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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Wednesday defended his government’s COVID-19 response and preparations for a potential second wave of the pandemic as he fielded pointed questions from opposition lawmakers in parliament.In the House of Commons, opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer, referring to a report commissioned by the Government Office for Science, asked Johnson about the …
Read more “British PM Defends COVID-19 Response to Opposition”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko dismissed Western criticism on Wednesday after his two main challengers were barred from next month’s presidential election and police detained over 250 protesters.The European Union delegation to Belarus said excluding the two rivals “undermines the overall integrity and democratic nature of the elections,” and Europe’s election watchdog expressed concern about “key …
Read more “Belarus Leader Criticizes West After Protests Over Election Bans”
An artist has erected a statue of a Black Lives Matter protester atop the plinth in the English city of Bristol formerly occupied by a statue of a slave trader. Marc Quinn created the life-size resin and steel likeness of Jen Reid, a protester photographed standing on the plinth after demonstrators pulled down the …
Read more “Statue of Black Protester Replaces Toppled UK Slave Trader”
Hundreds marched in Minsk Tuesday after Belarus’ election officials refused to register two top opposition candidates for the August 9 presidential election. “We are categorically for honest and fair elections,” said one protester. It is unclear how many people were arrested Tuesday. The election commission allowed five candidates to put their names on the ballot but denied spots to opposition candidates Valery Tsepkalo and Viktor Babariko. Both are seen as the only serious competitors to longtime incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko. Tsepkalo is a former Belarusian ambassador to the United States. Election officials claim most of the names on the petition to …
Read more “Hundreds Protest Opposition Candidates’ Lockout in Belarus”
Spain’s Catalonia regional government pushed ahead Tuesday with FILE – Migrants who are seeking seasonal work stand in a square in Lleida, Spain, July 2, 2020.”What is proposed today goes far beyond a simple limitation of movement and seriously affects constitutionally recognized rights,” Judge Elena Garcia-Munoz Alarcos said. Quim Torra, president of Catalonia, stood firm and …
Read more “Catalonia’s Government Orders Coronavirus Lockdown, Bypassing Judge’s Ruling”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is voicing concern about the humanitarian consequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan clash as the two nations remain mired in conflict after two days of border clashes. Each side is blaming the other for the clashes. Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said, “Armenia’s political and military leadership will …
Read more “ICRC Voices Concern Over Renewed Fighting in Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict”
France will soon require people to wear masks in enclosed public places to prevent a rebound in COVID-19 cases, French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.After a two-month lockdown starting in March, France began easing restrictions in May, and reopened bars and restaurants in early June. But in recent weeks, France’s virus reproduction rate has crept …
Read more “France to Make Wearing Masks Compulsory in Enclosed Public Spaces, Macron Says”
The British government has banned China’s Huawei telecommunications equipment company from playing a limited role in Britain’s new high-speed mobile phone network.Britain’s Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said the country’s telecommunications operators have until 2027 to remove Huawei’s equipment that is currently used in Britain’s 5G network.Britain’s decision could have wide-ranging implications for relations between the …
Ousmann Umar knows only too well how tough it is for migrants from Africa to reach Europe. Dumped in the Sahara by trafficking gangs when he was only 13, he believed he would share the fate of other migrants whose bodies lay strewn on the route northwards. Unlike the others, he survived, not just the desert but every step of …
Read more “In Spain’s Complex Migration Game, Africans See a Disadvantage “
Several Azeri soldiers have been killed and Armenian soldiers and police wounded in border clashes, both countries said Monday, each accusing the other of encroaching on its territory. The two former Soviet republics have long been in conflict over Azerbaijan’s breakaway, mainly ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh, although the latest clashes occurred around the Tavush region …
Read more “Fighting Breaks Out on Azerbaijan-Armenia Border, Several Dead “
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday it is not clear whether EU member states would reach an agreement on a COVID-19 recovery fund and multi-year budget at a summit this week, given that differences remain. The leaders of EU member nations are scheduled to gather in person on Friday and Saturday to work out a compromise …
Read more “Merkel: Unclear if EU Will Approve Recovery Fund Plan This Week”
