Category: Світ

A report by the European Broadcasting Union finds the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated change in public service media that fundamentally affects the quality of journalism in both positive and negative ways.Head of News at EBU, Liz Corbin, says the pandemic hit the fast forward button on changes, which already were in progress.The coronavirus made people …

Difficult talks continue between Britain and the European Union as both sides try to come up with a deal to govern their relationship after Brexit. Those efforts do not appear to be succeeding and in France, owners of many small businesses are worried about what that will mean for them. The clock is ticking for …

As Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign began Tuesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told parliament that “the start of the fight back against our common enemy, coronavirus,” had begun, adding there is still “much work to be done.”A 90-year-old retired British shop clerk received the first shot in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program in the unprecedented global …

Britain has vaccinated its first citizen against the COVID-19 virus.Ninety-year-old nursing home resident Margaret Keenan received the first of two doses of a vaccine jointly developed by U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.  The vaccination campaign, dubbed “V-Day” by Health Secretary Mark Hancock, began nearly a week after the government’s medical regulatory agency granted …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the head of the European Commission plan to meet in person to see whether a last-minute trade deal can be reached, officials said Monday.Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a lengthy phone call that “significant differences” remained on three key issues.They said they were …

Former members of Spain’s armed forces have published an open letter accusing the country’s Socialist-led minority government of threatening national unity.  The letter signed by 271 officers, including two former lieutenant generals and an admiral, coincided Sunday with the country’s Constitution Day, which marked the 42nd anniversary of a 1978 referendum and was seen as an …

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Monday toured the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, where staff are preparing to deliver the first COVID-19 vaccinations Tuesday. Last week, Britain’s health regulators authorized the use of vaccine created jointly by U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, and supplies have begun to arrive to arrive in Britain from Pfizer’s …

French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday he would not make human rights a condition for the sale of weapons to Egypt because he did not want to weaken Cairo’s ability to counter terrorism in the region. Macron made the comments during a joint news conference in Paris with visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.   …

Brexit hung in the balance on Monday as Britain and the European Union made a last-ditch attempt to bridge significant differences to strike a trade deal that would avoid a disorderly exit in just 24 days. As fears rose of a chaotic no-trade deal Brexit on Dec. 31 when the United Kingdom finally leaves the EU’s …

Britain is on the eve of launching a COVID-19 vaccination campaign.   Staffers with the nation’s National Health Service, nursing home residents and their caregivers on Tuesday will begin to receive the first of two doses of a vaccine jointly developed by U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.  The initiative will start nearly a week …

Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban claimed victory in Sunday’s national election seen as pivotal for the country’s future in the European mainstream, although one exit poll showed his ruling Liberals (PNL) losing by a narrow margin.A reform-minded fiscal conservative, Orban is expected to be nominated by President Klaus Iohannis to form a coalition government, even …

Thousands of people protested and blocked traffic in central London on Sunday over Indian agricultural reforms that have triggered mass demonstrations in India, and police made 13 arrests over breaches of COVID regulations.A crowd of demonstrators converged on the Indian embassy, located on a major artery in the center of the British capital, and groups …

Belarusian security forces detained dozens of people across the country on Sunday as street protests calling on authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko to resign continued.Demonstrators gathered in Minsk and other Belarusian cities in nearly continuous protests since a disputed presidential election in August that the opposition says was rigged.This is the third Sunday during which the …

A town in northern Syria has increasingly been under attack from rebel groups backed by Turkey amid fears of a new Turkish offensive into the region.   On Sunday, Syrian rebel fighters supported by the Turkish military carried out artillery attacks on the town of Ain Issa and several nearby villages, local news media reported.    Ain Issa is …

British and European Union negotiators will meet in Brussels on Sunday in a last-ditch attempt to strike a post-Brexit trade deal before a transition agreement ends on Dec. 31.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke on Saturday and instructed their teams to resume talks after they were paused …

Romanians head to the polls Sunday in a national ballot key to restoring the country’s reputation among investors, with the incumbent, reform-oriented centrists of Prime Minister Ludovic Orban holding a narrow lead over opposition Social Democrats.In power for a year despite his opponents’ hold over parliament, Orban, 57, has said he would undo a 40% …

Christmas tradition won out over the coronavirus in Prague on Saturday with a COVID-19-compliant, socially distanced St. Nicholas giving out presents to excited children.Under normal circumstances, St. Nicholas, a bearded man accompanied by the devil and an angel, would give children in the Czech Republic presents in exchange for a song or a poem.But with …

An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck off the coast of Turkey’s Mediterranean coastal province of Antalya on Saturday, the Kandilli Observatory said.  The earthquake occurred at a depth of 93.3 km (58 miles), it said, after revising the magnitude up from 5.4.Turkish media said the earthquake was felt in Antalya and neighboring provinces. There were …

Thousands protested Saturday in Paris to denounce police violence and President Emmanuel Macron’s security policy plans, which the demonstrators say would crimp civil liberties.   In one incident, police fired tear gas and charged after fireworks were launched at their lines. Hooded youths smashed one store window. There were violent clashes between protesters and police …

Russia has begun its COVID-19 vaccination program. Seventy clinics in Moscow began inoculating people Saturday with the Sputnik-V COVID-19 shot, the city’s coronavirus task force said.The vaccine is being made available to health care workers, social workers and people who work in schools because they run the highest risk of exposure to the coronavirus. People …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the European Union’s top official are set to discuss the state of play of post-Brexit trade discussions later Saturday after negotiators paused talks in light of their inability to bridge an array of differences.With the discussions stuck over the same issues for months, Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, …

Germany’s foreign minister said Friday he is glad the U.S. Congress appears to believe U.S. troops should stay in his country at current levels. At a news briefing Friday in Berlin, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas commented on the final version of the U.S. Defense Authorization Act released Thursday by Congress. That bill says U.S. troops stationed …

Russia prosecutors are summoning Red Army veterans to recall their battlefield experiences to help identify Nazis and their collaborators who carried out Second World War atrocities in the Soviet Union.The new war crime investigations are being linked by observers to President Vladimir Putin’s renewed interest in historical memory and his determination to shape how the …

Turkey is voicing concern over a new military alliance between Greece and the United Arab Emirates, warning it threatens to change the balance of power in the region. Turkey and Greece are engaged in a bitter dispute over territorial waters, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul …

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet condemned gross violations of human rights in Belarus on Friday, calling on the government to put an end to the abusive treatment of its people.Bachelet told the U.N. Human Rights Council that conditions in Belarus have deteriorated since the council held an urgent debate on the human …

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has complained about an international conspiracy forming against Turkey, and he says it’s attempting to frustrate his projection of Turkish power and influence abroad.Domestic and foreign critics counter that there isn’t yet a conspiracy, but if one does emerge, it largely will be due to his picking fights with his country’s …