Europe

RIGA – The draft amendments to the Law on the Management of the Spread of Covid-19 Infection, authorizing employers to sack employees without valid Covid-19 certificates, which was supported in principle by parliament on Wednesday, is more intimidation of people, instead of educating the public that only the vaccine can protect them from Covid-19, Ilze…

RIGA – The State Police has started an administrative offense procedure against opposition Saeima member Aldis Gobzems (Law and Order) over an unauthorized protest against “mandatory vaccination”, LETA learned.  Law enforcement authorities will be assessing the responsibility of the people who staged the unauthorized rally in downtown Riga on Wednesday night. Gobzems is facing the…

The government of North Macedonia declared a state of emergency on August 5 for the next 30 days due to wildfires across the country, including around the capital, Skopje. Unusually high summer temperatures and strong winds have stoked deadly fires in parts of southeastern Europe, Russia and Turkey, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in…

The United States has urged Iran to return to talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal after the new hard-line president, Ebrahim Raisi, said he would seek a diplomatic way to end sanctions. “We urge Iran to return to the negotiations soon,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a news briefing on August…

VILNIUS – Lithuanian troops resumed on Thursday putting up concertina razor wire along the border with Belarus.  Lithuania currently has enough concertina to cover a 20-kilometer section, Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite told reporters.  The work is now being done by troops, but the authorities are planning to bring in road builders and private sector brigades,…

TALLINN – The Cabinet on Thursday afternoon will discuss the introduction of additional restrictions in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus and the norm could be to ask for a COVID-19 certificate at all gatherings, regardless of the number of participants, Estonian public broadcaster ERR writes. The obligation to wear a mask could also…

By Euronews with AP  •  Updated: 05/08/2021 – 19:57 Domenico Paviglianti, 60, was arrested in Madrid on Tuesday after two years on the run   –   Copyright  AP/Italian CarabinieriA notorious ‘Ndrangheta mafia boss has been arrested in Madrid after two years as a fugitive, police said on Thursday.The 60-year-old was named by Italian police as Domenico Paviglianiti, dubbed “the boss of bosses”…

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has hit out at a series of military exercises staged by the US and its partners in the sensitive Black Sea region, off the coasts of both Russia and Ukraine, warning of the potential risk of escalation. Yuri Pilipson, the director of the Ministry’s Fourth European Department, told RIA Novosti on Thursday…

By Euronews  •  Updated: 05/08/2021 – 19:22 Anti heath pass demonstrators hold placards that read, liberty no to the health pass, outside the Constitutional Council in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 5,2021   –   Copyright  Credit: APFrance’s constitutional council has approved controversial measures that will next week see health passes required to access restaurants and other venues. The health pass — a QR…

Temir Sariev, the former prime minister of Kyrgyzstan, has been detained over allegations of corruption and understating the environmental risk coming from one of the world’s largest gold mines, which is built into a glacier. On Wednesday, the Pervomaisky District Court in the capital, Bishkek, announced that Sariev would be held behind bars until at…