Politics

Monday, October 5th 2020 - 08:40 UTC
US extends “No Sail Order” for cruise vessels until October 31st

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the extension of a No Sail Order for cruise ships through October 31, 2020. This order continues to suspend passenger operations on cruise ships with the capacity to carry at least 250 passengers in waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction.
Monday, October 5th 2020 - 08:37 UTC
Trump drives past supporters outside the hospital; US president could return to the White House on Monday

United States President Donald Trump drove past supporters on Sunday outside the hospital where he was being treated for COVID-19, after announcing on Twitter a “surprise visit” to his backers.
Monday, October 5th 2020 - 08:00 UTC
Saudi Arabia cautiously resumes pilgrimage to the Grand Mosque in Mecca

Mask-clad Muslims circled Islam's holiest site along socially distanced paths on Sunday, as Saudi authorities partially resumed the year-round umrah pilgrimage amid extensive health precautions after seven-month coronavirus hiatus.
Saturday, October 3rd 2020 - 08:55 UTC
Concern in the White House about the presidential election; Trump in quarantine at Army hospital

White House officials sought to project an air of business as usual on Friday despite President Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis, but aides privately expressed concern about the presidential election and showed signs of rising worry about the coronavirus.
Saturday, October 3rd 2020 - 08:54 UTC
Bolsonaro nominates liberal judge to the Supreme Court triggering reaction from evangelical supporters

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday nominated a judge with a record of flexible rulings to the country’s Supreme Court, frustrating evangelical members of his conservative base who had been promised one of their own for the opening.
Saturday, October 3rd 2020 - 08:36 UTC
Boris Johnson’s Cunning Plan; If PM Johnson is Blackadder, who is his Baldrick?

By Gwynne Dyer – “I’ve got a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel,” said Blackadder’s sidekick Baldrick in the BBC’s brilliant historical comedy series ‘Blackadder.’ In fact, he said, “I have a cunning plan” in almost every episode, but the plans hardly ever worked, and it became a popular catch-phrase.
Saturday, October 3rd 2020 - 08:36 UTC
Merkel and UK remain optimistic on a post Brexit-deal, but “the fisheries gap is unfortunately very large”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had no breakthrough to announce on Friday as a week of EU talks with Britain ended, but remained optimistic that sealing a deal on a post-Brexit trade relationship was still possible before the end of the year.
Saturday, October 3rd 2020 - 08:20 UTC
US Supreme Court will take a dispute on loosening US media ownership rules

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Friday it will take up a long-running legal dispute over whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can loosen U.S. media ownership rules. A lower court has thwarted the FCC's efforts to revise the rules since 2003 in a series of decisions.
Saturday, October 3rd 2020 - 08:19 UTC
French Overseas Territory New Caledonia votes independence referendum on Sunday

Voters in New Caledonia, a French archipelago in the South Pacific, will choose whether they want independence from France in a referendum that marks a milestone in a three-decade decolonization effort.
Saturday, October 3rd 2020 - 08:15 UTC
Gibraltar leaders hold virtual meeting with the All Party Group on post Brexit talks with EU

Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and the Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Joseph Garcia held a virtual meeting with members of the All-Party Group on Gibraltar on Thursday, which included Members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords with Group Chair Sir Bob Neil MP.