ANDREJ BABIS

Labor unions have staged a day of protests and strikes across the Czech Republic to voice their opposition to the government’s package of cuts and austerity measures meant to keep the ballooning deficit under control.

Prague’s High Court has cancelled a lower court ruling that acquitted former Prime Minister Andrej Babis of fraud charges in a $2 million case involving European Union subsidies.

Czech labor unions have joined opposition parties to protest the government's proposed bid to raise the retirement age by four years to 68.

A retired army general has defeated a populist billionaire in a runoff vote to choose the new president of the Czech Republic.

Retired army Gen. Petr Pavel is challenging populist billionaire Andrej Babis in the Czech presidential runoff vote for the largely ceremonial post that pits the political newcomer against the former prime minister.

The Czech coalition government is facing a parliamentary no-confidence vote over opposition claims of incompetence.

Early results in the Czech presidential election show that populist billionaire Andrej Babis is in the lead.

Populist billionaire Andrej Babis is leading a field of eight candidates hoping to succeed Milos Zeman in the largely ceremonial but prestigious post of the Czech president.

A Prague court has acquitted former Prime Minister Andrej Babis of fraud charges in a $2 million case involving European Union subsidies.

Populist billionaire Andrej Babis has announced his intention to run for the largely ceremonial post of the Czech Republic’s president.

Tens of thousands of Czechs have gathered in the capital to demonstrate their solidarity with Ukraine and support for democratic values.

Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has gone on trial in a $2 million fraud case involving European Union subsidies.

The Czech Republic’s coalition government is facing a parliamentary no-confidence vote over its handling the energy crisis and a scandal involving the head of one of the country’s spy agencies.

Only months ago, Robert Golob was virtually unknown in politics, didn’t belong to any party, but had a clear goal: remove Slovenian populist Prime Minister Janez Jansa from power and stop a democratic backslide in the tiny Alpine state.

Thousands of people have marched through the Czech Republic’s capital to protest against compulsory COVID-19 vaccination for certain groups and professions.

The president of the Czech Republic is set to swear in the country’s new government on Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron has held talks in Hungary’s capital with the leaders of the European Union’s eastern nations.

The Czech Republic's outgoing and incoming prime ministers have put aside their differences to support an initiative to administer 1 million COVID-19 booster shots in a week.

Czech President Milos Zeman has been readmitted to hospital after he tested positive for COVID-19, just hours after he had been discharged following more than a month’s treatment for an unspecified illness.

Coronavirus infections in the Czech Republic have soared to a new record high, reaching almost 26,000 daily cases.

The leaders of three Central European countries on Tuesday expressed their support for Poland in an ongoing migration crisis on its eastern border with Belarus.

Protesters are marching through the Czech capital of Prague to decry the government’s new restrictions on unvaccinated people.

The Czech government has approved new coronavirus restrictions that specifically target unvaccinated people amid a record surge of infections.

The president of the Czech Republic is set to swear in the country’s new prime minister on Nov 26.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia have both reported record daily new coronavirus cases.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his government have resigned in a formal step required by the Constitution following last month’s parliamentary election.

Coronavirus cases have soared to a new record high in Slovakia, with some hospitals having to move COVID-19 patients elsewhere in the country because they couldn’t take any more.

Two party coalitions that emerged as winners of the Czech Republic's parliamentary election have signed a power-sharing deal to govern.

The leaders of four Central European nations have met in Hungary’s capital where they urged visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in to consider investing in a rapid train line connecting Budapest and Polish capital Warsaw.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis says he wouldn't accept an offer to try to create a new government after his centrist ANO political movement narrowly lost in the parliamentary election last week and is ready to end up in opposition.

Australia’s capital Canberra has come out of lockdown with authorities reporting more than 99% of the population aged 12 and older having at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Czech President Milos Zeman has been rushed to the hospital a day after a parliamentary election in which he has a key role in establishing a new government.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s centrist party has narrowly lost the Czech Republic’s parliamentary election, a surprise development that could mean the end of the populist billionaire’s reign in power.

Czechs begin voting in a parliamentary election with polls showing Prime Minister Andrej Babis, a populist billionaire, has a good chance of keeping his job.

A global investigation has revealed how the rich and powerful have being hiding their investments in mansions, exclusive beachfront property, yachts and other assets for the past quarter-century.

