worldwide news
Despite acquiescing to a compromise solution at last week’s rancorous but ultimately successful EU summit, Dutch diplomats are offering no apology for their country’s tough stand on financial assistance to the members worst hit by the global pandemic.Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte and other leaders of what became known as “the frugal four” argued against …
Read more “Ambassador to US Defends Netherlands’ Tough EU Stance”
The U.S. military has accused Russia of sending weapons and mercenaries to Libya in an attempt to gain a foothold in the north African country. U.S. Africa Command’s latest accusation against Russia came on July 24, as Libya’s rival camps face off in a battle over the strategic central coastal city of Sirte. The Pentagon …
Read more “US Accuses Russia of Sending Arms, Mercenaries to Libya”
A new report says thousands of African refugees and migrants die or face abuse while traveling across the Sahara Desert toward Libya and the gateway to Europe. The report by the U.N. refugee agency and the Mixed Migration Center at the Danish Refugee Council describes the harrowing journeys taken by east and west African irregular …
Read more “Report: African Refugees, Migrants Encounter Violence Along Sahara Migratory Route”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced he had tested positive but successfully overcome the novel coronavirus on Tuesday — adding a new twist to a charged presidential election season in the former Soviet republic often called the “last dictatorship in Europe.”Lukashenko, 65, revealed the news during a Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, candidate for the presidential elections, reacts during …
Holocaust survivors around the world are lending their voices to a campaign launched Wednesday targeting Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to take action to remove denial of the Nazi genocide from the social media site. Coordinated by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the #NoDenyingIt campaign uses Facebook itself to …
Read more “Holocaust Survivors Urge Facebook to Remove Denial Posts”
Turkey is poised to introduce drastic measures to control social media platforms. The proposed legislation is drawing growing international criticism with social media remaining one of the few venues for dissent. FILE – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech at the Bestepe National Congress and Culture Center in Ankara, July 21, 2020.Infuriated by tweets …
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who had COVID-19, said the pandemic lockdown made him feel “humiliated and offended” by depriving him of his freedom to come and go as he wanted. Bocelli spoke at a panel Monday in a Senate conference room, where he was introduced by right-wing opposition leader Matteo Salvini, who has railed against …
Read more “Tenor Bocelli, Who Had COVID, Says Lockdown Humiliated Him”
The advert on an elevator door at Washington’s Dulles airport read: “Say Hi And Smile At Your Fellow Travelers. It’s Good for Everyone.” That’s easier said than done when you are wearing a mask – and there are no other travelers in sight! I am used to flying a lot. Because of work, sometimes several times a month. …
Read more “COVID-19 Diary: Why Aren’t the English Wearing Masks?”
Austria’s tourism industry received a blow after 53 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed since last week in the popular resort town of St. Wolfgang. The lakeside resort shortened bar opening hours after a coronavirus outbreak was detected on Friday. The local tourism office said at least 50 of those new cases were seasonal workers …
Read more “Austrian Resort Town Reports Sudden COVID-19 Surge”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging citizens to exercise and shed weight, saying he has done so since his recovery earlier this year from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The prime minister’s office introduced a “Better Health” campaign Monday and released a video of himself walking his dog and talking up the …
St. Bernards are known for helping to rescue distressed travelers in the mountains, but the tables were turned Sunday in northern England. Sixteen volunteers from the Wasdale mountain rescue team took turns carrying Daisy, a 55 kilogram St Bernard, from England’s highest peak, Scafell Pike. The mountain rescue team spent nearly five hours rescuing Daisy, who had collapsed …
Read more “Mountain Rescuers Heft Ailing St Bernard Off English Peak”
A Brooklyn man who told French police investigators that he killed his wife by stabbing her twice during an argument has been charged with her murder, a prosecutor said Monday. The French-American, identified in French media reports as Billy Kruger, told investigators that he acted in self-defense, Marie-Agnès Joly, a prosecutor in the southwest city of …
Read more “American Charged with Aggravated Murder of Wife in France “
