Kosovo and Serbia have tentatively agreed on how to implement a European Union-sponsored plan to normalise their ties, according to the bloc’s top diplomat, though leaders of the two nations said disagreements remained. The deal on Saturday came after 12-hour talks between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and EU officials on implementing the normalisation plan, which both sides had agreed to in Brussels last month. The two leaders held separate meetings with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell before a three-way session in the North Macedonian town of Ohrid. “We have a deal,” Borrell tweeted after…
Author: National Tone
TAMPA, Fla. — Brandon Hagel had his second NHL hat trick, Steven Stamkos reached the 30-goal mark for the eighth time and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied in the third period to beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3 on Saturday night. Stamkos tied it at 3 at 3:14 of the third with a power-play one-timer. Hagel put the Lightning ahead to stay at 5:58 with his second of the game when his deflection of Mikhail Sergachev’s shot went past Samuel Montembeault. Hagel, playing his 200th NHL game, completed his hat trick by hitting the empty net with 43.6 seconds remaining. Victor…
Russian president arrives in Crimea to mark the anniversary of the peninsula’s 2014 annexation from Ukraine.Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Crimea on an unannounced visit to mark the ninth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine. Putin was greeted on Saturday by the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, and was taken to see a new children’s centre and art school on what the official said was a surprise visit. “Our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin knows how to surprise. In a good way,” Razvozhayev said on the messaging app Telegram. “But Vladimir Vladimirovich came in person.…
Refinery strikes and demonstrations are held across France over anger at the government raising the state pension age.Refinery strikes have been held across France, and more demonstrations are taking place throughout the country due to widespread anger at the government for raising the state pension age without a parliamentary vote. The growing unrest, combined with rubbish piling up on the streets of Paris after refuse workers joined in the action, has left President Emmanuel Macron with the gravest challenge to his authority since the so-called “Gilets Jaunes”, or Yellow Vests protests, which began in late 2018. Thirty-seven percent of operational…
Italy legalised same-sex civil unions in 2016 but stopped short of granting gay couples the right to adopt.Hundreds of people have taken to the streets in Milan to protest against moves by Italy’s new right-wing government to restrict the rights of same-sex parents. “You explain to my son that I’m not his mother,” read one sign held up in a sea of rainbow flags that filled one of the northern city’s central squares on Saturday. Italy legalised same-sex civil unions in 2016, but opposition from the Catholic Church meant it stopped short of granting gay couples the right to adopt.…
An agreement allowing Ukraine to ship grain from its Black Sea ports was due to expire on Saturday.A deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain over the Black Sea, which had been due to expire on Saturday, has been renewed, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the United Nations have announced. The agreement was concluded after talks with Russia and Ukraine, Erdogan said in a speech in the western city of Canakkale on Saturday, but he did not specify how long the extension of the deal was for. Russia said it had agreed to a 60-day extension, while Ukraine’s infrastructure…
Lucas Akins was Mansfield’s hero as his stoppage-time goal earned his side a dramatic 1-1 draw at play-off chasing rivals Stockport.Akins leapt superbly to head home Elliot Hewitt’s peach of a cross to deny Stockport right at the end of the Sky Bet League Two clash. The Hatters remain unbeaten at home since November – but they had looked on course for another big three points.Stockport went close early on when Will Collar was denied by a superb close-range Christy Pym save.Mansfield replied with skipper Ollie Clarke seeing a shot deflect off Stockport’s Myles Hippolyte before striking the top of…
ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury won the final dual moguls World Cup event of the year en route to claiming his third Crystal Globe this season on Saturday. The Deux-Montagnes, Que., native outduelled Sweden’s Walter Wallberg 22-13 in the big final to claim gold. Australia’s Matt Graham took bronze, beating out Japan’s Ikuma Horishima 22-13 in the small final. Kingsbury, 30, entered Saturday having won the singles moguls event on Friday. He also earned the overall moguls title for his second hat trick of Crystal Globes. The three-time Olympic medallist’s 24 career Crystal Globes are more than any other…
It is Women’s History Month and the world is bursting with proclamations of support for gender equality and women’s rights. But too often, the general narrative celebrating historical progress on gender issues leaves out abortion and contraception, sidelining the fact that without them, gender equality would have been – and still is – impossible. This year, millions of women and girls will be denied access to abortion, forced to carry unintended pregnancies to term or resort to unsafe termination. Abortion continues to be unjustly restricted across the world, most recently in the United States, where new state bans are being…
Egyptian FM Sameh Shoukry and Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu say diplomatic relations to be upgraded to ambassador level ‘as soon as possible’.Egypt’s foreign minister has said talks with Turkey on the possibility of restoring ties to the ambassadorial level would happen at “the appropriate time” during the first visit to Cairo by Turkey’s top diplomat since relations ruptured a decade ago. At a joint news conference on Saturday Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey would upgrade its diplomatic relations with Egypt to ambassador level “as soon as possible”. “I’m very glad that we…