Calls are growing for an end to the financial secrecy and shell companies that have allowed many of the world’s richest and most powerful people to hide their wealth from tax collectors.

Hundreds of world leaders, powerful politicians, billionaires, celebrities, religious leaders and drug dealers have been hiding their investments in mansions, exclusive beachfront property, yachts and other assets for the past quarter-century.

Central European leaders are voicing concern over what they say is a potential migration rush from Afghanistan in the wake of U.S. and NATO withdrawal.

A rare tornado believed to be the most devastating in the Czech Republic's modern history has torn through the country's southeast, killing at least five people and injuring hundreds of others.

A Belarusian opposition leader has called for the creation of an international tribunal to investigate and prosecute the reported crimes of her country's government and its authoritarian leader of nearly 27 years.

The Czech coalition government led by populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis has survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Czech police are recommending again that Prime Minister Andrej Babis should be indicted over alleged fraud involving European Union subsidies.

The Czech Republic has lost its fourth health minister since the coronavirus pandemic struck last year.

The Czech Parliament has approved the changes in the electoral law requested by the country’s highest court that ruled the previous legislation discriminated against small political parties.

The Czech Republic has ordered 63 more Russian diplomats to leave the country.

The Czech Republic has demanded that Russia should allow its expelled diplomats to return to Moscow, threatening that otherwise more Russian diplomats would be asked to leave Prague.

The Czech Republic’s prime minister and prosecutor general say the two Russian military agents believed to be behind a massive depot explosion in 2014 likely targeted the ammunition, not their country.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief says that in the face of the big military buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine’s borders, it will only take “a spark” to set off a confrontation.

The Czech Republic is expelling 18 Russian diplomats it identified as spies in a case related to a huge ammunition depot explosion in 2014.

Czech lawmakers have rejected a proposed bill to reduce dependency on food imports by imposing a quota of locally-produced food to be sold in supermarkets.

Czech Republic’s foreign minister has been fired in a government reshuffle less than half a year before the parliamentary election.

COVID-19 has wrought division in the European Union.

Czech Prime Minster Andrej Babis has fired his health minister, the third who has lost the job in the pandemic in one of the hardest-hit European countries.

Bookseller Jaromir Vytopil, left, appoints the youngest schoolchildren to the order of readers at a library in Pelhrimov, Czech Republic, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2020. Some 25,000 have been killed by COVID-19 in the hard-hit Czech Republic. On March 22, 2020 and for some days to come, the Czech Republic reported daily COVID-19 deaths in the single digits. But it's not just grim statistics that have torn the fabric of Czech life. AdAccording to Johns Hopkins University, the Czech Republic has 240.7 cumulative deaths per 100,000 people, the world’s second-highest mortality rate after the microstate of San Marino.

Healthcare workers move a patient to the infectious ward of the Bulovka hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. “The more infectious variant of the coronavirus, the British one, has been spreading across all our regions and has become dominant in the Czech Republic,” Blatny said. AdDaily confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 14,554 on Thursday with 8,153 COVID-19 patients needing hospitalization - some 300 cases shy of Tuesday's record. “It’s more about mental exhaustion than physical fatigue.”The country has activated a plan for dozens of Czech patients to be treated in Germany, Poland and Switzerland. AdThe Czech Republic has by far the biggest 14-day infection rate per 100,000 inhabitants in the EU, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Police officers check cars on a road between the towns, Ceske Budejovice and Cesky Krumlov, near Kosov, Czech Republic, Monday, March 1, 2021. Limits for free movement of people are set in place in the Czech Republic. As of Monday, people in the Czech Republic who go out for exercise should not leave their municipality. Babis said 1 million vaccine shots were expected to arrive through an EU program in March and another 2.6 million in April. In a sign of solidarity, three states in neighboring Germany have sent the Czech Republic 15,000 dozes of the AstraZeneca vaccine to try to control contagion at the border.

While Israel does not produce vaccines, Netanyahu has moved aggressively to secure enough vaccines for Israel’s 9.3 million people in deals with Pfizer and Moderna. Ad“Our supply is beyond what is needed by the citizens of Israel,” Netanyahu told reporters Tuesday. In Prague, the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babis, said Israel was donating 5,000 doses to his country after a request for assistance. He said the vaccines were in response to requests from friendly countries, and not in exchange for any diplomatic favors. Israel this month delivered 2,000 doses of Moderna vaccines to the Palestinian Authority for frontline medical workers in the West Bank, and it has pledged to share a total of 5,000 doses.

