Category: World

Students and faculty members from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music arrived with their families Monday in Portugal, where they are being granted asylum and where they hope to rebuild their acclaimed school.  The 273-person group, including some 150 students, flew into Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, from Doha, Qatar. Their departure from Afghanistan was staggered …

Read more “Afghan Musicians Look to Recreate Famed School in Portugal”

Russia has vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that warns about the security implications of climate change, with its envoy calling it “unacceptable” for his government.  “We are against creating a new area for the council’s work which establishes a generic, automatic connection between climate change and international security, turning a scientific and socio-economic …

Read more “Russia Vetoes UN Resolution on Climate’s Impact on Global Security “

Britain’s Boris Johnson has a reputation as an escape artist — a political Houdini who defies rules and conventions and gets away with it. Last May, he led Conservatives to an historic election victory against the country’s main opposition Labour Party, making deep inroads into Labour heartlands in northern England in votes for devolved, regional …

Read more “Boris Johnson’s Escapology Skills Set for Major Test”

A wide range of businesses reopened to the public in Austria Monday, one day after authorities ended recent national lockdown restrictions to battle the latest surge of COVID-19 infections. The lockdown had been imposed last month.  Under the revised rules, however, unvaccinated people will still be restricted from leaving their homes except for work or essential business, such as grocery shopping or doctors’ visits.  As of Sunday, theaters, museums and holiday markets were allowed to reopen, although …

Read more “Austria Ends Nearly Three-week COVID-19 Lockdown  “

Britain has recorded its first death from the omicron variant of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the death Monday, the day after he warned during a nationally televised speech that Britain was facing a “tidal wave” of new infections from omicron. Johnson announced his government was launching a campaign to get everyone in …

Read more “Britain Announces First Death from Omicron Variant of Coronavirus”

As Europe starts vaccinating younger children, countries are pursuing very different strategies in what will be a major test of parents’ willingness to get their kids inoculated.  One region in Italy is sending in clowns and jugglers to clinics, France and Germany are targeting only the most vulnerable kids, while Denmark has been administering shots even before the specially-designed vials and syringes have …

Read more “Joyful Moment or Risky Move? Europe Divided Over Kids’ Vaccines”

Rescuers were pulling out bodies on Monday from the rubble of houses destroyed by a suspected gas explosion on Saturday in the Sicilian town of Ravanusa, with the national fire service confirming at least seven people had died in the incident.  Sniffer dogs found four bodies in the early hours of the morning, including a nurse that was nine-months pregnant, and firefighters …

Read more “Rescuers Pull Bodies from Rubble After Explosion in Sicily Kills 7”

Four people were due to go on trial in Britain on Monday in connection with the toppling of a statue of a 17th-century slave trader during anti-racism protests. Demonstrators pulled down the bronze memorial to Edward Colston in Bristol, western England, on June 7 last year, then dragged it to the city’s harbor and threw …

Read more “4 Face Trial in UK Over Toppling of Slave Trader Statue”

Greece’s third-largest group in parliament on Sunday elected a European Parliament lawmaker as its new leader. Nikos Androulakis defeated former Prime Minister George Papandreou to lead the Movement for Change, a socialist coalition. Partial results shortly before 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) showed the 42-year-old Androulakis with 68.4% of the vote compared to 31.6% for the …

Read more “EU Lawmaker Androulakis Elected Greek Socialist Leader”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday that Britain faces a “tidal wave” of infections from the omicron coronavirus variant and announced a huge increase in booster vaccinations to strengthen defenses against it. In a televised statement, Johnson said everyone age 18 and older will be offered a third shot of vaccine by the end of …

Read more “Boris Johnson: UK Faces ‘Tidal Wave’ of Omicron Cases”

Three people were killed and six are still missing after a gas explosion late on Saturday caused several residential buildings in the Sicilian town of Ravanusa to collapse, Italian authorities said on Sunday. Two apartment blocks in the town of 11,000 people were completely destroyed and several other buildings had partially collapsed in the blast. …

Read more “Gas Explosion in Sicily Leaves at Least 3 Dead, 6 Missing”

A volcanic eruption in Spain’s Canary Islands shows no sign of ending after 85 days, becoming the island of La Palma’s longest eruption on record Sunday.  The eruption has surged and ebbed since it first began spewing lava on Sept. 19. It has since destroyed almost 3,000 local buildings and forced several thousand people to …

