Ryanair drops Afrikaans test after backlash in South Africa

A Ryanair plane parks at the airport in Weeze, Germany, Sept 12, 2018. (MARTIN MEISSNER / FILE / AP) DUBLIN – Ryanair has dropped a requirement for South African passengers to prove their nationality before traveling by completing a test in Afrikaans, Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said after the policy drew a backlash among South Africans. The South African government said last week it was …

Bulgarian govt faces no-confidence vote next week

Prime Minister of Bulgaria Kiril Petkov speaks during a joint press conference with European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean and Romanian counterpart Nicolae Ciuca (not in picture) in Bucharest, Romania, April 29, 2022. (VADIM GHIRDA / AP) SOFIA – Bulgaria's main opposition party filed a no-confidence motion against the government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov on Wednesday over its economic policy, a move that could …

Rare Yellowstone closure from historic floods spells hardship

This aerial photo provided by the National Park Service shows a flooded out North Entrance Road, of Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Montana, on June 13, 2022. (JACOB W. FRANK / NATIONAL PARK SERVICE VIA AP) CODY, Wyoming – Emergency crews scrambled on Tuesday to reopen roads and restore utilities in rural communities of Montana and Wyoming cut off by historic floods in the first …

Scotland’s Sturgeon: Outline for independence vote nearly ready

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie (left) hold a news conference on a proposed second referendum on Scottish independence at Bute House in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 14, 2022. (RUSSELL CHEYNE / POOL / AFP) LONDON – Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday said she was nearly ready to give more details on how the nation's devolved parliament …

Swiss airports resume flights after air traffic control glitch

In this file photo taken on April 04, 2020, commercial planes of low cost airline EasyJet and Lufthansa's subsidiary Swiss airline are seen parked due to flight interruption amid the spread of COVID-19 at Geneva Airport. Switzerland closed its airspace on June 15, 2022 after a computer glitch with the air traffic control system grounded flights, officials said. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP) ZURICH – Airports …

EU states add pressure on Pfizer to cut unneeded vaccine supplies

An elderly couple wearing protective face masks against COVID-19 walks past the Pfizer Inc headquarters on Dec 9, 2020 in New York City. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP) GENEVA / BRUSSELS / MEXICO CITY / BERLIN / THE HAGUE / ROME / OTTAWA / ADDIS ABABA – European Union governments are intensifying pressure on Pfizer and other COVID-19 vaccine makers to renegotiate contracts, warning millions of shots that are no longer …

Russia imposes sanctions against UK journalists, defense figures

People walk past the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow on April 5, 2022. (ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP) MOSCOW – Russia has imposed personal sanctions against 29 media representatives and 20 defense figures of the United Kingdom in a retaliatory move, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The media representatives, including journalists working for The Guardian, BBC, and others, and the defense figures, including British …

Brazil police arrest second suspect in case of missing journalist

Employees of the National Indigenous Foundation (FUNAI) and members of Social Movements protest outside the Ministry of Justice in Brasília, on June 14, 2022 over missing British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous affairs specialist Bruno Pereira. (EVARISTO SA / AFP) ATALAIA DO NORTE, Brazil – Brazilian police on Tuesday arrested a second suspect in the investigation of the disappearance of British journalist Dom Phillips …

UK grounds migrant flight to Rwanda as Europe court steps in

A placard left outside the High Court where the ruling on Rwanda deportation flights is taking place, in London on June 13, 2022. (ALASTAIR GRANT / AP PHOTO) LONDON/BOSCOMBE DOWN, England – Britain's first flight to take asylum seekers to Rwanda did not take off as scheduled on Tuesday after the European human rights court issued last-minute injunctions to stop the deportation of the handful …

Report: More people are avoiding the news, trusting it less

People use their phones in Yamato, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan on July 1, 2020. (BEHROUZ MEHRI / AFP) A growing number of people are selectively avoiding important news stories such as the coronavirus pandemic, the conflict in  Ukraine, and the cost-of-living crisis, according to a report released on Tuesday. While the majority of people surveyed consume news regularly, 38 percent said they often or sometimes avoid …

