worldwide news
At a time of isolation, people in many European cities hit hard by the new coronavirus are taking at least a minute each night to come together in gratitude.They stand at open windows or on balconies in Rome, Madrid, Paris, Athens and Amsterdam, singing, cheering and applauding even though they know their intended audience is …
Read more “Europeans Sing Praises of Health Workers from their Windows”
In Italy, the Veneto region has initiated mass screening of citizens to find asymptomatic carriers of coronavirus. The action follows mass screening in a single town that has had no new cases since March 13. Veneto Governor Luca Zaia has decided to launch large-scale testing of the entire population of the northeast Italian region. …
Read more “Italy’s Veneto Region to Test Everyone for Coronavirus “
The trial in absentia of three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with multiple counts of murder over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 resumed briefly at The Hague on Tuesday amid coronavirus restrictions.The Dutch judges in the trial read out several preliminary decisions before ruling to adjourn the case …
Read more “MH17 Trial Resumes Briefly Amid Coronavirus Restrictions”
The United States could become the global epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, as Britain went into lockdown and Olympic organizers considered postponing the 2020 Tokyo Games. But the Chinese province of Hubei, where the virus was first identified in December, said it would lift travel restrictions on people leaving …
Read more “US Could Become ‘Coronavirus Epicenter,’ UK Locks Down, Olympics in Doubt “
Italy, which has suffered by far the deadliest consequences of the novel coronavirus outbreak, reported Tuesday a third consecutive day in which its daily deaths and new infections declined. The 601 deaths recorded Monday are still a staggering figure, but one that is a vast improvement from nearly 800 on Saturday. Italy has reported more than 6,000 …
Read more “Hard-Hit Italy Sees Slowing of New Coronavirus Cases, Deaths”
Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange say they will file papers Wednesday to have him released on bail because he is at risk of contracting coronavirus. Assange is being held at a London-area prison as he fights extradition to the United States, where he has been charged with espionage for obtaining classified government documents from former …
The long-awaited trial of a former U.S. Marine facing charges of espionage got under way in Moscow on Monday — with U.S. officials accusing Russia of providing no evidence in a spy case that has proved an added irritant to already troubled relations between the two countries. Paul Whelan, 50, was arrested by FSB security agents in late December 2018 …
Read more “Trial Begins for Former US Marine Accused of Espionage in Russia”
Turkish security forces detained five elected Kurdish mayors Monday in anti-terror raids, a move that was condemned by human rights groups, as Turkey is grappling with the coronavirus pandemic. The mayors are members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which swiftly attacked the detentions. “We reject with hatred this vile attempt that does not shy away from showing enmity against Kurds, even in these difficult days when the whole …
Read more “Kurdish Crackdown Continues in Turkey, Despite Health Emergency “
Turkish officials are threatening to seize factories where face masks are produced if the companies running them do not agree to sell their products to the government.Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told Turkish state-run media Monday the companies must stop hoarding their stock and sign contracts with the health ministry or they will be seized. …
Read more “Turkey Threatens to Seize Face Mask Producing Factories”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has gone into quarantine after being informed that a doctor who administered a vaccine to her has tested positive for the new coronavirus.Merkel, 65, was informed about the doctor’s test shortly after holding a news conference Sunday announcing new measures to curb the spread of the virus, her spokesman Steffen Seibert …
Read more “Merkel in Quarantine After Doctor Tests Positive for Virus”
The troubles of opera superstar Placido Domingo continue to mount.The 79-year-old Domingo announced Sunday he has tested positive for the coronavirus.He said in a Facebook post it is his “moral duty” to reveal that he has the illness.The tenor says he and his family are in self-quarantine, adding that except for a fever and a …
Read more “Opera Superstar Placido Domingo Tests Positive for Coronavirus”
Britons have been urged to not visit their mother’s Sunday as the country celebrates Mother’s Day amid a worsening coronavirus outbreak. “If your mother is elderly or vulnerable, then I am afraid all the statistics show that she is much more likely to die from coronavirus,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in an address to the …
