Jun 22 Catalan separatists eye freedom after Spain’s Cabinet pardon By Aritz Parra, Joseph Wilson, Associated Press Nine Catalan separatist leaders jailed for sedition are eyeing freedom, after Spain’s Cabinet pardoned them in the hope of starting what Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a much-needed reconciliation. Continue reading
Jun 21 Watch 4:39 News Wrap: Iran’s president-elect rules out meeting with Biden, asks for lift on sanctions In our news wrap Monday, incoming Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi ruled out a possible meeting with President Biden but called again for a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, and lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iran. New Zealand weightlifter Laurel… Continue watching
Jun 21 Watch 9:18 Taliban gains Afghan territory, may seek ‘complete return to power’ amid US withdrawal By Nick Schifrin, Dan Sagalyn The U.S. military will soon complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. But the Afghan government is under constant attack from the Taliban and is struggling to hold onto its territory. This past weekend saw some of… Continue watching
Jun 21 Crowds gather at Stonehenge for summer solstice despite COVID concerns By Associated Press Dozens of people have ignored advice not to travel to Stonehenge for the annual summer solstice celebrations, which were cancelled due to coronavirus concerns. Continue reading
Jun 21 Armenian leader’s party wins snap vote despite defeat in war By Avet Demourian, Associated Press Voting results show that the party of Armenia’s acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has won snap parliamentary elections which he called to ease anger over a peace deal he signed with Azerbaijan. Continue reading
Jun 21 Taliban take key Afghanistan district, bringing militants closer to provincial capital By Kathy Gannon, Associated Press Taliban militants were within a kilometer (mile) of Kunduz, the provincial capital but had not entered into the city, although there were reports of small bands of Taliban near the outskirts. Continue reading
Jun 21 Swedish Prime Minister loses confidence vote, sparking uncertainty By Jan M. Olsen, Associated Press Stefan Lofven, Sweden’s Social Democratic prime minister since 2014, has lost a confidence vote in parliament. Continue reading
Jun 21 EU slaps coup-related sanctions on top Myanmar officials By Associated Press Those targeted Monday include ministers, deputy ministers and the attorney general. The EU blames them for "undermining democracy and the rule of law and for serious human rights violations."… Continue reading
Jun 21 Biden outlines vaccine plan, set to miss global-sharing goal By Zeke Miller, Associated Press President Joe Biden is expected to fall short of his commitment to shipping 80 million COVID-19 vaccine doses abroad by the end of June. Officials say that's due to regulatory and other hurdles. Continue reading
Jun 21 EU, U.S., UK, Canada join forces to slap sanctions on Belarus By Lorne Cook, Associated Press The United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada have joined forces to impose sanctions on several officials in Belarus over the forced diversion of a Ryanair flight to Minsk last month. Continue reading