Serbia is seeking to further strengthen its armed forces by purchasing more warplanes, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Sunday. Vucic made the statement while visiting an army tank brigade in Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia’s autonomous province of Vojvodina. “We cannot keep track of the gifts and donations that certain NATO counties in the neighborhood are getting from the United States, Germany and other countries and therefore we must …
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is blaming the surge in coronavirus cases in Arizona, Florida and Texas on two conservative-leaning newspapers – The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post. Cuomo told reporters Sunday that the infection rate in New York – the nation’s former COVID-19 epicenter – is low because of what he says was an “intelligent, phased reopening.” He said what both papers have recommended for the rest of the country has proved to …
Read more “NY Governor Says 2 Conservative Newspapers Fueling COVID Surge”
Turkey’s decision to convert the ancient Hagia Sophia monument back into a mosque has sparked a war of words between Athens and Ankara. However, as Greece intensifies its diplomatic scramble to slap sanctions on Turkey, Greek businesses have launched a campaign to boycott goods and services from the neighboring country.Vassilis Korkidis, a leading representative of …
Read more “Greek Businesses Move to Boycott Trade with Turkey over Hagia Sophia”
Britain’s Prince Harry took offence at what he thought was Prince William’s “snobbishness” when he advised his brother to “take as much time as you need to get to know this girl” when he was dating Meghan Markle, a new book says.Harry and his wife, Meghan, have distanced themselves from the book called “Finding Freedom,” …
Read more “Prince Harry Took Offence at Brother’s Advice, Says Book”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday the Russian Navy would be armed with hypersonic nuclear strike weapons and underwater nuclear drones, which the defence ministry said were in their final phase of testing. Putin, who says he does not want an arms race, has often spoken of a new generation of Russian nuclear weapons that …
Read more “Putin says Russian Navy to Get Hypersonic Nuclear Strike Weapons “
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has expressed its regret over Saturday’s death of Kyrgyz human rights defender Azimjan Askarov in prison.“Today, we grieve together with Azimjan’s family and all who knew him,” the organization said in a statement.Askarov, a long-standing partner of ODIHR, had for …
Read more “OSCE Agency Expresses Regret Over Death of Kyrgyz Human Rights Defender”
Europe’s airlines, hoteliers and tour operators fear abrupt changes to coronavirus travel rules by governments are killing their chances to salvage something of a wrecked vacation season.The British government’s sudden decision Saturday to add Spain to its list of “at-risk” countries, forcing tens of thousands of Britons already holidaying in Spain to quarantine for 14 …
Poland will take steps next week to withdraw from a European treaty on violence against women, which the right-wing cabinet says violates parents’ rights by requiring schools to teach children about gender, the justice minister said on Saturday.Zbigniew Ziobro told a news conference his ministry would submit a request to the labor and families ministry …
Read more “Poland to Quit Treaty on Violence Against Women, Minister Says”
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the streets of Russia’s Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk for a third weekend on Saturday to show their anger over the Kremlin’s replacement of a popular regional governor.The sustained demonstrations represent a growing challenge for President Vladimir Putin, who is viewed as having a role in sparking the regional crisis …
Read more “Anti-Putin Protests in Russia’s Far East Gather Steam”
Tens of thousands of people marched Saturday across Russia’s Far East city of Khabarovsk on the border with China to protest the arrest of the regional governor on murder charges, continuing a two-week wave of protests that has challenged the Kremlin.Sergei Furgal has been in a Moscow jail since his arrest on July 9, and …
Read more “Massive Protest Against Governor’s Arrest Challenges Kremlin”
Britain abruptly imposed a two-week quarantine on all travelers arriving from Spain after a surge of coronavirus cases, a dramatic and sudden reversal Saturday to the opening of the European continent to tourism after months of lockdown.The quarantine requirement was due to take effect at midnight (2300 GMT on Saturday), making it impossible for travelers …
Read more “UK Quarantines Travelers From Spain in Sudden Blow to Europe’s Revival”
Lights! Crickets. Birds. Bats. Action! The ancient theater of Epidaurus, renowned for its acoustics, has reopened for a limited number of open-air performances, with organizers planning a live-streamed event Saturday for the first time in the Greek monument’s 2,300-year history.Live concerts and events have been mostly canceled in Greece this summer due to the coronavirus …
Read more “Ancient Greek Theaters Return to Life in Pandemic”