(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)WARSAW – Central European leaders pushed Wednesday for faster deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines from every reliable manufacturer to speed up inoculations which they said is the way to conquer the pandemic and jump-start Europe’s economic recovery. The leaders of Hungary, Slovakia and Poland said they support purchasing vaccines from manufacturers regardless of “geopolitics” provided they are safe and effective. Hungary is the European Union's first and so far only member state to administer Russia's Sputnik V vaccine without waiting for approval from the European Medicines Agency. “There is no Eastern or Western vaccine, there is only a good or a bad vaccine,” Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a news conference in Krakow, Poland. European Council President Charles Michel, who attended the celebrations, said EU leaders will discuss next week ways of increasing vaccine production and of speeding up inoculations.

Medical workers move a covid-19 patient at a hospital overrun by the covid pandemic in Cheb, Czech Republic, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)PRAGUE – The Czech government on Sunday re-declared a state of emergency for next two weeks to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in one of the European Union's hardest-hit nations. The Czech Republic, a nation of 10.7 million, has had more than 1 million confirmed cases, with 18,143 deaths. AdDespite the dire situation, some lawyers and politicians, including Milos Vystrcil, the Senate speaker, say the government’s move violates the country’s Constitution. The government could use other legal options to reimpose some coronavirus restrictions but not all of them.

Policemen stop a car to check documents of a driver near the city of Sokolov, Czech Republic, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)PRAGUE – With a new, highly contagious coronavirus variant gaining force, the already hard-hit Czech Republic was in chaos on Friday after lawmakers deprived the government of a powerful tool to tackle the pandemic. Some of the regional leaders suggested they would like to ask the government to declare the state of emergency again. Local hospitals have reached their limits and COVID-19 patients have to be transported to hospitals in other parts of the Czech Republic. In reaction to the surge across the border, Germany decided to temporarily reinstate border controls with the Czech Republic and Austria on Sunday due to their high number of variant coronavirus cases.

Czech leader Andrej Babis has been seeking vaccines outside the EU’s common program after deliveries from EU-approved Western drug companies have been delayed. With a team of experts, Babis last week also visited Hungary, which has been the first EU country to give a green light to the Russian vaccine. Thanks to the Chinese and Russian vaccines, Serbia is currently second in Europe after Britain in the rate of the vaccination rollout per capita. “We should abandon politics and talk about people's health, because the (virus) situation in the Czech Republic is not good.”The Czech Republic, a country of 10 million, has recorded over 1 million infections and seen more than 17,600 confirmed virus deaths. Brnabic said the country's experience with all three vaccines has been “excellent.”Babis's visit included a tour of a mass inoculation center in Belgrade.

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has reported 504 new coronavirus cases for the latest 24-hour period. Although coronavirus cases stayed relatively low in Japan last year compared to the United States and Europe, infections have been climbing recently. Kate Brown says outdoor contact sports, including high school football, can resume this week amid a decline in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. On Wednesday, Germany’s Robert Koch Institute reported 8,072 new virus cases and 813 deaths in 24 hours. ___MADRID — Spain’s official 14-day rate of coronavirus cases has fallen to 584, from a peak of 900 two weeks ago.

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2021, file photo, Sri Lankan nursing staff administer COVID-19 vaccines to front-line health workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Reynolds issued the earlier restrictions in November when hospitals were struggling to care for a surge of coronavirus patients. Officials say it could help up to four COVID-19 patients. ___LISBON, Portugal — Portugal has set a new daily record for COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care with 904 patients on Friday. AdThe Austrian government offered to take in five COVID-19 patients and five non-COVID patients to relieve Portuguese hospitals.

FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, healthcare workers move a COVID-19 patient to the Motol hospital in Prague, Czech Republic. Reaching a milestone of one million confirmed cases, the battle against the pandemic is far from over in the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, FILE)PRAGUE – The Czech Republic has reached 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases, health authorities said Wednesday. The Czech Republic is by far the smallest of the 21 countries to surpass the milestone, with the U.S. leading the global table with more than 26 million confirmed cases. Another European Union country, the Netherlands, reached the 1 million mark of confirmed cases on Wednesday.

