MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday that relations with Washington were so confrontational that Russian citizens should not visit the United States, Canada and some EU countries in coming weeks because they risked being “hunted” down by U.S. authorities. Russian and U.S. diplomats say the relationship is worse than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the two Cold War superpowers came closest to intentional nuclear war, due to a confrontation over the Ukraine war. “We urge you to continue to refrain from trips to the United States of America and its allied satellite states, including, first of all, Canada and, with a few exceptions, European Union countries, during these holidays,” she said.

 

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BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sent a request to parliament on Wednesday to hold a vote of confidence on Dec. 16, setting a path to an early federal election next year after the collapse of his coalition last month. Policymaking in Europe’s biggest economy has largely ground to a halt since Scholz’s fractious coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) imploded, leaving him heading a minority government.  

 

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LONDON(Reuters) - Nearly 300 British doctors, nurses and other health workers with long COVID are suing the health service for compensation, saying they were not given proper protection during the pandemic. They say their lives have been devastated by a host of severe health complications. Most cannot return to work and many are housebound. “This is life changing. People are really suffering financially. Some are living in poverty,” said nurse Rachel Hext, one of the claimants.

 

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DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of members of youth and student bodies belonging to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Wednesday held a road march procession from Bangladesh’s capital toward its eastern border with India to protest against an attack on a diplomatic mission earlier this month and alleged desecration of Bangladeshi flags in India. They drove in cars to reach a border point at Akhaura in Brahmanbaria district to register their protest. Before starting for the border area, they rallied briefly in Dhaka where leaders criticized what they called “Indian aggression” against Bangladesh.

 

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NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan police have fired teargas and arrested at least three people as hundreds protested against a wave of femicides, a Reuters reporter and human rights activists said. Several hundred people - mostly women - marched in the capital Nairobi, where they blew whistles and chanted, “Stop killing women!” They were repeatedly dispersed by police officers firing teargas from moving vehicles before regrouping anew. Protests also took place in the cities of Mombasa and Lodwar, according to videos posted on social media.