worldwide news
Since the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe and the United States, Austrian Ambassador Martin Weiss has tweeted a series of Martin Weiss, ambassador of Austria to the U.S. (in green jacket), seen here at the Austrian Airlines ticket counter March 23, 2020, as he helps ensure all goes smoothly as 300 Austrians head home.VOA: Three hundred …
Read more “Austria’s Ambassador in Washington Describes Life Amid Coronavirus”
Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Wednesday for global oil producers and consumers to address “challenging” oil markets, while U.S. President Donald Trump complained that oil cheaper “than water” was hurting the industry.Oil prices fell nearly 70% from January highs as coronavirus lockdowns hammered demand and as Saudi Arabia and Russia have flooded the market …
Read more “Putin Urges Action on ‘Challenging’ Energy Market”
Nations around the world are growing increasingly worried about violence linked to extreme right-wing terror groups, with new research showing there has been a 320% jump in the number of related attacks over the past five years.Deadly attacks over the past year, like the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, and in El Paso, Texas, in …
Read more “UN Warns Right-Wing Extremist Groups Getting Bolder, More Lethal “
Russian President Vladimir Putin postponed an April referendum on changing his country’s constitution, saying he’d wait until health officials give the OK for Russians to head to the polls without fear of the coronavirus. The proposed reforms provide Putin a legal lifeline to extend his rule, but they also enshrine conservative values and religion into …
Read more “Kremlin Appeals to Russia’s Religious Conservatives Ahead of Constitutional Vote”
The Wimbledon tennis championships in London — widely considered to be the world’s premier tennis event — will be canceled this year due the coronavirus pandemic. In statement Wednesday, the All England Tennis Club (AELTC) and the committee of management of the championships said the 2020 Grand Slam tournament — scheduled to be held June 29 …
Spain announced Wednesday it surpassed 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, while a senior Saudi official urged people planning to make the hajj pilgrimage to hold off on deciding for now.Spain is one of the global hot spots for the virus, trailing only the United States and Italy in terms of number of cases. Wednesday’s announcement also …
Read more “Spain Confirms 100,000 Coronavirus Cases; US Braces for Huge Death Toll”
With its street’s emptied by a nationwide coronavirus lockdown, the scenic, seaside Welsh town of Llandudno has been taken over by a herd of mountain goats.The goats’ usual habitat is the nearby scenic Great Orme Park regional park just outside of town, but locals speculate the empty streets of the usually busy tourist town drew …
Read more “Goats Invade Welsh Town Locked Down by Coronavirus”
Fellow scientists question his findings, but an unlikely mix of supporters — from French yellow vest protesters to U.S. President Donald Trump — are cheering their promise.Last month, French immunology specialist Didier Raoult had no Twitter account. Now, he has more than a quarter-million followers, and counting. The 68-year-old French physician has emerged as one of France’s most publicized and polarizing figures of these …
Read more “Controversial French Doctor Sparks Hope, Criticism for Coronavirus Research”
Turkey is being accused of “weaponizing” water against Syrian Kurds amid the coronavirus epidemic. Ankara is dismissing the accusation, however, as a “smear campaign.” U.S.-based Human Rights Watch warned Tuesday that “Turkish authorities’ failure to ensure adequate water supplies to Kurdish-held areas in northeast Syria is compromising humanitarian agencies’ ability to prepare and protect vulnerable communities in …
Read more “HRW: Ankara Denying Water to Syrian Kurds as Coronavirus Escalates”
In Greece, the case of an Iranian migrant now jailed on charges of inciting an insurrection is highlighting the Greek government’s rising concerns about a flare-up of clashes involving migrants along Greece’s border with Turkey. Greek authorities say the Iranian man — a self-described anarchist — was urging groups in Greece to arm asylum seekers trying to …
Read more “Greece Blocks Iranian From Plotting to Arm Asylum Seekers”
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan officially make the transition Tuesday from senior members of Britain’s royal family to — well, it’s unclear. International celebrities, charity patrons, global influencers? The royal schism that the couple triggered in January by announcing that they would step down from official duties, give up public funding, seek financial independence …
Read more “Royals No More: Harry and Meghan Start Uncertain New Chapter”
Ukraine’s parliament has voted to lift the ban on the sale of farmland in a move that would allow the country to get $8 billion worth of aid from the International Monetary Fund. The bill, long pushed by economists to stimulate investment in agriculture, was approved by 259 votes out of 450 late Monday. It …
