Month: February 2021

Infectious disease experts are expressing concern about Pope Francis’ upcoming trip to Iraq, given a sharp rise in coronavirus infections there, a fragile health care system and the unavoidable likelihood that Iraqis will crowd to see him.No one wants to tell Francis to call it off, and the Iraqi government has every interest in showing …

Church bells rang and a World War II-era plane flew Saturday over the funeral for Captain Tom Moore, the veteran who single-handedly raised millions of pounds for Britain’s health workers by walking laps in his backyard.Soldiers performed ceremonial duties at the private service for Moore, who died February 2 at age 100 after testing positive …

Officials at the Pompeii archaeological site in Italy announced Saturday the discovery of an intact ceremonial chariot, one of several important discoveries made in the same area outside the park near Naples following an investigation into an illegal dig.The chariot, with its iron elements, bronze decorations and mineralized wooden remains, was found in the ruins …

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has refused to fire the head of the general staff of the country’s armed forces after he was dismissed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the presidential office said Saturday.   Pashinyan dismissed the head of the general staff, Onik Gasparyan, Thursday after what he had called an attempted coup to remove …

As some countries struggle to get enough COVID-19 vaccine, China has intensified efforts to distribute its vaccine in the Balkans. Some experts say it’s an effort to increase the county’s influence in the region. Dino Jahic and Amer Jahic have the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Dino Jahic …

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet warns a proliferation of human rights violations around the world is eroding fundamental freedoms and heightening grievances that are destabilizing.Presenting a global update Friday to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Bachelet zipped through a long litany of global offenders. No region was spared. Few countries …

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Friday took part in a European Union summit to discuss security and defense priorities for the alliance. Stoltenberg joined European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel at EU headquarters in Brussels where they addressed other EU leaders by videoconference. Ahead of the meeting, at …

A former British prime minister has prepared a blueprint for world leaders to use to manage the next pandemic.     Tony Blair’s Institute for Global Change has issued a report titled The New Necessary: How We Future-Proof for the Next Pandemic that calls for international cooperation in the future to identify and test for …

Kosovo journalist Visar Duriqi was returning to his apartment outside the capital, Pristina, just after midnight Thursday when three masked men ambushed him.  “The moment I approached my apartment a person came out of nowhere and first hit me with his fist on the left side. I tried to resist. At that moment, two other …

The U.S. is expected to release a declassified intelligence report Friday that blames Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the 2018 grisly murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was a U.S. resident with U.S. citizen children.     Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul …