Brasilia, Brazil | Xinhua | Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga signed a decree on Friday ending the COVID-19 public health emergency, effective 30 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. In its decision to lift the emergency, which has been in force since February 2020, the Health Ministry took …
Read More »EU reaches deal on new legislation to combat illegal content online
Brussels, Belgium | Xinhua | The European Council said Saturday that it has reached a provisional political agreement with the European Parliament on a new legislation to combat hate speech, disinformation and other harmful content online. The legislation, named the Digital Services Act (DSA), “aims to protect the digital …
Read More »UN chief to meet Putin in Moscow
United Nations | Xinhua | UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Moscow on April 26, and will be received by President Vladimir Putin, a UN spokesman said Friday. The secretary-general will have “a working meeting and lunch” with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres. The UN …
Read More »Sanctions not solution to end Ukraine crisis, says Hungarian expert
Budapest, Hungary | Xinhua | The European Union (EU) has already announced five rounds of sanctions against Russia, including an import ban on Russian coal. But according to Hungarian political scientist Csaba Moldicz, the sanctions will most likely not reach the desired effect of ending the current conflict in Ukraine. …
Read More »Iran nuclear deal awaits final decisions after talks stalled
Tehran, Iran | Xinhua | At a time when the Iranian nuclear talks are about to reach an agreement, Iran and world powers have adjourned their talks, mostly over whether the United States will remove Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) from its Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list. While negotiations …
Read More »Baltic states mull joint air defense procurement
Riga, Latvia | Xinhua | The Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — are planning to organize joint procurement programs to beef up their air defense capabilities, the prime ministers of the three countries said following their meeting here on Friday. Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that their …
Read More »Former Honduran president extradited to U.S. on drug charges
Tegucigalpa, Honduras | Xinhua | Former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez was extradited Thursday to the United States, where he will face charges of drug trafficking. Hernandez was transferred by helicopter from the Los Cobras police headquarters on the outskirts of the Honduran capital to the Hernan Acosta Mejia airbase in …
Read More »UK PM to be probed over “Partygate”
London, UK | Xinhua | British lawmakers on Thursday approved an investigation into Prime Minister Boris Johnson over claims he misled the parliament about rules-busting parties in Downing Street during lockdown, casting further doubts on his political future. A Labour-led motion called for the Committee of Privileges to examine allegations that …
Read More »China urges Japan to make clean break with militarism
Beijing, China | Xinhua | China on Thursday urged Japan to earnestly honor its statement of and commitment to facing up to and reflecting on its history of aggression and make a clean break with militarism. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida …
Read More »World Bank chief warns food insecurity crisis could last into next year
Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | The Russia-Ukraine war has pushed up food prices and hit the poorest the hardest, World Bank Group President David Malpass said Wednesday, warning that the food insecurity crisis will last for months and probably into next year. “Above all, the war and its consequences are putting …
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