Read more “Spanish Island Volcano Eruption Hits Local Record of 85 Days”

The United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is condemning the forced expulsion of asylum seekers and migrants by Libyan authorities, warning of the risks many face when returned to the homes they fled to escape persecution. Two large groups of Sudanese are among those forcibly deported from Libya over the past …

Read more “UN Condemns Forced Expulsions of Asylum Seekers from Libya “

The G-7 on Sunday said time was running out for Iran to agree a deal to curb its nuclear ambitions and warned Russia about the consequences of invading Ukraine. Foreign ministers from the world’s richest nations have held a two-day meeting in Liverpool, northwest England, seeking to present a strong, united front against global threats. …

Read more “G-7 Issues Strong Warnings on Iran and Russia”

While Russian President Vladimir Putin keeps the West guessing over Ukraine, it was the might of Chinese President Xi Jinping that garnered the long-term strategic focus when the diplomats from the Group of Seven richest democracies met this weekend. The United States and its other G-7 allies are searching for a coherent response to Xi’s …

Read more “China’s Xi and Russia’s Putin Dominate G-7”

Environmental protesters blocked roads in Serbia for a third consecutive weekend to oppose plans for lithium mining, despite a bid by the country’s populist government to defuse the demonstrations by agreeing to the key demands of organizers. Several thousand people braved rain and cold weather Saturday to halt traffic in the capital, Belgrade, and in …

Read more “Serbia Roads Blocked for 3rd Weekend of Lithium Mine Protest”

When the nuns of Maredret Abbey in Belgium were struggling to scrape together the funds for badly needed renovation works, they turned to an occupation that for hundreds of years had been the preserve of monks: beer-brewing. The 20-strong Benedictine community, founded in 1893, decided about five years ago it was time to team up …

Read more “After Centuries, Belgian Nuns Join Monks in Beer Production”

Six years ago today, nearly 200 nations signed the Paris Climate Accord, where they agreed to keep the rise in global temperatures at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. Scientists say that threshold is an absolute minimum to avoid catastrophic climate change. “Our fragile planet is hanging by a thread,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres …

Read more “Paris Climate Accord Signed 6 Years Ago Today”

China accounts for a relatively small share of outside investment in the western Balkans compared to the European Union, but observers say there is growing concern about the scope of Chinese influence tied to the billions of dollars Beijing has invested in the region since 2005.  Others, however, say China’s regional influence is overblown.  The …

Read more “China Grows Balkan Investments by Asking Less Than EU, Say Experts”

Italy’s La Scala has postponed its ballet season premiere after a coronavirus outbreak in its ranks, just days after the famed Milan theater staged its high-profile opera season opener with a full-capacity audience. At least one of the four ballerinas who tested positive for COVID-19 also appeared in the Dec. 7 premiere of the opera …

Read more “La Scala Delays Ballet Season Opener Due to Virus Outbreak”

First, a steady crawl. Then a short clumsy slide across the slick stone floor at their home at the Beauval Zoo near Paris. Then finally the big show as the twin giant panda cubs took their first steps in public Saturday. The female twins were born in August. Their mother, Huan Huan, and father, Yuan …

Read more “Twin Panda Cubs in French Zoo Take 1st Steps in Public”

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia would pay “a terrible price” and face devastating economic consequences if it invaded Ukraine. Biden told reporters the possibility of sending U.S. ground combat troops to Ukraine in the event of a Russian invasion was “never on the table,” although …

Read more “Biden Warns Putin: Russia Will Pay ‘Terrible Price’ If It Invades Ukraine”

France’s nickel-rich Pacific territory of New Caledonia votes Sunday in a third and final referendum on independence, with some of those wanting to break free demanding a boycott because they say the pandemic is preventing a fair ballot. The territory of about 185,000 voters, 2,000 kilometers east of Australia, was granted three independence referendums under …

Read more “New Caledonia Voters Asked a 3rd Time: Do You Want Independence?”

British police say a man was shot dead during a confrontation with firearms officers on Saturday near the Kensington Palace royal residence in London.  The Metropolitan Police force said officers were called to reports that a man with a firearm had entered a bank and bookmakers in the Kensington area of west London. He fled …

Read more “Man Killed in Shooting Involving London Police Near Royal Palace”