Month: November 2021

A nonbinary pronoun added to an esteemed French dictionary has ignited a fierce linguistic squabble in the country.  Le Petit Robert introduced the word “iel” — an amalgamation of “il” (he) and “elle” (she) — to its online edition last month. While the term is gaining currency among young people, it is still far from being widely used, or even understood, by many French speakers.  Though at first the change went mostly unnoticed, boisterous debate broke out this week in a nation that prides itself on its human rights tradition but that also fiercely protects its cultural heritage from foreign …

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Germany’s Bundestag — the lower house of parliament — Thursday approved new COVID-19 countermeasures the day after the Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for Disease Control and prevention (RKI) warned of a “terrible Christmas” if new counter measures are not put in place. The Bundestag, led by votes from what is likely Germany’s new ruling coalition, the Social Democrats, the Green Party, and the Free Democratic Party, approved new rules include requiring people to show proof of full vaccination or recovery or a valid negative COVID-19 test for workplaces and on public transport. The new parliament did not extend the existing rules …

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For more than a year, Russian-aligned troll factories overseeing thousands of social media accounts have been accused by Western countries and disinformation experts of spreading anti-vaccine messages in an aggressive campaign to spread conspiracy theories and cast doubt on Western coronavirus vaccines.  But the year-long offensive appears to have backfired.  Russian officials now worry that the anti-vaccine skepticism encouraged by the troll factories has spilled over and is partly responsible for the high level of vaccine hesitancy among Russians. Only 35% of the country’s population is fully vaccinated, despite the wide availability of the country’s home-grown Sputnik vaccine. Despite surging …

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The G-7 group of nations condemned what it called the Belarus government’s “orchestration of irregular migration across its borders” Thursday, as neighboring Poland reported new attempts to cross its border. “We call on the regime to cease immediately its aggressive and exploitative campaign in order to prevent further deaths and suffering,” the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States said in a joint statement. “International organizations need to be provided with immediate and unhindered access to deliver humanitarian assistance.” European countries accuse Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko of pushing thousands of migrants, mostly from the …

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Poland is dealing with a huge migrant crisis as thousands try to enter its territory from Belarus. Polish authorities have created an exclusion zone and do not allow volunteers to help migrants who reach European Union soil. Jamie Dettmer narrates this report by correspondent Ricardo Marquina from the Polish town of Michalowo near the border with Belarus. …

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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said China’s hypersonic missile test over the summer drew “concerns” about Beijing’s growing capability, but he said he did not compare it to Russia’s launching of the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, in the 1950s. “Those are terms that I wouldn’t use, I don’t personally use,” Austin replied Wednesday to reporters asking whether the July 27 launch was a “Sputnik moment.” Austin called China the U.S. military’s “pacing challenge” but added that the U.S. was focused on “robust capability across the board” rather than one specific capability such as hypersonic weapons. Even though the …

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Migrants in a makeshift camp on the western border of Belarus are being taken away by bus, a Polish government official was quoted as saying Wednesday. Thousands of migrants, primarily from the Middle East, have been stuck in the camp since Nov. 8. Most are escaping conflict and instability at home for opportunities in Germany or other countries in western Europe.  On Tuesday, Polish security forces along the border fired water cannons and tear gas at stone-throwing migrants, after Poland accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s government of providing smoke grenades and other weapons to the migrants.  But on Wednesday, a …

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Dozens of Armenian soldiers have been captured or gone missing following the latest clashes on the border with Azerbaijan, officials in Yerevan said on November 17. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said on the morning of November 17 that seven of its soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded in renewed fighting on the shared border that erupted on November 16. According to a statement by Armenia’s Defense Ministry, 13 Armenian soldiers were captured by Azerbaijani forces and another 24 Armenian servicemen have gone missing and that their fate remains unknown. The statement added that one Armenian soldier was killed in …

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