Germany, Britain and France have facilitated exports of medical goods to Iran in the first use of a mechanism designed to get around U.S. sanctions, Germany said Tuesday.A German Foreign Ministry statement Tuesday did not specify what type of medical supplies were involved, nor any companies that were part of the action.It said now that …
Read more “Iran Gets Medical Aid Through US Sanctions Workaround”
Russia tightened controls aimed at combating the spread of the coronavirus on Monday, with Moscow introducing temporary quarantine measures, and the Kremlin moving to extend the lockdown nationwide. The new restrictions came as President Vladimir Putin discussed the coronavirus, among other issues, with President Donald Trump in a phone call that the Kremlin insisted was at …
Read more “Russia Embraces Quarantine Tactics Amid Coronavirus Surge”
Spain will delay a planned auction of 5G spectrum due to the coronavirus outbreak, the government said on Monday. As part of a Europe-wide drive to speed up the roll out of fast Internet and broaden coverage, Spain had been due to free up space in the 700 MHz band of its network by …
Read more “Spain Postpones 5G Spectrum Auction Due To Coronavirus”
Prince Harry and his American wife Meghan posted their last message as working members of Britain’s royal family on Monday before officially embarking on new careers without their “Royal Highness” styles. Harry and Meghan shocked Queen Elizabeth and the royal family in January by hastily announcing plans to take a step back from their royal roles. …
Read more “UK’s Prince Harry, Wife Meghan Bid Farewell to Royal Roles “
British heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, who had tested positive for coronavirus, is out of self-isolation after seven days and is in good health, his spokesman said on Monday. Last week, his Clarence House office revealed that Charles, 71, had been tested after displaying mild symptoms of the virus and had been in self-isolation at his Birkhall home in Scotland where …
Read more “UK’s Prince Charles, 71, Out of Self-Isolation, in Good Health “
Britain on Monday named career spy Ken McCallum as the new head of its MI5 domestic intelligence agency.McCallum, whose appointment was announced by interior minister Priti Patel, has worked for MI5 for almost 25 years and oversaw counter terrorism investigations in the run up to the 2012 London Olympics.He succeeds Andrew Parker who retires in …
Read more “Britain Names Ken McCallum as new Head of MI5 Spy Service”
Football leagues around the world have canceled soccer games for the foreseeable future as one of the measures to slow a rapid COVID-19 spread. But soccer, or football, as it is called in much of the world, continues to be played in Belarus where the number of confirmed infections is still relatively low.The country’s autocratic …
Britain is on an emergency footing for the first time since World War II. The move means the British government is setting up what it calls strategic coordination centers across the U.K. to distribute supplies to citizens to help combat the coronavirus outbreak. There are more than 22,000 British confirmed cases of coronavirus – Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince Charles are among them. More than …
Read more “Britain on Emergency Footing for First Time Since WWII”
Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have no plans to ask the U.S. government for help with security costs, the couple said in a statement on Sunday in response to a tweet from President Donald Trump that the United States would not pay for their protection.In January, the couple said they would step away …
Read more “UK’s Prince Harry, Wife Meghan, do not Need US Help for Security Costs, Spokeswoman Says”
The husband of the jailed British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says his wife has had her temporary release extended for another two weeks by the Iranian government.“Nazanin’s father got told today that it has been extended until Saturday, April 18, an extra two weeks,” husband Richard Ratcliffe told AFP in an e-mail on March 28.He …
Read more “Husband of Jailed UK-Iranian Woman Says Temporary Release Extended in Tehran”
In her first address to the nation on the coronavirus pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel calmly appealed to citizens’ reason and discipline to slow the spread of the virus, acknowledging as a woman who grew up in communist East Germany how difficult it is to give up freedoms, yet as a trained scientist emphasizing that …
Read more “Germany’s Merkel Shines in Virus Crisis Even as Power Wanes “
Italy, the European country hardest hit by the coronavirus, confirmed 10,023 people dead and 92,472 infected as of Saturday.Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte made the announcement Saturday evening in a joint appearance with Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri.On a somewhat positive note, Conte said that on Saturday Italy also had more than 1,400 people who recovered, …
Read more “Italy, Spain Hardest Hit by Coronavirus in Europe”