worldwide news
Rescue ships picked up more than 700 people trying to cross the Mediterranean in makeshift vessels this weekend, mainly off the coasts of Libya and Malta, a migrant aid group said Sunday.The latest figures came as United Nations migration officials repeated their calls for a fairer mechanism to share the responsibility of caring for them, …
Read more “More Than 700 Saved From Mediterranean This Weekend, Aid Group Says”
Kosovo’s president on Sunday awarded a medal to the late son of U.S. President Joe Biden for his service in building the country’s justice system after war ended more than two decades ago.Beau Biden worked in Kosovo after the 1998-1999 war, helping to train local prosecutors and judges for the Organization for Security and Co-operation …
Read more “Kosovo Honors Beau Biden, Late Son of US President”
After a slow start, the European Union has now overtaken the United States in vaccinating its citizens against COVID-19. Anti-vaccine resistance remains, including in France, where officials estimate more than 200,000 people joined demonstrations this weekend to protest a mandatory health pass.Brandishing banners proclaiming “freedom” and “pass of shame,” tens of thousands of people demonstrated …
Read more “Protests Swell in France Over COVID Measures as Cases Rise”
Thousands of Turkish firefighters are battling for a fifth day against raging fires that are threatening some of Turkey’s main tourist resorts. Six people have already died in the fires.A child cries fire, fire, as a family drives through the night trying to escape the surrounding inferno in Turkey’s Marmaris region. The video has gone …
Read more “Turkey Battles Raging Fires as People Count the Cost”
A protest about an armed attack that killed seven members of a Kurdish family was held Saturday in the Turkish city of Van in the country’s central Konya province. Relatives of the slain family say the attack Friday was racially motivated.”This was an entirely racist attack,” Abdurrahman Karabulut, the family’s lawyer, told Arti TV.Karabulut and …
Read more “Turkish Demonstrators Protest Brutal Slaying of Kurdish Family”
The Russian hackers behind the massive SolarWinds cyberespionage campaign broke into the email accounts of some of the most prominent federal prosecutors’ offices around the country last year, the Justice Department said.The department said 80% of Microsoft email accounts used by employees in the four U.S. attorney offices in New York were breached. All told, …
Read more “Russians Hacked Federal Prosecutors, US Justice Department Says”
Thousands of people protested France’s special virus pass by marching through Paris and other French cities on Saturday. Most demonstrations were peaceful but some in Paris clashed with riot police, who fired tear gas.About 3,000 security forces deployed around the French capital for a third weekend of protests against the pass that will be needed …
Read more “Virus Pass Protesters March in France, Clash With Police in Paris “
Authorities said Saturday that 10 suspects had been detained in the killing of seven people from an ethnic Kurdish family in Turkey’s central Konya province.The members of the Dedeoglu family were killed in a brutal gun attack Friday. Officials said they had not yet apprehended the gunman. A statement from the Konya prosecutor’s office said initial …
Read more “10 Arrested in Turkey in Deaths of 7 from Kurdish Family”
The Ocean Viking on Saturday rescued 196 migrants off Libya, the humanitarian ship’s operator said.It first picked up 57 people in an inflatable dinghy struggling in international waters off the North African country, SOS Mediterranee said.In the afternoon, the ship’s crew carried out two additional rescues in the same area, plucking 54 people from a …
Greenland’s ice sheet has experienced a “massive melting event” during a heat wave that has seen temperatures more than 10 degrees above seasonal norms, according to Danish researchers.Since Wednesday, the ice sheet covering the vast Arctic territory has melted by about 8 billion tons a day, twice its normal average rate during summer, reported the …
Read more “Heat Wave Causes Massive Melt of Greenland Ice Sheet “
Panicked tourists in Turkey hurried to the seashore to wait for rescue boats Saturday after being told to evacuate some hotels in the Aegean resort of Bodrum because of the dangers posed by nearby wildfires, Turkish media reported.Coast guard units were leading the operation and authorities asked private boats and yachts to assist in evacuation …
Read more “Turkey Evacuates Panicked Tourists by Boat From Wildfires “
France secured a comfortable win over Iran in Olympic men’s basketball on Saturday to qualify for the quarterfinals and remain undefeated in the preliminary round.Real Madrid’s Thomas Heurtel led with 16 points in France’s 79-62 victory at the Saitama Super Arena, north of Tokyo. They swept their opponents in Group A, including a shock defeat …
Read more “Olympics: French Men’s Basketball Team Coasts to Quarterfinals With Win Over Iran”
