worldwide news
At least nine people have died and two are seriously injured after a cable car connecting Italy’s Maggiore lake with a mountain close by plunged on Sunday, the national alpine rescue service said. The Stresa-Mottarone cable car takes tourists and locals from the famous town of Stresa, on lake Maggiore, up almost 1400 meters above sea level …
Martin Bashir, the BBC journalist who tricked princess Diana into giving an explosive interview, on Sunday apologized to Princes William and Harry, but said claims linking his actions to her death were “unreasonable.” A report by retired senior judge John Dyson published on Thursday found that Bashir commissioned faked bank statements that falsely suggested some of …
Read more “Shamed BBC Journalist Apologizes Over Diana Interview “
Move over sequins, disco beats and power ballads. A four-piece band of Italian rockers won the Eurovision Song Contest in the early hours of Sunday.Maneskin’s win was only the third victory for Italy in the immensely popular contest and the first since Toto Cutugno took the honor in 1990.Italy, the bookmakers’ favorite, trailed Switzerland, France …
Read more “Rock Band Maneskin Wins Eurovision Song Contest for Italy”
Tony Hall, who was director of BBC news and current affairs at the time of the public broadcaster’s explosive 1995 interview with Princess Diana, resigned Saturday as board chairman of Britain’s National Gallery.Hall, who subsequently rose to the top job at the BBC, was heavily criticized in a report this week for a botched inquiry …
Read more “Ex-BBC Head Quits Gallery Job Amid Diana Interview Fallout”
The United States formally blacklisted more than a dozen Russian ships involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, days after exempting the pipeline’s Russian operator and CEO.The widely expected move, announced late on May 21 by the U.S. Treasury Department, came amid vehement criticism from congressional Republicans about the White House’s …
The United Nations’ cultural agency has opened an exhibit detailing plans to restore multicultural landmarks in the Iraqi city of Mosul, underlining the role of architecture in helping heal wounds.The exhibit, “Revive the Spirit of Mosul,” will be featured on the sidelines of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition, which opened Saturday after a one-year pandemic …
Read more “UNESCO Exhibit in Venice Focuses on Rebuilding Mosul Sites”
The sanctioning of Albania’s former leader for “significant corruption” is being cast as part of a drive by the new U.S. administration to fight corruption and promote democracy worldwide. But some analysts are questioning the wisdom of punishing a foreign politician for actions not directly affecting the United States. In announcing the sanctions on Sali Berisha …
Read more “US Sanction of Former Albanian PM Sends Message but Raises Questions”
Desperate teenagers and jobless men from Morocco’s coastal towns, its mountainous east or even farther away converged on the border town of Fnideq this week, part of an extraordinary mass effort to swim or scale barbed-wire fences to get into Spain for a chance at a new life.More than 8,000 migrants made it into the …
Read more “Migrant Surge on Spain-Morocco Border Brings More Suffering “
James E. Pepper bourbon is as old as America itself.”Originally founded during the American Revolution,” says its current owner, Amir Peay, who adds that since it was established in 1780, this distinct brand of bourbon made in Kentucky has passed the lips of many prominent Americans. “The favorite brand of Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Jackson, …
Read more “Kentucky Bourbon Producer Welcomes Pause in EU Tariff Hike”
German health officials said Friday the nation has broken the third wave of COVID-19 infections, but cautioned the pandemic is far from over.German Health Minster Jens Spahn, joined by Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases (RKI) President Lothar Wieler, said the nation as a whole — and most of Germany’s 400 cities and counties — …
Read more “German Health Minister Says 3rd COVID Wave Broken”
International exports of bourbon, an American whiskey mostly made in the southern state of Kentucky, have dropped dramatically as a result of the trade war that began during former President Donald Trump’s administration. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, tariffs imposed by the EU on bourbon continue to hurt Kentucky’s $8 billion industry which employs more than …
Read more “Kentucky Bourbon Industry Welcomes Pause in EU Tariff Hike”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced alarm at Russia’s military build up in the Arctic region, at a summit of the Arctic Council in Iceland late Thursday. “We’re committed to advancing a peaceful Arctic region where cooperation prevails on climate, the environment, science and safety and where sustainable economic development benefits the …
Read more “US, Russia Spar Over Military Buildup at Arctic Summit”
