Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday condemned riots across the country this weekend in which demonstrators attacked police and set fires to protest against a night-time curfew to slow the spread of the coronavirus, calling them “criminal violence”. Schools and non-essential shops in the Netherlands have been shut since mid-December, following the closure of bars and restaurants two months earlier.
European Union foreign ministers will consider potential “next steps” against Russia after western nations condemned the Kremlin’s harsh treatment of demonstrators calling for the release of opposition politician Alexei Navalny. Clashes broke out in Moscow, St Petersburg, Vladivostok and other cities on Saturday and some protesters clashed with riot police in body armour and helmets. Dozens of people were injured.
Chinese rescuers have found the bodies of nine workers in a mine explosion, raising the death toll to 10, officials said Monday. Eleven others were rescued a day earlier after being trapped underground for two weeks at the gold mine in Shandong province. One person was still missing. The explosion on Jan. 10 released 70 tons of debris that blocked a shaft, disabling elevators and trapping workers underground.
A Ugandan court ordered security forces to cease surrounding the home of opposition leader Bobi Wine, who has been under house arrest since the January 14 presidential election. Troops have blocked the 38-year-old pop star-turned-politician from leaving his house in a suburb of the capital Kampala since he voted in the January 14 election where he ran against long-serving incumbent President Yoweri Museveni.
Larry King, giant of US broadcasting who achieved worldwide fame for interviewing political leaders and celebrities, has died at the age of 87. King conducted an estimated 50,000 interviews in his six-decade career, which included 25 years as host of the popular CNN talk show Larry King Live. The talk show host, famous for his braces and rolled-up sleeves, had faced several health problems in recent years, including heart attacks.