Coronavirus: Paris poised for maximum Covid alert
French authorities could place Paris under maximum Covid alert from Monday, the country’s health minister warned. Olivier Véran said infection rates in the capital and its suburbs are rising and a decision on imposing new restrictions will be made on Sunday. He added that a...
Armenia and Azerbaijan fight over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region
Fierce fighting raged for a second day following a flare-up of a decades-old conflict in the Caucasus region of south-eastern Europe. Dozens of deaths were reported in battles between forces fighting for Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday. At the heart of the conflict is a...
Cardinal Becciu: Vatican official resigns unexpectedly
High ranking Vatican official Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu has unexpectedly resigned from office, the Holy See has announced. He previously worked as the second most senior official in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State. Cardinal Becciu became involved in a controversial deal to buy a luxury...
Navalny says he can walk and recognize people as he eyes ‘clear road’ to recovery from poisoning
Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny says he is still unable to use his phone properly or pour himself a glass of water, but is on a “clear road” towards recovering from his near-fatal poisoning. Navalny posted a picture of himself walking down a staircase on...
Bulgaria court convicts two over 2012 Burgas bus attack on Israelis
A Bulgarian court has sentenced two men to life in jail over a bus bombing in 2012 that killed five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver. Meliad Farah, a Lebanese-Australian, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a Lebanese-Canadian, were found guilty of helping a Lebanese-French man...
FinCEN Files: Sanctioned Putin associate ‘laundered millions’ through Barclays
One of Vladimir Putin’s closest friends may have used Barclays Bank in London to launder money and dodge sanctions, leaked documents suggest. Billionaire Arkady Rotenberg has known the Russian president since childhood. Financial restrictions, or sanctions, were imposed on Mr Rotenberg by the US and...
Alexei Navalny: Poisoned Putin critic ‘will return to Russia’
The poisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is to return to Russia, his spokeswoman has said. “It’s puzzling to me why anyone should think otherwise,” Kira Yarmysh posted on Twitter. Mr Navalny also posted a picture on Instagram for the first time since he was...
Greece arrests five over Lesbos migrant camp blaze
Greek police have arrested five migrants over the fire on Lesbos which destroyed an overcrowded migrant camp last week, a Greek minister says. The five are young foreign nationals and a sixth is being sought, Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrisohoidis said. About 800 of more...
UK records its highest Covid-19 daily case number since May
The United Kingdom has recorded 2,988 new Covid-19 cases in a 24-hour period — the highest daily number since May, according to government figures published on Sunday. The UK’s total number of recorded cases now stands at 347,152. In addition, two Covid-19 patients have died,...
Belarus protests: Students held as marches mark new term
Belarus police have detained a number of students as they marked the start of the academic year with protests against long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko. Columns of students from universities in the capital Minsk marched along Independence Avenue and gathered in Victory Square. Mr Lukashenko, who...
Beirut explosion: Macron ready to host Lebanon aid conference
French President Emmanuel Macron says the next six weeks are crucial for the future of Lebanon, as it struggles with an economic crisis and the aftermath of the explosion in Beirut a month ago. Mr Macron is offering to host an aid conference in mid-October...
Heart of Belgian city mayor found entombed in fountain
An ornate fountain in Verviers, eastern Belgium, has given up an object it held for more than a century: the heart of the city’s first mayor. The organ, sealed in a jar of alcohol inside a small zinc casket, was found during renovation of the...
Trump’s strange silence on Belarus
GIVEN HOW democracy has been thrust on the back foot in recent years, the outpouring of demands by the people of Belarus that their vote be respected — and not stolen — would seem a natural cause for the United States. Tens of thousands of...
Plane carrying comatose Russian dissident arrives in Germany
A medical evacuation plane carrying prominent Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny landed in Germany from Siberia on Saturday, after the politician and anti-corruption activist fell gravely ill in a suspected poisoning. Navalny has been in a coma in intensive care since Thursday. The 44-year-old staunch...
Overcrowded, overpriced and overwhelmed. The UK’s Covid-19 staycation nightmare
Beaches strewn with waste, wild campers destroying fragile habitats, warnings from an increasingly overstretched Coastguard, unaffordable accommodations. What was supposed to have been a Great British summer has, for many, become a staycation nightmare. Cut off by quarantine regulations from cheap trips to popular overseas...
