A medical staffer takes a nasal swab for a COVID-19 rapid test at a testing site in Rome on Dec 30, 2021. (ANDREW MEDICHINI / AP) ROME / HELSINKI / JUBA / BERLIN / COPENHAGEN – Italy on Thursday updated coronavirus heath protocols in the workplace, as the main pandemic indicators in the country continue to rise. The new rules, developed by the Ministry of Labor and Social …
NATO summit concludes amid criticisms of bloc’s aggression
A general view of the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council Session with fellow heads of state at the NATO summit at the IFEMA arena in Madrid, June 30, 2022. (JONATHAN ERNST/POOL PHOTO VIA AP) MADRID – The 2022 Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) concluded in Madrid on Thursday amid mounting criticisms of the military alliance's increasingly aggressive and destabilizing security policies …
WHO ramps up response in E. Africa amid looming health crisis
In this file photo taken on Nov 16, 2020, an Ethiopian refugee child who fled fighting in Tigray province, sleeps in a hut at the Um Raquba camp in Sudan's eastern Gedaref state. (EBRAHIM HAMID / AFP) NAIROBI – The World Health Organization said Thursday it's intensifying its operations to the looming health crisis in eastern Africa amid acute food insecurity. Ibrahima Soce Fall, WHO …
Expert: France’s new COVID wave expected to peak end-July
People queue outside the Stade de France stadium, which has been converted into a temporary COVID-19 vaccination site, in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, April 6, 2021. (THOMAS SAMSON / POOL VIA AP) BRUSSELS / SAO PAULO / COPENHAGEN / OTTAWA / SAN SALVADOR / BELGRADE / ADDIS ABABA / WINDHOEK / PARIS – A new wave in France of COVID-19 infections fuelled by emerging variants of the disease should peak towards end-July, the …
UK watchdog investigates Captain Tom charity
100-year-old WWII veteran Captain Tom Moore poses with his medal after being made a Knight Bachelor during an investiture at Windsor Castle in Windsor, west of London on July 17, 2020. (CHRIS JACKSON / POOL / AFP) LONDON – Britain's charity watchdog said on Thursday it had launched an investigation into the foundation set up in honor of record-breaking fundraiser Captain Tom Moore who raised …
Ecuadoran president declares state of emergency in 4 provinces
Indigenous people and peasants burn tires and wicker baskets at a blockade in Cutuglagua neighborhood, southern Quito, on June 19, 2022 as they wait for the arrival of their comrades who are mobilizing from the Province of Cotopaxi. (CRISTINA VEGA RHOR / AFP) QUITO – Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso on Wednesday declared a 30-day state of emergency in four provinces of Azuay, Imbabura, Sucumbios and …
NATO summit opens amid controversy, internal discord
(from right) French President Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and his wife Linda Rama visit the Prado Museum in Madrid on June 29, 2022. (BERTRAND GUAY, POOL VIA AP) MADRID – The 2022 Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization opened here on Wednesday amid mounting criticisms of the military alliance's aggressive security policy and lingering conflicts among …
Luggage piles join long airport lines in fresh woes for summer travel
People wait in a TSA line at the John F. Kennedy International Airport on June 28, 2022, in New York. (JULIA NIKHINSON / AP) Piles of luggage beside baggage belts in airports from Canada to Europe are driving further demand for ground handlers, and adding to summer travel chaos as airlines scramble to bring back workers lost during COVID-19. Once a cost-cutting and outsourcing target …
Two more men charged in truck smuggling incident killed 53 in Texas
Police and other first responders work the scene where officials say dozens of people have been found dead and multiple others were taken to hospitals with heat-related illnesses after a semitrailer containing suspected migrants was found, June 27, 2022, in San Antonio. (ERIC GAY / AP) SAN ANTONIO / MEXICO CITY – The suspected driver of a truck packed with dozens of migrants who died …
Letter: EU chief can’t find texts with Pfizer head on vaccine deal
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the College of Commissioners at EU headquarters in Brussels, June 17, 2022. (GEERT VANDEN WIJNGAERT / AP) BRUSSELS / SAO PAULO / COPENHAGEN / OTTAWA / SAN SALVADOR / BELGRADE / ADDIS ABABA / WINDHOEK – European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is no longer in possession of text messages that she exchanged with Pfizer …
