worldwide news
Britain’s railway network this week faces its biggest strike action in more than three decades in a row over pay as soaring inflation erodes earnings. Rail union the RMT has said that more than 50,000 workers will take part in a three-day national strike, coinciding with major events including the Glastonbury music festival. Schools are …
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “we should expect greater hostile activity from Russia” this week as European Union leaders consider whether to support candidate status for Ukraine in the EU. “And not only against Ukraine, but also against other European countries. We are preparing. We are ready. We are warning partners,” Zelenskyy said in his …
Read more “Zelenskyy Expects Increase in Russian Hostility Ahead of EU Vote”
Firefighters in Spain and Germany struggled to contain wildfires on Sunday amid an unusual heat wave in Western Europe for this time of year. The worst damage in Spain has been in the northwest province of Zamora where over 25,000 hectares (61,000 acres) have been consumed, regional authorities said, while German officials said that residents …
Read more “Spain, Germany Battle Wildfires Amid Unusual Heat Wave “
France voted Sunday in the second-round runoff of legislative elections that saw a new left-wing alliance threatening President Emmanuel Macron’s majority in the National Assembly, the lower house of the country’s Parliament. Voters trickled out of Neuilly Plaisance’s city hall, shopping carts in tow. After casting their ballots, their next stops were the …
Read more “French Voters Cast Ballots in Legislative Runoff “
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Sunday a new British law to change part of a Brexit deal to try to ease trade with Northern Ireland was “unilateralism of the worst kind” and urged the government to resume talks. The European Commission launched two new legal proceedings against Britain this month after London published …
Read more “Irish PM Martin Urges Britain to Resume Talks With EU Over its N.Ireland Law “
More than 100 migrants were rescued early Sunday off the island of Mykonos in the Aegean Sea and four are missing, the Greek coastguard said. Port police responded to a distress call sending three boats and a tug boat to help the stricken vessel which had come from Turkey, the coastguard told AFP. It said …
Read more “Greek Rescuers Save More Than 100 Migrants in Aegean “
The head of NATO said Sunday the war in Ukraine could last years and Ukrainian forces faced intensified Russian assaults after the EU executive recommended that Kyiv should be granted the status of a candidate to join the bloc. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg was cited by Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper as saying the supply …
Read more “NATO Warns of Long Ukraine War as Russian Assaults Follow EU Boost for Kyiv”
Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, couples there continue to get married. For many, the war itself prompted them to officially tie the knot – especially military couples. At least one jewelry store provides military couples with free wedding bands; wedding ceremonies are often held online, at times, literally from the front lines. Anna Kosstutschenko …
Read more “Despite Ongoing Military Action, Ukrainians Continue to Get Married”
Fine Italian knitwear packed in boxes addressed to retailers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kursk sit stacked in a Lombardy warehouse awaiting dispatch. Although not subject to sanctions to punish Russia for invading Ukraine, the garments are not likely to ship any time soon. Missing payments from the Russian retailers who ordered the garments are …
Read more “Russian Sanctions Hurting Small Italian Fashion Producers”
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned allies to prepare for a long war in Ukraine, urging sustained support for Kyiv or risk “the greatest victory for aggression” since World War II. In an article for The Sunday Times, Johnson said Ukraine’s foreign backers should hold their nerve to ensure it has “the strategic endurance …
Read more “Prepare for the Long Haul in Ukraine, UK’s PM Tells Western Allies”
Lithuanian authorities said a ban on the transit through their territory to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad of goods that are subject to EU sanctions was to take effect Saturday. News of the ban came Friday, through a video posted by the region’s governor Anton Alikhanov. The EU sanctions list notably includes coal, metals, construction …
Read more “Lithuania Says Sanctions on Goods to Kaliningrad Take Effect”
Czech Senate Leader Milos Vystrcil was little known to the world until he led a Czech parliamentary and business delegation to Taiwan in autumn 2020, defying threats of severe retaliation from Beijing. And that is just how his late father would have preferred it. “He would always insist that we live a normal, average life, …