Europe is now the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak as the virus continues to spread. New cases in China, where the outbreak began, have started to decline. A view of an empty street, in Rome, March 21, 2020. Mayors of many towns in Italy are asking for ever more stringent measures on citizens’ movements to help …
Read more “Italian Prime Minister: Coronavirus is ‘Most Difficult Crisis in Our Postwar Period’ “
Young German adults hold “corona parties” and cough toward older people. A Spanish man leashes a goat to go for a walk to skirt confinement orders. From France to Florida to Australia, kitesurfers, college students and others crowd beaches.Their defiance of lockdown mandates and scientific advice to fight the coronavirus pandemic has prompted crackdowns by …
Read more “Virus Rebels From France to Florida Smirk at Lockdowns”
A strong earthquake shook Croatia and its capital Sunday, causing widespread damage and panic. One death as been reported.The European seismological agency, EMSC, said the earthquake measured 5.3 and struck a wide area north of the capital, Zagreb, at 6:23 a.m. local time Sunday. The epicenter was 7 kilometers (4 miles) north of Zagreb at the …
Read more “Strong Earthquake Shakes Croatia, Damages Buildings”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing twin challenges from former key allies as discontent grows over a sluggish economy and deteriorating human rights. Earlier this month, Ali Babacan launched the Deva Party, which means remedy. The party’s message is of greater rights, democracy and gender equality. Ali Babacan once a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan …
Like many Parisians who could, I fled the capital on Day One of the coronavirus lockdown. Green space, even a garden, sounded a whole lot better than being stuck in a small apartment for weeks and maybe more. As people packed train stations, desperate to join family in the countryside, I headed out by bike to the Paris …
Russia is very likely behind a disinformation campaign on coronavirus in the Western media, intended to fuel panic and discord among allies, experts tell VOA. The European Union has accused Moscow of pushing fake news online in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French, using “contradictory, confusing and malicious reports” to make it harder for the bloc …
Read more “Analysts: Russia Using Virus Crisis to Sow Discord in West “
Two former close allies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have formed new political parties, a move that could threaten his hold on power. The two parties are calling for a more democratic Turkey but, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, they are likely to face formidable challenges. …
The Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged reported no new homegrown cases Thursday, while the death toll in Italy was poised to overtake China’s in a stark illustration of how the crisis has pivoted toward Europe and the U.S. The outbreak spread to at least one European head of state, 62-year-old Prince Albert II …
Read more “Italian Virus Death Toll Nears China’s as Outbreak Spreads”
Parisians marked dusk on the first day of their coronavirus lockdown this week by stepping out on their balconies and throwing open their windows to cheer and applaud the front-line fighting of doctors and nurses of the virulent viral enemy that has upended life around the world.In neighboring Italy and Spain, health workers also received …
The prime minister in the Netherlands has offered reassurances amid the global coronavirus outbreak: telling citizens on Thursday there is no shortage of toilet paper. “Yes, I have enough,” Mark Rutte told a shopper in an informal exchange while visiting a supermarket to show support for workers. “They have it (on shelves) again.” …
Read more “Dutch PM Tells Citizens to Relax, Saying There’s Enough Toilet Paper for 10 Years”
The Olympic flame is set to arrive in Japan from Greece even as the opening of the Tokyo Games in four months is in doubt with more voices calling for the event to be postponed or canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The flame will touch down Friday aboard a white aircraft painted with the inscription …
Read more “Flame Arrival Faces Calls for Tokyo Olympics be Delayed “
As lockdown becomes the new norm in Europe, people in France — the EU’s third largest economy — discuss their experiences during the coronavirus pandemic.Busy avenues like the Champs Elysées are not buzzing these days in the French capital. Since Monday at noon local time, French citizens have been ordered to remain home and self-quarantine to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Many are teleworking and taking care of their children, since the schools are …