Worldwide news. The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a “plurality of worlds”
None of the remaining 700-plus guests at a hotel in Spain’s Canary Islands on lockdown over the coronavirus have shown any symptoms of the virus and 130 of them have been cleared to leave, a spokesman for the regional government said on Thursday.”All these tourists, clients, guests present no symptoms … and a decision has …
Read more “Over 100 Guests Cleared to Leave Tenerife Hotel on Coronavirus Lockdown”
Filmmaker Roman Polanski is skipping the awards ceremony for France’s equivalent of the Oscars – where his latest movie leads this year’s nominations – because of protests prompted by a new rape accusation against him.Women’s rights activists have called for a boycott of Friday’s Cesars ceremony in Paris, and plastered anti-Polanski banners and graffiti at …
Read more “Top Nominee Polanski to Skip French Oscars After Rape Claim”
Pope Francis is sick and he skipped a planned Mass with Rome clergy across town on Thursday, officials said.The Vatican said the 83-year-old pontiff had a “slight indisposition” and would proceed with the rest of his planned work on Thursday. But Francis “preferred to stay near Santa Marta,” the Vatican hotel where he lives.There was …
Read more “Pope Cancels Visit with Rome Priests for ‘Slight’ Illness”
Contemporary Moscow can often seem a glittery city of dreams — the Russian capital arguably more efficient, clean and well-run than many of its Western counterparts. But behind the glamour lies an uncomfortable truth: Russia’s largest city is choking on garbage. The city’s 12 million residents produce more than 7 million tons of waste per year — 20% …
Read more “Moscow Ships its Trash to its Neighbors, and They’re Fighting Back”
The Russian government is facing a mounting trash crisis as dozens of Russian towns are increasingly angry over shipments of garbage from Moscow and other urban centers to surrounding landfills. With the Kremlin facing growing public pressure over the issue, the government has introduced a novel idea: recycling. Charles Maynes reports from Moscow. …
Jerome Regnault guides a tractor through his fields on a windy afternoon, scanning a landscape west of Paris that is radically different from what it was during his grandfather’s days. Highways and housing projects are creeping in. Technology and international markets are increasingly driving his business. Farmers like Regnault say they now face another unsettling phenomenon — …
Norway’s Public Health Agency (FHI) said on Wednesday that one person had tested positive for coronavirus and was being kept isolated at home, in what was the country’s first confirmed case.The person had returned from China late last week, but did not appear ill and was unlikely to infect others, the agency said.”This person is …
Recent months have seen European farmers protesting a raft of grievances, including a new phenomenon, agribashing — verbal and sometimes physical attacks against the agricultural community. But in France, the European Union’s biggest agricultural producer, one group of farmers is trying to change perceptions and rebuild fraying ties with society. Lisa Bryant has the story for VOA. …
Read more “Some French Farmers Try to Counter Attacks, Reconnect With Consumers”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has issued a decree designating February 26 a memorial day to mark the seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea region by Russia in 2014.Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula in March 2014 after sending in troops and staging a referendum deemed illegitimate by at least 100 countries. In April that year, Russia threw …
Read more “Zelenskiy Declares Feb. 26 Memorial Day to Mark Russia’s Seizure of Crimea”
Just call him Harry.The British prince who is preparing to step back from royal duties would normally be referred to as sir or his royal highness. But as he was introduced to speak about sustainable tourism at an event in Scotland on Wednesday, the Duke of Sussex said the formality no longer was necessary.”He’s made …
Read more “Call Me Harry: Prince Eschews Royal Label in Scotland Speech”
European governments are readying plans for coping with a possible coronavirus pandemic, despite the fact that the numbers of COVID-19 cases are still small in Europe compared to Asia.Officials in several counties admit that they expect the novel virus, which has infected at least 80,000 people worldwide and killed nearly 3000, to spread and say …
Read more “European Governments Drafting ‘Pandemic’ Contingency Plans”
Parts of Northern Italy are on lockdown following an outbreak of the Coronavirus or Covid-19 as it’s known, with at least seven deaths in the region. The sudden outbreaks in recent days, from South Korea to Iran to Italy, have raised fears that the virus – which originated in China – will turn into a …
Read more “Europe Struggles to Contain Coronavirus Outbreaks, African Economy Hit Hard”