On Wednesday Feb. 3, 2021, the Czech Republic's highest court ruled to cancel several provisions of the country's electoral law as discriminatory for small parties. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek/File)PRAGUE – The Czech Republic’s highest court ruled Wednesday to cancel several provisions of the country’s electoral law as discriminatory for small parties. To gain parliamentary seats, any party needs to reach a 5% threshold of the popular vote. Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said he respected the ruling and invited the representatives of parliamentary parties to discuss the possible options they have. AdBoth chambers of Parliament need to agree on necessary changes to amend the electoral law in line with the court’s verdict.

State health officials Monday reported fewer than 13,000 people were being treated for the virus in Texas hospitals, marking the seventh consecutive day of declining patient loads. Some hospitals and clinics have reported having to cancel immunization appointments because they didn’t have enough vaccine doses to distribute. A little more than half of Ochsner employees have yet to get the vaccine, officials said at a news conference Monday. Health officials are also worried about variants that were first reported in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The Democratic governor says Nevada officials were told vaccine doses would be administered to the states based on population.

People recieve their Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination inside Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury, England, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)BRUSSELS – Frustration is mounting from Europe to North America over reduced shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine while the U.S. pharmaceutical company increases production capacity at its Belgian plant. Overall, the EU is slated to get up to 600 million doses from Pfizer. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first vaccine authorized for use in the U.K. the EU and the United States. “I would not stop until we get these vaccines.”The European Union is likely to pursue Pfizer with a different weapon but equal fervor.

But it was also a public chance for them to urge Europe's 450 million people to get the shots amid continued vaccine and virus skepticism. The Los Olmos home suffered two confirmed COVID-19 deaths and another 11 deaths among residents with symptoms who were never tested. After he got his shot, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared Sunday “a great day for science and the European Union." Germany’s BioNTech has said it’s confident that its vaccine works against the new U.K. variant, but added that further studies are needed. The European Medicines Agency on Jan. 6 will consider approving another vaccine made by Moderna, which is already being used in the United States.

(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has added 1,092 new coronavirus cases in a resurgence that is erasing hard-won epidemiological gains and eroding public confidence in the government’s ability to handle the outbreak. It would deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Preliminary data on U.S. deaths show the coronavirus pandemic contributing to a 15% or more increase in deaths over last year. ___MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials have reported a new daily high in confirmed coronavirus cases as the country awaits its first shipment of vaccine. ___WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation is reporting 151 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths related to COVID-19.

Health care workers transport a COVID-19 patient from an intensive care unit (ICU) at a hospital in Kyjov to hospital in Brno, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. With cases surging in central Europe, some countries are calling in soldiers, firefighters, students and retired doctors to help shore up buckling health care systems. With cases surging in many central European countries, firefighters, students and retired doctors are being asked to help shore up buckling health care systems. Now, with the virus ripping through their hospitals, many health workers have been sickened, compounding the shortfall. With one of the highest infection rates in Europe, the Czech Republic's hospitals are desperately looking for volunteers.

PRAGUE – The Czech Republic’s prime minister called on his health minister to resign or be fired after he broke strict government restrictions to slow a record surge of coronavirus infections and visited a Prague restaurant. Prime Minister Andrej Babis said Friday he will meet with the country’s president later in the day to discuss a possible replacement of the minister, Roman Prymula. “If we want the people to abide by the rules ... it is us who have to set an example,” Babis said. Before he became health minister, Prymula was a deputy health minister who led the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic for a time in the spring. Prymula became health minister on Sept. 12, and he imposed a series of tough regulations in attempts to slow the steep rise of infections.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis says those measures should prevent the collapse of the health system in early November. The nation of 67 million jumped closer to the 1 million infections mark, with 999,043 confirmed cases by Thursday evening. Health Minister Jens Spahn, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, was quarantined at home. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced a three-tier alert system last week for England. Cyprus made mask wearing mandatory for anyone older than 12 in outdoor public spaces after daily infections hit record numbers in the last two weeks.

