(Corrects paragraph six to make clear Calvo told Vanguardia) MADRID (Reuters) -Thousands of Spaniards protested in Madrid on Sunday against government plans to pardon 12 Catalan politicians who were convicted over the region’s failed independence bid in 2017, a move the demonstrators see as a threat to national unity. Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo…
By LORNE COOK, Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts will bid a symbolic farewell to Afghanistan on Monday in their last summit before America winds up its longest “forever war” and the U.S. military pulls out for good. The meeting is bound to renew questions about whether NATO’s…
HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s local elections Sunday are seen as a first test for its popular young Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who took office 18 months ago shortly before the pandemic and whose party is behind in the polls. The vote to renew local councils in Finland’s more than 300 municipalities is viewed…
HONG KONG (Reuters) – A gas pipe explosion in a residential community in a central Chinese city killed 11 people and critically injured 37, state media CCTV reported Sunday. A total of 144 people had been evaculated following the deadly accident in the city of Shiyan in Hubei province by 11 a.m. (0300 GMT) it…
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Police in Argentina arrested a retired Chilean army colonel in Buenos Aires on Saturday after he fled neighboring Chile, where he was convicted of human rights violations committed during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, Chilean authorities and local media reported. Walter Klug Rivera was convicted in the disappearance and murder of…
By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press FALMOUTH, England (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday on the sidelines of a G-7 summit, as post-Brexit turbulence strains relations between Britain and the EU. After Britain’s top diplomat accused the EU of taking a…
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia says this year’s hajj pilgrimage will be limited to no more than 60,000 people, all of them from within the kingdom, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The kingdom made the announcement Saturday on its state-run Saudi Press Agency. It cited the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah…
By JONATHAN LEMIRE, AAMER MADHANI and JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press CARBIS BAY, England (AP) — The United States plans to push democratic allies on Saturday to publicly call out China for forced labor practices as the Group of Seven leaders gather at a summit where they will also unveil an infrastructure plan meant to compete…
(Reuters) – The former speaker of the Iranian parliament Ali Larijani demanded on Saturday an explanation from an election watchdog on why he was barred from running in next week’s presidential vote. Last month, the hardline Guardian Council approved just seven hopefuls to stand in Friday’s poll and disqualified several prominent candidates, including Larijani and…
CARBIS BAY, England (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday that Franco-British relations could only be reset if he stood by the Brexit divorce deal he signed with the European Union. The source said Macron told Johnson there needed to be a ‘reset’ of Franco-British relations and that…
CARBIS BAY, England (Reuters) – The Group of Seven rich nations will announce on Saturday a new global infrastructure plan as a response to China’s belt and road intiative, a senior official in U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said. The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the United States would also…
BEIJING (AP) — Top U.S. and Chinese diplomats appear to have had another sharply worded exchange, with Beijing saying it told the U.S. to cease interfering in its internal affairs and accusing Washington of politicizing the search for the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. Senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi and Secretary of State…
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow was released from jail Saturday after serving more than six months for taking part in unauthorized assemblies during massive 2019 anti-government protests that triggered a crackdown on dissent in the former British colony. Chow, 24, was greeted by a crowd of journalists as she left…
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party has proposed legislation that bans disseminating what it calls content promoting gender change or homosexuality in schools, a move which activists said resembled Russia’s 2013 “gay propaganda” law. Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government, which faces elections in early 2022 and promotes a strongly Christian-conservative agenda, has moved…
BEIJING (Reuters) – China administered about 20.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines on June 10, bringing the total number administered to 845.30 million, data from the National Health Commission showed on Friday. (Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) Copyright 2021 Thomson Reuters. Source link
By NICK PERRY, Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Tentative plans for a movie that recounts the response of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to a gunman’s slaughter of Muslim worshippers drew criticism in New Zealand on Friday for not focusing on the victims of the attacks. Hollywood news outlet Deadline reported that Australian actor…
By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The outgoing chief of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service has offered the closest acknowledgment yet his country was behind recent attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear program and a military scientist. The comments by Yossi Cohen, speaking to Israel’s Channel 12 investigative program “Uvda” in a segment…
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court on Wednesday is considering a request by prosecutors to outlaw the organizations founded by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny — part of authorities’ efforts to muzzle critics ahead of a crucial parliamentary election in September. The Moscow City Court is expected to grant the…
By LORNE COOK, Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers on Wednesday endorsed a new travel certificate that will allow people to move between European countries without having to quarantine or undergo extra coronavirus tests, paving the way for the pass to start in time for summer. The widely awaited certificate is aimed at…
(Reuters) – Japan and Australia said on Wednesday they had “serious concerns” about reported human rights abuses against Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in China’s Xinjiang region. In a joint statement, they also expressed concern about recent moves that they said weakened Hong Kong’s democratic institutions, and grave concerns about the ongoing crisis in Myanmar….