The legacy of former U.S. president Thomas Woodrow Wilson is going through a harsh re-examination by supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, but in at least one country abroad, his place in history is undisputed. Wilson, who occupied the White House from 1913 to 1921, “is being criticized for his allegedly racist views …
Read more “Despite Americans’ Second Thoughts, Czechs Admire Woodrow Wilson “
Investigators of the Federal Security Service have formally charged an aide to the chief of Russia’s Roskosmos space agency, journalist Ivan Safronov, with high treason. Safronov’s lawyer Ivan Pavlov said his client was indicted on July 13, adding that he reiterated his previous not guilty plea. Moscow police on July 13 detained about …
Poland’s incumbent President Andrzej Duda, a social conservative aligned with the ruling populist Law and Justice Party (PiS), secured a second term in office Sunday with a narrow margin of victory after an ill-tempered, mudslinging presidential race. His challenger’s supporters said they plan to contest the election result in Poland’s courts, a legal tussle …
Read more “Poland Presidential Election Likely Heading to Courts”
Election officials in North Macedonia carried ballot boxes to the homes of voters suffering from COVID-19 or in quarantine Monday, at the start of three days of voting in a general election that was delayed for months by the pandemic. Wearing white coveralls and other protective gear, the officials were visiting the homes of some …
Read more “North Macedonia: Ballot Boxes Carried to Quarantined Homes”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday it was important to wear face coverings in confined spaces such as shops and added that the government would be making an announcement in the coming days on possible steps to make them mandatory.Critics have accused Johnson’s government of failing to offer clarity on the mask issue in …
Read more “British PM Johnson Urges People to Wear Face Masks Indoors”
Incumbent Polish President Andrej Duda has won the presidential election. With 99 percent of the ballots counted from Sunday’s runoff election, Duda won 51.2 percent of the vote. The narrow victory was announced early Monday.The right-wing Duda and liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski both had about 50 percent of the votes late Sunday night with …
Read more “Incumbent Duda Wins Polish Presidential Election”
Thousands of Bulgarians gathered for a fourth day on Sunday in Sofia and other cities to protest against corruption and demand the resignation of the conservative government.Over 3,000 protesters shouted “Mafia!” and “Resign!” outside the government headquarters in Sofia and marched to parliament.The protests in the capital were sparked by an unprecedented raid by heavily …
Read more “Fourth Night of Anti-Government Protests in Bulgaria”
Iran claims “human error” was responsible for the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane earlier this year that killed all 176 people on board.The Iranian Civil Aviation authority said late Saturday, “A failure occurred due to a human error in following the procedure” for aligning the radar.The misalignment caused a “107-degree error” in the system, …
Voters in Poland are going to the polls Sunday for what most analysts say will be a close runoff election between right-wing President Andrzej Duda and centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski.In the first round of voting in late June, there was no clear winner. Duda received 43 percent of the votes, while Trzaskowski obtained 30 …
Thousands of Bulgarians, frustrated with endemic corruption, protested Saturday for a third day in a row, demanding the resignation of the center-right government of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the country’s chief prosecutor.Protesters, who chanted “Mafia” and “Resign” on Saturday, accuse Borissov’s third government and chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev of deliberately delaying investigations into links …
Read more “Thousands Call on Bulgarian Government to Resign in Anti-graft Protests”
The Czech people, occupied by Germany during World War II and then forced into the Soviet bloc, are no strangers to foreign coercion. That may be a factor in the anger in Prague over what many there see as Beijing’s heavy-handedness in dealing with their country.In a series of conversations centered on history and identity, …
Read more “Czech Diplomat Sees Spat With China Through History’s Lens”
Serbian police said Saturday they arrested 71 people after violence erupted in Belgrade late Friday during a fourth night of anti-government protests triggered by another coronavirus lockdown.The head of Serbian Police, Vladimir Rebic, said 14 riot police were injured as they tried to protect the parliament building with tear gas in downtown Belgrade from hundreds …
Read more “Anti-Government Protesters Arrested in Serbia After Another Coronavirus Lockdown”
A jury in San Francisco convicted Russian citizen Yevgeny Nikulin after a series of hacks and cyberthefts eight years ago that targeted major U.S. social-media companies such as LinkedIn and Dropbox.The District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday said Nikulin would be sentenced September 29.Nikulin, 32, faces up to 10 years in …