FILE - In this March 16, 2020 file photo a young man wearing a face mask walks across an empty Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic. But amid a record surge of coronavirus infections that's threatening the entire health system with collapse, the Czech Republic is adopting on Thursday exactly the same massive restrictions it slapped on citizens in the spring. Prime Minister Andrej Babis had repeatedly said these measures would never be repeated. But amid a record surge of coronavirus infections that's threatening the entire health system with collapse, the Czech Republic is adopting on Thursday exactly the same massive restrictions it slapped on citizens in the spring. Many still remember when Babis' then health minister, Adam Vojtech, and his team proposed in August a mandatory return of masks in schools.

The Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Division of Emergency Management will provide more medical personnel and equipment this week. The move comes during the same week that El Paso County reported 3,750 new coronavirus infections, including 1,161 on Thursday. The announcement came Thursday as the state reported 932 newly confirmed coronavirus cases. Wednesday marked another record day for daily confirmed cases, with 827, and state health officials reported an additional 669 cases Thursday. Florida reported more than 5,500 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, raising the seven-day average in daily reported cases to about 3,300.

A woman wearing a face mask walks in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. Facing a record surge of coronavirus infections, the Czech Republic returns to a recipe that was believed to work well to contain the pandemic in the spring. “The surge (of new cases) is enormous.”The restrictions will become affective on Thursday and will last until at least Nov 3. The 7-day rolling average of daily new cases in the Czech Republic has risen over the past two weeks from 29.59 new cases per 100,000 people on Oct. 6 to 85.64 new cases per 100,000 people on Tuesday. Since the start of the pandemic, the Czech Republic has registered 193,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, about one third of them in the last seven days.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, left, greets Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, right, with an elbow bump during a round table meeting at an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. European Union leaders are meeting in person for a two-day summit amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic to discuss topics ranging from Brexit to climate and relations with Africa. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen left the summit venue in Brussels shortly after the meeting began because one of her close staffers tested positive for COVID-19. Since the pandemic first surfaced in Europe in February, EU leaders have held several summits via videoconference. Parliament President David Sassoli said the virus has already infected a number of EU lawmakers, staffers and their associates.

According to the meeting's conclusions, leaders will try to find a consensus during another meeting to be held in December, ahead of the adoption of the first-ever European climate law. While the European Parliament pushes for an even greater 60% reduction in emissions, eastern EU countries that depend on coal for much of their energy needs are less enthusiastic. Poland last year did not commit to the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality goal and has asked for more details about the measures. “If we agree on 55% average in the EU, the Czech Republic (does not) have any problem." Under the Paris Agreement, countries are due to submit updated climate targets by the end of the year.

The National Health Commission numbers released Tuesday reported a total of 30 new virus cases in the previous 24 hours nationwide. ___AUSTIN, Texas -- An ongoing wave of COVID-19 cases in the El Paso area prompted Gov. Since Friday, the state added 2,055 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases, an increase of 3.1%, to bring the total for the pandemic to 67,862. Conley says in a fresh update released Monday that Trump tested negative for COVID-19 on consecutive days using a newer 15-minute test. The project will produce 50 million swabs per month and is funded by a $51.2 million coronavirus relief grant announced by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in August.

Women peel potatoes outside a snack bar amid the new coronavirus pandemic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. — Queen Elizabeth II honored the work of doctors and nurses, delivery drivers, fundraisers and volunteers during the coronavirus pandemic. ___PHOENIX -- A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says coronavirus cases in Arizona dropped 75% following the implementation of mask mandates. Arizona’s stay-at-home order expired on May 15 and two weeks later the daily average number of coronavirus cases climbed 151%. ___PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The University of Rhode Island has issued a two-week shelter-in-place order for fraternity and sorority houses because of a high number of coronavirus cases.

“This emergency has, more than a thousand treaties or speeches, made us suddenly realize that we are part of one single world,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. In times of global crisis, Europe’s rich governments are often looked to for financial and material aid for poorer ones. As infections tick up, EU countries are again imposing quarantines on visitors from neighboring nations. “In every corner of the world today, there is a young man, a young woman, looking at their cell phone screen. “If we’re truly going to defeat this virus we’ll have to do even more to enhance international cooperation,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

Prymula will be the new Czech Health Minister, replacing Adam Vojtech (for ANO), who announced his resignation on Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. (AP Photo via CTK/Ondrej Deml)PRAGUE – The Czech government moved Monday to appoint an epidemiologist as the new health minister as the country struggles with a surge of new coronavirus infections. The outgoing minister, Adam Vojtech, resigned from his post on Monday, saying his departure was meant to create space for a possible different approach to the pandemic. As deputy health minister, Prymula led the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic for a time in the spring. Babis said he was sorry about Vojtech's resignation, calling the outgoing minister “the best” the country ever had.