Rebel attacks: Rwandans fear leaving their homes in Congo
People displaced by fighting between Congolese forces and M23 rebels gather north of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 27, 2022. (MOSES SAWASAWA / AP) KINSHASA – Life in Kinshasa was going well for Zawadi, a mother of two from Rwanda, until faraway fighting stoked Congolese anger against her country and videos of men with machetes prowling the city streets in search of Rwandans surfaced …
Two Mexicans charged after 51 migrants die in Texas truck
Police work the scene where dozens of people were found dead in a semitrailer in a remote area in southwestern San Antonio, June 27, 2022. (ERIC GAY / AP) SAN ANTONIO, Texas – At least 51 migrants have died after being trapped inside a sweltering tractor-trailer truck found abandoned in Texas, authorities said on Tuesday, as two Mexican nationals tied to the unprecedented smuggling tragedy …
Aide: Trump wanted to join Capitol riot, tried to grab limo
Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, concludes her testimony as the House select committee investigating the Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington June 28, 2022. (JACQUELYN MARTIN / AP) WASHINGTON – Donald Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his presidential limousine …
Russia legalizes parallel imports amid Western sanctions
An employee wearing a face mask and gloves disinfects samples of cosmetics in a shopping center in Moscow, Russia, on June 2, 2020. (ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO JR / XINHUA) The law authorizes the Russian government to determine the list of goods that are subject to the new legislation MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law on Tuesday legalizing "parallel imports" in the …
Scottish leader sets date for new referendum on independence
In this file photo taken on Dec 13, 2019 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader and Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks in Edinburgh. (ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP) LONDON – Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Tuesday that a fresh referendum on Scotland's independence from the United Kingdom will be held on Oct 19, 2023. The first independence vote in 2014 failed to pass. Sturgeon said …
NATO bulks up in major overhaul
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrives for a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, June 15, 2022. (OLIVIER MATTHYS / AP) NATO will dramatically increase the ranks of its high-readiness forces from 40,000 to 300,000 as part of the biggest overhaul of its collective deterrence and defense since the Cold War, the trans-Atlantic alliance's chief said on Monday. The organization will also boost its …
EU countries reach deal on climate laws after late-night talks
Cars with combustion engines are stored at a container terminal at the harbor in Hamburg, Germany on March 18, 2022. (MARTIN MEISSNER / AP PHOTO) LUXEMBOURG – EU countries clinched deals on proposed laws to combat climate change early Wednesday, backing a 2035 phase-out of new fossil fuel car sales and a multibillion-euro fund to shield poorer citizens from CO2 costs. "The climate crisis and …
US FDA recommends change to COVID-19 vaccine composition
Food and Drug Administration building is shown Thursday, Dec 10, 2020 in Silver Spring, Md. (MANUEL BALCE CENETA / AP) BELGRADE / MEXICO CITY / Rome – Advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday recommended a change in the design of COVID-19 booster shots this fall in order to combat more recently circulating variants of the coronavirus. The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological …
Kids in conflict: UNICEF cites grave violations over 25 yrs
Children belonging to Afghan refugees living in Pakistan fetch water from a tap on the outskirts of Lahore on June 19, 2022, on the eve of "World Refugee Day". (ARIF ALI / AFP) UNITED NATIONS – Between 2005 and 2020, the United Nations verified over 266,000 grave violations against children in more than 30 situations of conflict worldwide, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday …
NASA launches CAPSTONE to test new type of lunar orbit
The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission launches on Rocket Lab's Electron rocket from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, on June 28, 2022. (ROCKET LAB) LOS ANGELES – NASA launched a new mission codenamed CAPSTONE on Tuesday to test a new type of lunar orbit, which will help take NASA's Artemis missions to the Moon. …