European Union members said Tuesday they are ready to offer Britain a substantial and wide-ranging post-Brexit trade deal, but differences between the two sides are wide — even before they start talks next week.Meeting in Brussels, European ministers set out clear negotiating lines for a future trade deal, beyond which they claim they will not …
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov decried what he terms the “double standards” employed at the U.N. Human Rights Council in favor of Western democratic values, at the expense of what he calls the legitimate sovereign rights of nations that do not fall within the Western orbit.Lavrov did not hide his disdain Tuesday at the so-called …
Read more “Russia Accuses UN Human Rights Council of Pro-Western Bias”
Italian officials are scrambling to contain an outbreak of coronavirus, or COVID-19, after separate cases were confirmed Tuesday in Tuscany and Sicily, which is hundreds of kilometers away from the north of the country, where nearly a dozen towns are on lockdown following 10 virus-related deaths.The lack of a clear source of the outbreak in …
Read more “As Italy Battles Coronavirus, Neighbors Mull Border Controls”
Every year, around 12 million tons of plastic waste are dumped into the world’s oceans – polluting the water, killing wildlife, and creating microplastics that enter the food chain. Now a group of fishermen in Barcelona, Spain has begun an innovative new project in which they are given financial support to catch plastic. Henry Ridgwell …
Read more “Catching Plastic: Fishermen on Frontline of Ocean Clean-up”
A tourist hotel in the Canary Islands was placed in quarantine Tuesday after an Italian doctor staying there tested positive for the new coronavirus, evidence that the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe is spreading with vacationing Italians. The doctor hailed from Italy’s north, which has registered most of Italy’s 283 cases. He was placed …
Read more “Canary Islands Hotel Quarantined After Virus Confirmed”
Turkish forces have suffered more casualties in the latest round of fighting in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province. But despite Russia backing Syrian government forces in the ongoing attacks on Turkish forces, Ankara has refrained from confronting Moscow — a sign, analysts suggest, of the considerable economic leverage Russia retains over Turkey.Officials say a Turkish convoy in Idlib …
Read more “Turkish Casualties Rise in Syria, but Ankara Wary of Confronting Russia”
Germany’s center-right CDU said Monday it would choose a new leader at a special congress on April 25, as the crisis-racked party hopes to halt a slide in the polls and end speculation about who could succeed veteran Chancellor Angela Merkel.Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has been in turmoil after her heir apparent, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, resigned …
Read more “Merkel’s Crisis-Hit CDU Launches Leadership Race”
The death toll in Italy from the coronavirus outbreak stands at seven with more than 200 cases confirmed. At least 10 towns in the north are in lockdown mode and the army is ensuring no one enters of leaves them during a quarantine period.Italian authorities are working around the clock putting in place unprecedented measures …
Read more “Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Surpasse 200 in Italy”
The U.S. government began outlining its extradition case against Julian Assange in a London court on Monday, arguing that the WikiLeaks founder is not a free-speech champion but an “ordinary” criminal who put many lives at risk with his secret-spilling. U.S. authorities want to try Assange on espionage charges that carry a maximum sentence of …
Read more “US: Free Speech no Excuse for Crimes of WikiLeaks’ Assange”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warns human rights are under assault from a multitude of threats including the climate crisis, the misuse of digital technology and power-hungry leaders. Guterres launched a Call to Action to advance and protect the human rights of all peoples at the opening of the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights …
Read more “UN Issues Worldwide Call to Action on Human Rights”
A hearing on the United States request for the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange opened in London Monday.A judge at Woolwich Crown Court is hearing arguments from lawyers representing U.S. that has leveled 17 charges on espionage and one of computer hacking.If found guilty, the 48-year-old detained Australian would face a maximum sentence …
Read more “Extradition Hearing for WikiLeaks Founder Opens in London”
China’s leader said Sunday the new coronavirus epidemic is the communist country’s largest-ever public health emergency, but other nations were also increasingly under pressure from the deadly outbreak’s relentless global march.Italy and Iran began introducing the sort of containment measures previously seen only in China, which has put tens of millions of people under lockdown …
Read more “Xi Says China Facing ‘Big Test’ With Virus, Global Impact Spreads”