Category: Світ

More and more migrants are crossing, Europe is closing its ports and no humanitarian ships are carrying out rescues. As the coronavirus pandemic dominates headlines, activists fear the Mediterranean is the scene of an overlooked “tragedy.”A handful of migrant landings have taken place in recent weeks, including 79 people who arrived last weekend in Italy …

An Iranian court has sentenced a prominent researcher with dual French-Iranian citizenship to six years in prison on security charges, her lawyer said Saturday.Fariba Adelkhah was sentenced to five years for “gathering and collusion” against the country’s security and one year for “spreading propaganda” against the Islamic system, her lawyer, Saeed Dehghan, told The Associated …

Homophobic attacks and insults in France rose by 36 percent last year, according to figures released Saturday by the Interior Ministry, prompting the government to talk of an “anchoring” of homophobia in the country.The leap came after 2018 was described as a “black” year by associations, with an unequaled level of physical violence against LGBT …

Greek police have reinforced security around a community of Roma in central Greece as government health officials prepare to enter the settlement today to remove 35 people infected with the coronavirus.The infections mark a sharp uptick in Greece’s almost spotless record of COVID cases. Even so, members of the Roma community at the settlement of …

Greece has opened up 500 of its beaches as the country eases lockdown restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.Authorities authorized the move as a heat wave was expected to hit the country this weekend. But sizzling temperatures aside, the measure is seen as a crucial test of readiness for Greece’s biggest challenge: summer …

A Montenegrin prosecutor on Friday ordered the release from detention of a Serbian Orthodox Church bishop and eight priests, whose arrests had sparked protests and clashes with police.Several hundred people gathered outside the detention facility in the western town of Niksic, greeting Bishop Joanikije and the other priests as they left it late Friday.”Let this …

The United States will donate 200 medical ventilators to Moscow via U.S. military transport beginning next week, to aid against the worsening coronavirus outbreak in Russia.Government communications obtained by VOA reveal that the first 50 ventilators are being produced in California and will be ready for shipment to a surgical center in Moscow on Wednesday. …

Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has asked Google to block an article about the controversy over official data on coronavirus deaths in the country on the website of MBKh Media independent online publication.MBKh Media said late on May 14 that its article was based on a report by the Financial Times, which estimated that the real …

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven defended his country’s strategy in fighting the spread of COVID-19, pushing back on the notion Sweden has taken a “business as usual” attitude toward the pandemic.Speaking to foreign correspondents Friday in the capital, Stockholm, Lofven insisted life is not carrying on as normal in Sweden, as he said its international …

The Slovenian government has declared an official end to many of its coronavirus limits, becoming the first European country to do so, after authorities confirmed less than seven new coronavirus cases each day for the past two weeks.Speaking to parliament Thursday, Prime Minister Janez Jansa said Slovenia has the best epidemiological picture in Europe and …

Turkish authorities Friday detained four more pro-Kurdish mayors in southeastern and eastern regions of the country, local media reported.   The mayors from the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which the government accuses of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), were detained at their homes. They were removed from office and replaced with government …

Protesters in Montenegro took on the streets again Thursday, a day after police arrested dozens of demonstrators demanding the release of priests detained after leading a religious procession in disregard to the lockdown regulations.Protesters had clashed with police at rallies Wednesday over the detainment of eight Serbian Orthodox Church priests who are facing charges of …

Turkey is easing COVID-19 restrictions as the government claims success in containing the virus. While infection and death rates are falling, concerns remain that the move may be coming too soon. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. …

Once they scrambled to grab what they could from a disintegrating Soviet state, exploiting the political and economic chaos of the post-communist Boris Yeltsin era to secure state enterprises, oilfields and mineral deposits at knockdown prices. But now Russia’s uber-wealthy oligarchs are rushing to shore up a failing state effort to curb the spread of …

In a world full of bad news on coronavirus, the good deeds of quiet people often go unnoticed. In a report narrated by Jonathan Spier, Ricardo Marquina and Sergey Smolyakov bring us the story of an octogenarian in St. Petersburg, Russia, who – despite being in the highest-risk group – goes out every day to …

European markets are all trading lower Thursday amid rising fears that the global economy is still in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic.London’s FTSE index is down a whopping 2.2% in midday trading, with the CAC-40 in Paris trading 1.8% lower and Frankfurt’s DAX index down 1.5%.Thursday’s selloff began earlier in Asia, with Tokyo’s Nikkei …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she has “hard evidence” that Russia hacked the website of Germany’s parliament in 2015 and allegedly stole documents from her own parliamentary office. German news reports said prosecutors had issued an arrest warrant for a suspected member of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU. “I can say honestly that this pains me,” Merkel said during a question-and-answer session with lawmakers Wednesday. “On the one hand, I …

As people around the world wonder when the coronavirus might go away, experts say: Maybe never.The World Health Organization warned Wednesday that the new virus, which has infected 4.3 million people worldwide, may become endemic, just like the HIV virus, and that people may have to learn to live with it.It could stay embedded in …

Colombia’s commerce regulator will be investigating whether Chinese-owned social media app TikTok complies with laws on the collection and treatment of children’s and adolescents’ personal data.The announcement Tuesday came four days after the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) said it would begin looking into how TikTok handles the data of its millions of young users.TikTok …

Spain – one of the nations hardest hit by the pandemic – is seeing its daily coronavirus death rate drop this week.  That is allowing a limited number of businesses to reopen after weeks of paralysis. Although business owners are happy to be open again, they continue to see their losses mount – and normality …

The European Union Wednesday announced its plan to help European citizens salvage their summer vacations and resurrect Europe’s damaged tourism industry after months of coronavirus lockdowns.At a Brussels news conference, EU commissioners stressed safety as they announced their gradual, careful steps to restart travel and tourism among European countries.The commissioner’s over-arching advice is that EU …

New Zealand and Thailand each reported no new coronavirus cases Wednesday as the governments prepared to further ease lockdown restrictions. New Zealand has now had four such days during the past two weeks, showing continued success that followed a month of strict stay-at-home orders. Thursday brings the latest step back to normalcy there with most stores and …

Italy’s virus reopening was supposed to be accompanied by a series of measures to limit infections in the one-time epicenter of Europe’s pandemic: the distribution of millions of inexpensive surgical masks to pharmacies nationwide, a pilot project of 150,000 antibody tests and, eventually, the roll-out of a contact-tracing app.   None of these is in …

Italy plans to reopen bars and restaurants after suffering one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks Europe has seen so far.  Getting around the country remains a concern, as social distancing guidelines all but forbid using mass transit.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports that Italy’s capital built a special bike lane to keep commuters safe. …

Turkey is starting to ease COVID-19 restrictions, as the government claims success in containing the coronavirus. While infection and death rates are falling, concerns remain, the move may be premature, driven more by economic rather than health considerations. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.”May God gives us good business and protect us from …

The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin has been hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus, according to Russian news agencies.     “Yes, I am sick. I am receiving treatment,” the Interfax news agency quoted Dmitry Peskov as saying Tuesday.     The 52-year-old Peskov said he last had a face-to-face meeting with Putin …