The United Nations warns global hunger is increasing and urgent action is needed to stave off famine and death over coming months in nearly two dozen unstable, violence-prone countries.A report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program said more than a half-million people are experiencing catastrophic levels of acute food …
Read more “Millions in 23 Hunger Hot Spots Face Famine, Death, UN Agencies Say”
The United States said Friday it has laid off nearly 200 local staffers working for its diplomatic missions in Russia ahead of an August 1 deadline set by the Kremlin for their dismissal. The move is the latest in a series of measures taken by both sides that have strained U.S.-Russia relations. Secretary of State Antony …
Read more “US Complies With Russia Ban, Lays Off Local Embassy Staff”
Amazon.com Inc has been hit with a record $886.6 million (746 million euros) European Union fine for processing personal data in violation of the bloc’s GDPR rules, as privacy regulators take a more aggressive position on enforcement.The Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD) imposed the fine on Amazon in a July 16 decision, the …
Britain’s transportation minister Friday defended the country’s decision to continue quarantine requirements on fully vaccinated French visitors, saying they do not want to take chances on thwarting their COVID-19 vaccination program.In an interview, Transport Minister Grant Shapps said Britain does not want to take chances with the progress of its vaccination program. He said the …
Read more “British Transportation Minister Defends Quarantining French Visitors”
Firefighters continued to battle raging wildfires in southern Turkey Friday that have killed at least four people and forced the evacuation of villages and hotels.More than 70 wildfires broke out this week in Turkey’s Mediterranean and southern Aegean region and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that crews were still trying to contain them in …
Read more “Firefighters Continue to Battle Deadly Wildfires in Southern Turkey”
Thursday marks the second and final day of the Global Education Summit in London, hosted by Kenya and the United Kingdom. International governments and corporations pledged to donate $4 billion for the Global Partnership for Education, which provides fair access to public education in 90 countries and territories that account for 80% of children out …
Read more “World Leaders Pledge $4 Billion to Public Education Affected by Pandemic”
With the Taliban continuing to make advances in Afghanistan, growing numbers of Afghan refugees are starting to arrive in Turkey. With Turkey already hosting millions of refugees, the government’s refugee policy is facing growing scrutiny.A video purportedly showing Afghan refugees found in the luggage compartment of a bus in Turkey is one of many postings …
Read more “Turkey Faces Dilemma as Afghan Refugees Start Arriving “
France’s European Affairs Minister on Thursday called Britain’s decision to lift quarantine requirements for all fully vaccinated travelers arriving from Europe except France “discriminatory and incomprehensible” and said he hopes it is reviewed as soon as possible. Clement Beaune made the comments during an interview on French television a day after Britain announced it was dropping …
Read more “France Calls British Travel Rules ‘Discriminatory,’ Not Science-Based”
As the U.S. Congress and criminal justice system pursue accountability for those involved in the January insurrection at the Capitol in Washington, a court in North Macedonia has sentenced several former officials for their roles in a 2017 assault on the parliament in Skopje.Both legislature attacks were aimed at disrupting the democratic process. Rioters stormed …
Read more “North Macedonia Sentences Former Officials in Parliament Attack”
An independent inquiry into the car bomb murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia found on Thursday that the state had to bear responsibility after creating a “culture of impunity.”Caruana Galizia was killed in a massive explosion as she drove out of her home on October 16, 2017.Prosecutors believe top businessman Yorgen Fenech, who had …
Read more “Malta Government Bears Responsibility for Journalist’s Murder, Inquiry Finds”
Los Angeles has bid farewell to Jivan Gasparyan, an Armenian musician and composer who was known as the master of the duduk, an Armenian woodwind instrument. Angelina Bagdasaryan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Vazgen Varzhabetian. …
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has kicked off the Prosper Africa Build Together initiative by requesting $80 million from Congress to build trade and investment between the U.S. and Africa. Dana Banks, U.S. senior director for Africa at the National Security Council, said Wednesday in an online news briefing that the U.S. was …
Read more “Biden Administration Launches Initiative to Build US-Africa Trade “