An inquiry into how the BBC secured the 1995 interview with Britain’s Princess Diana in which she disclosed intimate details of her failed marriage concluded on Thursday that the journalist involved had acted deceitfully. The BBC set up the investigation, headed by former senior Court judge John Dyson, in November following allegations from Diana’s brother Charles …
Read more “BBC, Journalist Bashir Criticized Over 1995 Princess Diana Interview “
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced alarm at Russia’s military build up in the Arctic region, at a summit of the Arctic Council in Iceland late Thursday. “We’re committed to advancing a peaceful Arctic region where cooperation prevails on climate, the environment, science and safety and where sustainable economic development benefits the …
Read more “US, Russia Spar Over Military Build-Up at Arctic Summit”
Spain, one of the early epicenters the COVID pandemic, has been rushing to get its population vaccinated. Thirty-three percent now have received at least a first dose. But aid agencies and advocates estimate many of the country’s one million undocumented migrants are not getting vaccinated because of fear. Jonathan Spier narrates this report from Alfonso …
Read more “Language Barriers, Fear Keep Spain’s Migrants from Getting COVID Vaccine”
The European Union Thursday announced it has signed a third contract with Pfizer-BioNTech for an additional 1.8 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, running from the end of this year through 2022. Announcing the new contract in a statement posted to her Twitter account, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for 900 million …
Read more “EU Signs Contract with Pfizer for 1.8 Billion Additional Vaccine Doses “
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director for Europe said Thursday that COVID-19 cases in the region have dropped by 60% in the past month but cautions that progress is fragile and European countries are still struggling with the pandemic. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. Speaking at his weekly briefing in Copenhagen where …
Read more “WHO Europe Director Cautions COVID-19 Progress ‘Fragile’ “
Climate change and cooperation among Arctic states are among the topics of discussion Thursday in Reykjavik, Iceland, as the Arctic Council holds a ministerial meeting.“We value our strong international cooperation through the Council to address the climate crisis and keep the Arctic region peaceful,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ahead of Thursday’s talks.Earlier …
Read more “Top US, Russian Diplomats Meet Face-to-Face at Arctic Summit”
Bulgaria’s caretaker government appears poised to approve a series of freedom-of-information requests from the country’s media which are likely to fuel explosive allegations of corruption against former prime minister Boyko Borissov and a group of his business associates, say local journalists. And the caretaker prime minister, Stefan Yanev, who has been in power for …
Read more “Bulgaria’s Borissov Battles Graft Claims as Caretaker Government Starts Clean-Up”
Climate change and cooperation among Arctic states are among the topics of discussion Thursday in Reykjavik, Iceland, as the Arctic Council holds a ministerial meeting.“We value our strong international cooperation through the Council to address the climate crisis and keep the Arctic region peaceful,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ahead of Thursday’s talks.Earlier …
The United States says it is ready to work with Russia to advance areas where the two nations have “intersecting interests,” while continuing to defend U.S. interests and respond if Moscow acts aggressively against Washington and its allies.”There are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap, and we believe that we can work together …
Read more “Top US, Russian Diplomats Meet in Iceland to Cooperate on ‘Intersecting Interests’”
The U.S. will waive sanctions against the German company leading construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, according to a State Department report sent to Congress on Wednesday. The report noted that while the German firm Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO had violated U.S. law in their work with Russia to build the natural …
Read more “US Waives Sanctions on Firm Working on Germany-Russia Pipeline ”
After protests against police violence in France, tens of thousands of officers and their supporters staged their own rally Wednesday in Paris, demanding tougher measures against violence and insecurity that have targeted their ranks.Police, politicians and ordinary Parisians braved a mix of sun and pelting rain to protest outside France’s National Assembly.Loren Bazan, 29, whose …
Read more “Thousands Join Paris Police Rally Against Violence, Insecurity “
Nicola Sturgeon took the oath of office Wednesday to return as Scotland’s first minister following an election earlier this month that saw her Scottish National Party (SNP) win a resounding election victory, allowing her to push ahead with plans for a second independence referendum. The SNP won 64 seats in the Scottish parliament, just one short …
Read more “Nicola Sturgeon Sworn in Again as Scotland’s First Minister”