In preparation for European Union summit this month, the meeting is to discuss situation in Belarus, ties with Russia and fighting COVID-19. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)WARSAW – The prime ministers of four central European countries said Friday that a new election should be held in Belarus to allow the country's voters to decide the course of its future. Belarus has seen a month of street protests against the results of the country’s Aug. 9 presidential election, which is widely believed to have been rigged. Orban said that fast-growing central Europe could be an engine of a pickup in the economy. Poland, the largest of the four and aspiring to take a leadership, currently holds the rotating presidency of the so-called Visegrad 4, central Europe's political and economic cooperation group.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wears a face mask during a joint press conference as part of a meeting with the Prime Minister of Czech Republic Andrej Babis in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Czech Republic at the start of a four-nation tour of Europe. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, Pool)PRAGUE U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday called upon the young democracies of central and Eastern Europe to embrace their hard-won freedoms as they face threats from Russia, China and others while seeing backsliding closer to home, including in Belarus. In his remarks, Pompeo took particularly hard aim at China, which he said was an even bigger threat to democracy than Russia. The Senate president plans to visit Taipei later this month despite China's objections, a move that Pompeo applauded.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives at the airport in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Czech Republic at the start of a four-nation tour of Europe. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, Pool)PRAGUE U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the Czech Republic at the start of a four-nation tour of central and eastern Europe expected to focus on threats to the region posed by Russia and China. Two of Pompeo's other three destinations the Czech Republic and Austria also share a border with Germany, while Slovakia borders Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland. In Warsaw, Poland, Pompeo plans talks with President Andrzej Duda, who recently won a narrow reelection after a bitter campaign that concerned human rights advocates and others.

WASHINGTON Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to central and Eastern Europe next week to discuss efforts to counter Russian and Chinese influence in the region and talk about U.S. troop deployments on the continent. The State Department said Thursday that Pompeo will visit the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Austria and Poland on a weeklong trip that is only his third overseas since the coronavirus outbreak. The shift has raised significant concerns in Europe and elsewhere as the Trump administration has given conflicting reasons for it, ranging from antipathy toward Germany's leadership to strategic planning. In Vienna, Pompeo will meet Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to review trade relations and regional security. In Warsaw, Poland, Pompeo plans talks with President Andrzej Duda, who recently won a narrow reelection after a bitter campaign that concerned human rights advocates and others.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Saturday, July 18, 2020. Leaders from 27 European Union nations meet face-to-face for a second day of an EU summit to assess an overall budget and recovery package spread over seven years estimated at some 1.75 trillion to 1.85 trillion euros. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, Pool)BRUSSELS European Union leaders were hunting for compromises Saturday as a summit to reach a deal on an unprecedented 1.85 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund entered its second day with tensions running high. The atmosphere was grumpier this evening than this afternoon, Dutch Prime Minister Rutte told Dutch reporters after Fridays marathon talks. That comes on top of the seven-year 1-trillion-euro EU budget that leaders were fighting over when COVID-19 slammed their continent.

Visitors view en exhibition of face masks at the National Museum in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, May 28, 2020. With the coronavirus pandemic still not over yet, the Czech National Museum in Prague has put on display the most visible symbol of the country's response to it, face masks. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)PRAGUE The National Museum in Prague has put on display the most visible symbol of the Czech Republic's response to the coronavirus - face masks. If we want to leave a legacy for future generations, this collection of face masks says only positive things about us, National Museum spokeswoman Lenka Bouckova said Thursday. The Nation Museum exhibition is set to expand with future donations when people no longer need to use masks.

The New York Stock Exchange reopened the trading floor Tuesday, though with plexiglass shields and far fewer traders. U.S. restaurant traffic is starting to return as states push to get back to normal. About 93,000 U.S. chain restaurant locations reopened between May 10 and May 17. Plans by Delta Air Lines and United Airlines to resume flights to China next month have become entangled in a dispute between the U.S. and Chinese governments. UBS upgraded Southwest Airlines to buy from neutral on better prospects for a recovery in domestic travel.