FAO adopts strategies on climate, innovation for next decade

In this photo taken on March 30, 2022, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Qu Dongyu (right) speaks during the opening ceremony of the 37th FAO Regional Conference in Quito. (RODRIGO BUENDIA / AFP) ROME – The Council of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Tuesday formally adopted two strategies set to guide the organization's work on …

WHO to decide if monkeypox represents health emergency

Health workers screen passengers arriving from abroad for monkeypox symptoms at Anna International Airport terminal in Chennai on June 03, 2022. (ARUN SANKAR / AFP) GENEVA – The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that it will convene a meeting next week to assess whether the current monkeypox outbreak outside of the traditional endemic areas in Africa has already turned into a public health emergency …

Ending dispute, Canada and Denmark divide small Arctic island

In this Aug 13, 2002 file photo, the crew of Danish warship Vedderen perform a flag raising ceremony on the uninhabited Hans Island off northwestern Greenland. (PHOTO / POLFOTO, VEDDEREN VIA AP) COPENHAGEN – Denmark and Canada will divide the small, uninhabited island in the Arctic known as Hans Island, ending an almost 50-year-long ownership spat, in a largely symbolic act of diplomacy designed to …

UN chief says the dash for new fossil fuels is ‘delusional’

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during an plenary session at the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow on Nov 11, 2021. (PAUL ELLIS / AFP) BRUSSELS – Rich countries have made a dangerous dash for fossil fuels, the UN secretary-general said on Tuesday, warning that new investments being made in coal, oil and gas were "delusional" given their impact on climate change. …

EU signs deal with Bavarian Nordic for 110,000 monkeypox vaccines

This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions (left) and spherical immature virions (right) obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. (CYNTHIA S GOLDSMITH, RUSSELL REGNER /CDC VIA AP) BRUSSELS – The European Union signed on Tuesday an agreement with Bavarian Nordic for the supply of …

WB approves $474m loan to S. Africa for COVID-19 vaccines

A woman over 60 years old receives her booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 at Discovery vaccination site in Sandton, Johannesburg on Dec 15, 2021. (LUCA SOLA / AFP) FRANKFURT / OTTAWA / WASHINGTON / TUNIS / LOS ANGELES – The World Bank has approved a loan of 454.4 million euros ($474.4 million) to help South Africa fund COVID-19 vaccine purchases, the bank and South Africa's …

UK says no reason for negative EU reaction to N. Ireland law

A handout photograph released by the UK Parliament shows Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss speaking to MPs during a statement on the Northern Ireland Protocol, at the House of Commons, in London, on May 17, 2022. (JESSICA TAYLOR / UK PARLIAMENT / AFP) LONDON – Britain told the European Union on Tuesday there was no reason for its negative reaction to London's plan to override …

NATO says ‘working hard’ on issues over Finland, Sweden bids

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg chairs a foreign ministers' meeting of the bloc in Brussels, Belgium, April 7, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA) STOCKHOLM – Contrary to previous assertions that the accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would be a quick process, the military alliance's Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Monday that "there is no way to say exactly when" this will …

Rising US inflation adds to pressure on Fed

Interest rate hikes expected in June, July as analysts warn of economic recession Shoppers shop at a retail store in Niles, US on Feb 19, 2022. (NAM Y. HUH, FILE / AP) The latest US inflation numbers have come in high again, and the Federal Reserve Bank, which is forecast to raise interest rates this week, appears to be playing catch-up. The central bank's Federal …

UN: 18.4m in severe food insecurity in Horn of Africa drought

Villager Caroline is seen in a withered corn crops field in Kidemu sub-location in Kilifi County, Kenya, on March 23, 2022. (DONG JIANG HUI / XINHUA) UNITED NATIONS – The Horn of Africa drought has thrust at least 18.4 million people, including more than 7.1 million acutely malnourished children, into severe food insecurity, UN humanitarians said on Monday. Between April, when aid delivery by road …