Category: World

The Australian airline company Qantas says it will require international travelers in the future to prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to fly, as another pharmaceutical company announces progress in creating a potential vaccine to fight the coronavirus.In an interview with Australia’s Nine Network on Monday, Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said …

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Scotland’s High Court will begin hearing an appeal Tuesday of the conviction of a Libyan man found guilty of the 1988 Lockerbie aircraft bombing, the deadliest militant attack in British history. Pam Am Flight 103 was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988 en route from London to New York, an attack …

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A coronavirus vaccine developed by Britain’s University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca has shown successful results in early trials. If it is approved by regulators, the vaccine appears suitable for a fast rollout around the globe. Early analysis of trials involving 20,000 volunteers in Britain and Brazil show the vaccine is at least 62% …

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled an updated plan for handling Britain’s COVID-19 infection after the country’s partial national lockdown is lifted December 2.In video message to Parliament Monday, Johnson said the lockdown will be lifted next Wednesday as promised. He said although Britain will return to the regional system that was in place …

Read more “British PM Lays Out Post-Lockdown Restrictions   ”

The European Union is no stranger to protracted fights, but a confrontation over the bloc’s multiyear budget and conditions attached to the disbursement of a coronavirus recovery fund look set to play out for most of the rest of this year, deepening the rift between the western and eastern halves of the continent.     …

Read more “Hungary, Poland Remain Defiant in Standoff With EU “

A speedboat that appeared to have been smuggling migrants to the Greek island of Rhodes from nearby Turkey partially sank before reaching land, leaving one person dead, Greece’s coast guard said on Monday. The coast guard said it received information about the speedboat near the northwestern coast of Rhodes on Monday morning. Thirteen people who …

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Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy goes on trial Monday accused of trying to bribe a judge and of influence-peddling, one of several criminal investigations that threaten to cast an ignominious pall over his decades-long political career.Prosecutors allege Sarkozy offered to secure a plum job in Monaco for judge Gilbert Azibert in return for confidential information …

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When leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Croatia gathered in the U.S. city of Dayton, Ohio, in November 1995, war in Bosnia had been raging for almost four years. It exacerbated deep ethnic tensions, drove almost 2 million people from their homes and claimed about 100,000 lives.     A few months earlier, Serb …

Read more “Dayton Accords 25 Years Later: Bosnia Got Blueprint for Peace but not for Its Future”

More than 200 people have been arrested, a rights group said Sunday, as Belarusians continued to protest longtime President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk. Thousands of people took to the streets to demand Lukashenko’s resignation. According to rights watchdog Vesna-96, 205 people had been taken into custody, despite activists’ efforts to decentralize protests in hopes of evading …

Read more “Hundreds Detained in Ongoing Belarus Protests Against Longtime President “

The United States formally withdrew on Sunday from the Open Skies Treaty, an 18-year-old arms control and verification agreement that Washington repeatedly accused Moscow of violating. The withdrawal is the latest blow to the system of international arms control that U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly scorned, complaining that Washington was being either deceived or unfairly …

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that his country, an official candidate for European Union membership, sees itself as an inseparable part of Europe but will not give in to attacks and double standards. “We see ourselves as an inseparable part of Europe… However this does not mean that we will bow down to overt …

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France’s Foreign Ministry has demanded Pakistan authorities withdraw comments made by one of its ministers that President Emmanuel Macon was treating Muslims like Nazis had treated Jews in World War II. The comments posted on Twitter by Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari on Saturday came as part of a clash between Pakistan and …

Read more “France Demands Pakistan Rectifies Macron Nazi Jibe  “

Skeletal remains of what are believed to have been a rich man and his male slave attempting to escape death from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago have been discovered in Pompeii, officials at the archaeological park in Italy said Saturday.Parts of the skulls and bones of the two men were found …

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The United Nations’ refugee agency is urging Greece to stamp out migrant abuse and investigate multiple accusations of pushbacks at the country’s sea and land borders with neighboring Turkey.The UNHCR statement issued late Thursday echoes portions of a report published hours earlier by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). The …

Read more “UNHCR, EU Slam Greece Over Migrant Pushbacks, Abuse”

France will always remember 2015 as a deadly year with several terrorist attacks, including one that targeted the Charlie Hebdo magazine headquarters and another at the Bataclan concert hall. But one attack was foiled that year on an Amsterdam-to-Paris train.On August 21, a gunman with an AK-47 and a bag of nearly 300 rounds of ammunition …

Read more “Americans Who Foiled Attempted Attack on Train Are Back in Paris to Testify”

More than 15 million people in Europe have been infected with coronavirus, making it the worst-hit region in the world.  Authorities hope new lockdowns will get the situation under control.  More with VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo. …

Spain continues to struggle with an influx of migrants arriving at the Canary Islands in recent weeks.Nearly 17,000 migrants have arrived this year, which has overwhelmed a temporary facility at Arguineguin port on Gran Canaria, AFP reported. The facility was designed to hold 400, AP noted, adding that many migrants sleep on concrete and spend …

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The shopping holiday known as Black Friday has been postponed for a week in France, as major retailers have accepted the government’s request for delay to help small shop owners, still closed due to the pandemic.With more than $7 billion in sales last year, Black Friday has become a major event in France and a …

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A Russian court has sentenced a man convicted of spying for the United States to 13 years in prison, Russia’s Federal Security Service said in a statement Friday.   On November 17, the Bryansk western regional court declared Yuriy Yeshchenko “guilty of high treason,” the statement said, adding that he would serve the jail term …

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Britain has announced a $21.8 billion increase in defense spending over the next four years, its largest military investment since the end of the Cold War. The government said it was needed to counter the multitude of threats the country faces, Henry Ridgwell reports.  Camera: Henry Ridgwell   …

The U.S. Department of the Treasury slapped sanctions on two companies operating out of Russia on Thursday for their alleged involvement in the exploitation of forced labor from North Korea.  According to a statement by the Treasury Department, sanctions will be imposed on Mokran LLC, a Russian construction company, and Korea Cholsan General Trading Corp., …

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Saying the world is now more perilous and competitive than at any time since the Cold War, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed Thursday adding nearly $22 billion in new defense spending over the next four years. Speaking remotely to Parliament while isolating for COVID-19 exposure, Johnson said based on the current international situation and …

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The head of Germany’s disease control agency said Thursday that while the coronavirus infection rate in the country remains serious, there are signs a partial lockdown is working.Germany implemented restrictive measures in early November to curb a nationwide surge in cases, closing bars, restaurants and other leisure venues but keeping schools and shops open.Speaking to …

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The BBC’s board of directors has approved the appointment of a retired senior judge to lead an independent investigation into the circumstances around a controversial 1995 TV interview with Princess Diana, the broadcaster said Wednesday.The announcement came after Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, made renewed claims this month that BBC journalist Martin Bashir used forged statements …

Read more “BBC Names Retired Judge to Lead Probe Into 1995 Diana Interview “