Belarus election: Exiled leader calls weekend of ‘peaceful rallies’
Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has called for peaceful rallies across the country, after she was forced to leave for Lithuania in the wake of a disputed election. “Don’t stay on the sidelines,” she said, proposing a broad council to work on the transfer of...
Belarus elections: Shocked by violence, people lose their fear
Seeing police brutality up close has shocked Belarusians, first during the street clashes with protesters and then as accounts spread of cruelty towards those taken to detention centres. A 25-year-old man died in custody after he was detained on Sunday. His mother said he had...
Cases surge in Europe amid concerns over a second Covid-19 wave
Coronavirus cases are spiking once again in multiple European countries as governments attempt to reopen nations while containing outbreaks. Here are some of the nations most affected. Spain Spain has recorded one of the highest increases in coronavirus cases in Europe, with 100.4 cases per...
Coronavirus in Europe: Infections surge in France, Germany and Spain
Germany has recorded its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases in more than three months as European countries struggle to curb a surge in infections. More than 1,200 cases were reported in Germany in the past 24 hours. Officials said the rise was due, in...
Belarus election: Women form ‘solidarity chains’ to condemn crackdown
Women have formed human chains in Belarus to condemn a crackdown on protests over the disputed election. Many dressed in white and carried flowers as they called for an end to police brutality. Unrest erupted across the country after long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared...
Christopher Steele: Ex-spy says more must be done to stop Russian interference
There must be an organised effort to prevent Russia from disrupting and distorting political life, former MI6 officer Christopher Steele has warned. Mr Steele was behind the so-called Trump-Russia dossier, which alleged collusion between Moscow and the US president’s 2016 election campaign. In an interview...
Kosovo prime minister tests positive for coronavirus
Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti has tested positive for Covid-19, his press office told CNN on Tuesday. Hoti is in good health and will stay home for the next two weeks, following his doctor’s recommendation, his press office said. “Indeed, we have a difficult situation...
Russian hackers targeted Liam Fox’s personal email
Documents on UK-US trade talks, leaked before the 2019 election, were stolen from the personal email account of Tory MP Liam Fox, the BBC understands. Sources revealed on Monday that the papers had come from the former minister’s account, but not which address the hackers...
Belarus ruler Lukashenko says Russia lying over ‘mercenaries’
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has accused Russia of lying about a “mercenary” group arrested in Belarus last week and says another such group has infiltrated his country. “Today we heard of another unit sent into the south,” he said in an address to the nation....
France’s champagne industry goes flat
It’s fair to say that, for many people, 2020 hasn’t been a year that lends itself to popping the champagne and celebrating. With weddings cancelled and restaurants closed, the sparkling luxury wine has taken something of a back seat. In fact, producers in France’s eastern...
Coronavirus: Russia plans mass vaccination campaign in October
Russian health authorities are preparing to start a mass vaccination campaign against coronavirus in October, the health minister has said. Russian media quoted Mikhail Murashko as saying that doctors and teachers would be the first to receive the vaccine. Reuters, citing anonymous sources, said Russia’s...
Germany sees “alarming” rise in infections
Germany has on Friday recorded the highest number of new daily infections since early May, according to data published Saturday by Germany’s center for disease prevention, The Robert-Koch Institute. The country saw 955 new coronavirus cases. The last time Germany recorded a higher number was...
German center for disease prevention lists three Spanish regions as “high-risk areas”
Germany’s center for disease prevention has designated three Spanish regions as “high-risk areas,” according to its most recent update to its global list of places believed to be hotbeds of the novel coronavirus. “The Autonomous Communities of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre are currently considered high-risk...
Belarus accuses ‘Russian mercenaries’ of election plot
Authorities in Belarus say they have arrested 33 suspected Russian mercenaries believed to be plotting “terrorism” ahead of the country’s 9 August presidential election. The suspects are alleged to be part of a shadowy military group. Russia is seeking clarification on the arrests, Kremlin spokesman...
Belarus opposition rally attracts thousands despite crackdown
Tens of thousands of people have gathered in Belarus for a rally by the president’s election rival, despite an escalating crackdown on the opposition. More than 60,000 people demonstrated in the capital, Minsk, according to one human rights group, Viasna. The rally was organised by...