Read more “Czech Senate Leader Vows ‘Never Again’ to Communist Totalitarianism”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says the Group of Seven leading democracies will make clear at their upcoming summit that Ukraine can expect to receive the support it needs “for as long as necessary.” In an interview with Germany’s dpa news agency published Saturday, Scholz said he wants to use next week’s meeting with fellow G-7 …
Read more “Scholz: G-7 Will Support Ukraine ‘for as Long as Necessary’”
Before disappearing in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, Bruno Pereira was laying the groundwork for a mammoth undertaking: a 350-kilometer (217-mile) trail marking the southwestern border of the Javari Valley Indigenous territory, an area the size of Portugal. The purpose of the trail is to prevent cattle farmers from encroaching on Javari territory — and it was …
Read more “Brazil Indigenous Expert Was ‘Bigger Target’ in Recent Years”
Thousands of supporters of North Macedonia’s main opposition party VMRO-DPMNE gathered Saturday evening in the center of the capital Skopje to pressure the leftist government to call an election two years before the end of its term. Center-right VMRO-DPMNE accused the ruling Social Democrat-led government of miring North Macedonia in corruption, devastating the economy and …
Read more “Opposition Rally Demands Early Elections in North Macedonia”
Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday in a protest over the soaring cost of living in Britain. Huge crowds flooded into the British capital for the rally to demand that the government do more to help people faced with bills and other expenses that are rising more quickly than their wages. Prime …
Read more “Big Crowds Take to London Streets to Protest Soaring Costs”
Former world No. 1 tennis player, Naomi Osaka pulled out of Wimbledon for the second successive year Saturday, blaming an Achilles injury. “My Achilles still isn’t right, so I’ll see you next time,” the four-time Grand Slam title winner posted on Twitter. Osaka, 24, was already considering not playing over the ATP and WTA tours …
Read more “‘See You Next Time’: Injured Osaka Withdraws From Wimbledon”
A third suspect in the murder of British journalist Dom Phillips in the Amazon rainforest was arrested Saturday, Brazil’s federal police said. Jeferson da Silva Lima was on the run, but he surrendered at the police station of Atalaia do Norte in the remote Javari Valley bordering Peru and Colombia. “The detainee will be questioned …
Read more “Third Suspect in Murder of British Journalist Arrested in Brazil”
The far-right Alternative for Germany on Saturday elected two prominent figures to lead the party for the next two years, after one of its co-chairs quit in January saying it had become too radical. Delegates voted for Alternative for Germany’s remaining co-chair, Tino Chrupalla, to head the party together with parliamentary caucus leader Alice Weidel. …
Read more “German Far-right Elects New Leaders After Co-Chair Quits”
A blanket of hot air stretching from the Mediterranean to the North Sea is bringing much of Western Europe its first heat wave of the summer, with temperatures Friday exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) from London to Paris. Meteorologists say the unusually early heat wave is a sign of what’s to come as …
Read more “Europe Wilts Under Early Heat Wave From Med to North Sea”
A former hotel housekeeper who fought for the rights of her coworkers has become a symbol of the recent revival of France’s left, which is expected to emerge as the main opposition force in the French Parliament to President Emmanuel Macron’s government. Rachel Kéké, 48, is poised to win election as a lawmaker when France …
Read more “Former Hotel Housekeeper Aims to Give French Workers a Voice”
A celebrated Ukrainian medic whose footage was smuggled out of the besieged city of Mariupol by an Associated Press team was freed by Russian forces on Friday, three months after she was taken captive on the streets of the city. Yuliia Paievska is known in Ukraine as Taira, a nickname she chose in the “World …
Read more “Russia Frees Medic Who Filmed Mariupol’s Horror “
Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch. UN human rights chief won’t seek second term U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Monday that she will step down when her term finishes at the …
News that police in France arrested two men suspected of traveling to the city of Nantes to kill an Azeri blogger will be of little surprise to journalists in Azerbaijan. Attacks, especially over reporting that is critical of authorities, are common, and a lack of bringing perpetrators to justice makes matters worse, journalists and analysts …
Read more “Attacks, Threats Add to Pressure for Azerbaijan’s Media”