked to the November 2015 terrorist attacks in France are going on trial in Paris Wednesday in proceedings expected to last nine months.  Six defendants are being charged in absentia. Reports say five of the six are presumed dead in Iraq or Syria.  Nine Islamic State terrorists, mostly from France and Belgium, left …

Read more “Paris Braces for Trial of 2015 Terror Attackers”

New research shows that coronavirus vaccines not only offer protection against infection and serious illness – but may also help prevent so-called ‘long COVID’, where symptoms can last for weeks or months. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Camera: Henry Ridgwell    …