Category: Світ

UN Warns Right-Wing Extremist Groups Getting Bolder, More Lethal   

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 …

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NATO Chief: Pandemic Won’t Hamper Alliance’s Capabilities

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the coronavirus pandemic had not diminished the alliance’s ability to carry out its missions and keep allies secure.At a news briefing carried via video-conference from Brussels, Stoltenberg said NATO was doing its part to airlift necessary emergency medical equipment, and he noted that a military cargo aircraft left …

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Putin Urges Action on ‘Challenging’ Energy Market

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 …

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Will We Heed Lessons Learned from Bergamo, Italy’s COVID-19 Infections, Deaths?

The Italian city of Bergamo was hard-hit by coronavirus and became the country’s center for the disease.  Now that there are signs infections are slowing there, observers are realizing what went wrong. The head of the city of Bergamo’s doctors’ association, Guido Marinoni, says that back in January, pneumonia cases were not recognized as the novel coronavirus. He says doctors in the northern Italian city did not have adequate protective gear and …

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Pandemic Forces Cancellation of Wimbledon

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 …

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Spain Confirms 100,000 Coronavirus Cases; US Braces for Huge Death Toll

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 …

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Goats Invade Welsh Town Locked Down by Coronavirus

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 …

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Controversial French Doctor Sparks Hope, Criticism for Coronavirus Research

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 …

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HRW: Ankara Denying Water to Syrian Kurds as Coronavirus Escalates

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 …

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Scotland Increases Spending on Women’s Crisis Programs

Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced an appropriation of $1.8 million Tuesday for Scottish women’s aid and rape crisis programs, noting coronavirus-mandated isolation can put domestic abuse victims at greater risk.Speaking to reporters Tuesday in the capital, Edinburgh, Sturgeon said the new funding will ensure access to support services by women and children who find …

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Hungary’s PM Wins Emergency Powers to Fight Coronavirus

Hungary’s parliament granted nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban the right to rule by decree on Monday to fight the coronavirus, ignoring calls by opponents and rights groups to put a timeframe on the extra powers.   President Janos Ader, an Orban ally, signed the legislation extending a state of emergency after it was approved by …

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Greece Blocks Iranian From Plotting to Arm Asylum Seekers

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 …

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Iran Gets Medical Aid Through US Sanctions Workaround

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 …

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Ukraine Approves Legislation in Bid for IMF Aid

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 …

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Russia Embraces Quarantine Tactics Amid Coronavirus Surge

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 …

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Spain Postpones 5G Spectrum Auction Due To Coronavirus

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 …

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UK’s Prince Harry, Wife Meghan Bid Farewell to Royal  Roles 

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. …

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UK’s Prince Charles, 71, Out of Self-Isolation, in Good Health 

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 …

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Britain Names Ken McCallum as new Head of MI5 Spy Service

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 …

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Belarus Does Not Give Up on Football

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 …

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Britain on Emergency Footing for First Time Since WWII

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 …

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UK’s Prince Harry, Wife Meghan, do not Need US Help for Security Costs, Spokeswoman Says

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 …

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Germany’s Merkel Shines in Virus Crisis Even as Power Wanes 

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 …

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Husband of Jailed UK-Iranian Woman Says Temporary Release Extended in Tehran

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 …

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Italy, Spain Hardest Hit by Coronavirus in Europe

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, …

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Rosneft Hands Venezuelan Oil Business to Russian State Firm

Russia’s Rosneft oil company said Saturday that it’s halting operations in Venezuela and selling its assets there to a company fully owned by the Russian government, a move apparently intended to protect Russia’s largest oil producer from U.S. sanctions while Moscow continues supporting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.The sale follows the U.S. imposition of sanctions on …

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