Saturday, Sep 26th
Last update12:37:01 AM GMT
International Glance
The image of the US and Donald Trump around the world has plunged from poor to the abysmal over the administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a global survey.
A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center of more than 13,000 adults in 13 advanced economies between 10 June and 3 August shows international confidence in the US and its president sharply down across the board, reaching historical lows in several countries.
President Donald Trump will serve as a witness Tuesday when the leaders of Israel and two Gulf Arab nations sign agreements formalizing diplomatic relations in a ceremony on the White House South Lawn.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are set to sign the accords in front of 700 invited guests. The deal follows months of diplomatic outreach led by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his envoy for international negotiations, Avi Berkowitz.
Tuesday's ceremony highlights a realignment in the Middle East, as Arab
Diana Rigg, a British actress who became a 1960s style icon as secret agent Emma Peel in the TV series “The Avengers,” died Thursday of cancer at the age of 82.
Rigg’s agent Simon Beresford said she died Thursday morning at home with her family. Her daughter, Rachael Stirling, said she was diagnosed with cancer in March.
Rigg starred in “The Avengers” alongside Patrick McNee’s bowler-hatted John Steed. The pair were an impeccably dressed duo who fought villains and traded quips in a show whose mix of adventure and humor was enduringly influential.
In 1969, Rigg also had a major role in the sixth installment of the James Bond franchise “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” She played Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo or Tracy Bond, who married 007. Riggs starred alongside George Lazenby, who played the titular Bond.
Eight people believed to have been among more than a dozen Saudi agents sent to the country's consulate in Turkey where they were accused of killing Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi were convicted Monday and sentenced to prison terms.
The Washington Post reported that the unnamed defendants were sentenced to a variety of prison terms ranging from seven to 20 years, with prosecutors calling the case against those involved against the Khashoggi killing finished.
The ruling Monday comes after two top aides to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were acquitted last year after Saudi prosecutors linked them to the murder. The crown prince's involvement in the killing was widely suspected due to Khashoggi's frequent criticism of the Saudi government and the crown prince in particular in his writings.
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been removed from a medically induced coma and is responding to speech, Berlin’s Charite hospital said on Monday.
The hospital, which has been treating Navalny since he was airlifted to Germany after falling ill on a Russian domestic flight last month, said his condition has improved and he is being weaned off mechanical ventilation.
“It remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning,” Charite said in a statement.
A pair of potential whistleblowers who knew the inside story of a company operated by three of the richest men in Kazakhstan were both found dead at a motel in Springfield, Missouri, mid-way through a Route 66 road trip on rented Harley-Davidsons.
Autopsy reports initially declared that the two men had died suddenly of malaria, but an expert on the disease told the author of a new book into global corruption that the likelihood of them dying of the same disease on the same night was “almost certainly nil.”
Toxicology tests performed on samples taken from Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny showed "unequivocal proof" of the presence of the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, the German government said Wednesday.
Navalny is in an induced coma at Berlin’s Charite hospital.
He was transferred there last week after he fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on Aug. 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.
Navalny, 44, is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics.
His allies have insisted he was deliberately poisoned, likely by drinking tea, by Russian authorities. The Kremlin has rejected the allegations as "empty noise."
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