Month: June 2021

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who lost a confidence vote last week, faces a stark choice Monday; call snap elections or resign and trigger the search for a successor. The Social Democrat leader — a master of consensus for some, a dull and visionless party man for others — has had seven days since the confidence vote in which to attempt to secure a parliamentary majority in his favor. Now, barring last-minute success in persuading other parties to create a more stable coalition, his options are very limited.The 63-year-old Lofven, a former welder and union leader with the square build and nose of a boxer, guided …

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Monday with Pope Francis and other officials at the Vatican, with climate change, human rights and human trafficking among the topics of discussion. The visit comes ahead of an expected October meeting between the pope and U.S. President Joe Biden, who is the second Catholic to lead the United States. Also Monday, Blinken and Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio co-chair a meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS where State Department officials said ministers will discuss maintaining pressure on the militant group in Iraq and Syria while also working to counter affiliates elsewhere in the world. Patrick Worman, acting director of the U.S. Office of the …

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Israel’s new government on Sunday pledged close cooperation with the United States even as it expressed “serious reservations” about efforts by Washington to rejoin the international pact to restrain Iran’s nuclear program.Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Rome in their first face-to-face meeting since a new coalition government assumed power in the Jewish state, ending the 12-year control by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Ahead of their talks, Lapid acknowledged that “in the past few years, mistakes were made” in relations between the two countries, with Netanyahu closely aligning himself with former U.S. President …

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A large, newly restored area of the Colosseum, which used to be the underground backstage of the ancient Roman amphitheater, is now accessible to the public for the first time. Visitors can use a newly constructed wooden walkway to admire the tunnels and chambers under the arena that were used by wild animals and human performers before they joined the action in front of large audiences.A team of more than 80 experts, including archaeologists, engineers and restorers, worked on the Colosseum’s hypogeum for two years. The project was the second phase in a major restoration of the iconic landmark that …

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Classified documents from Britain’s defense ministry containing details about a British warship and Russia’s potential reaction to its passage through the Black Sea have been found at a bus stop in southern England, the BBC reported on Sunday.The BBC said the documents, almost 50 pages in all, were found “in a soggy heap behind a bus stop in Kent early on Tuesday morning” by a member of the public, who wanted to remain anonymous.The Ministry of Defense said it had been informed last week of “an incident in which sensitive defense papers were recovered by a member of the public”. “The …

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France was voting in the second round of regional elections on Sunday after a first round that saw a drubbing for President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party, disappointment for Marine Le Pen’s far-right and record low turnout.    For some observers, the outcome of the June 20 first round raised doubts over whether the 2022 presidential election would come down to a duel between Macron and Le Pen in a run-off long seen as the most likely scenario.  French President Emmanuel Macron shows his passport at a polling station during the first round of French regional and departmental elections, in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, June …

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After being warmly welcomed in France and Germany, Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Italy on Sunday to meet with top Italian leaders and the pope and to take part in ministerial level meetings on Syria and defeating Islamic State fighters and attending a G-20 meeting. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Paris. Camera: Bronwyn Benito …

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Britain’s Health Minister Matt Hancock quit Saturday after he was caught breaking COVID-19 rules by kissing and embracing an aide in his office, enraging colleagues and the public who have been living under lockdown.Hancock, 42, wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign after The Sun newspaper published photos on Friday of the married minister embracing a woman whom he had appointed to a taxpayer-funded role to scrutinize the performance of his department.Hancock has been at the center of the government’s fight against the pandemic, routinely appearing on television and radio to tell people to follow the strict rules to …

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In a blaze of publicity, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid a foundation stone close to Istanbul, starting the construction of a 45-kilometer canal linking the Black and Marmara seas. Erdogan declared the project would usher in a new era for Istanbul and for Turkey.“This going to be a brand-new page in Turkey’s development. On the path to this development, we will leap forward,” he said, adding, “This will save Istanbul’s Bosphorus waterway.”The canal will provide an alternative route from the Bosphorus, which cuts through Turkey’s biggest city, Istanbul, and is one of the world’s busiest waterways.Erdogan said the channel …

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Iran said Saturday it believes a reinstatement of its 2015 nuclear deal with major world powers is possible but warned that Tehran “will not negotiate forever.””Out of a steadfast commitment to salvage a deal that the U.S. tried to torpedo, Iran has been the most active party in Vienna, proposing most drafts,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter, referring to talks aimed at reviving the nuclear deal.   Iran and the United States have been holding indirect talks on reviving the 2015 agreement between Tehran and six powers that imposed restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange …

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U.N. Independent Expert on Protection against Violence and Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, is calling for the global elimination of laws that criminalize same-sex unions by 2030.  His report has been submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council. Currently, 69 countries criminalize homosexuality or some forms of gender identity, nearly half are in Africa. Among them are a handful of countries that apply the death sentence for same sex sexual acts.  They include Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and northern Nigeria.U.N. independent Expert, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, says as of today, 2,000 million people live in criminalized …

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Investigators were looking Saturday for a motive behind an attack in the German city of Wuerzburg in which a man armed with a long knife killed three people and wounded at least five others.The suspect, a 24-year-old Somali, was shot in the leg by police and arrested after the Friday afternoon attack in the southern city’s downtown area. Police said his life was not in danger and he was being questioned in a hospital.Bavaria’s top security official, Joachim Herrmann, said the suspect had been known to police and had been admitted to a psychiatric unit a few days earlier. He …

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