The United States has announced a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing over China’s “egregious” rights abuses, a move the Chinese government has said would be met with “resolute countermeasures”.

The end of the standoff clears the way for ministers to meet after a three-month gap and come up with a plan to stop the country's economic meltdown.

Uyghurs say China's treatment of the Muslim minority group in the remote Xinjiang region amounts to "genocide." They are calling for a boycott of the upcoming Games.

Over 200 NGOs and rights organizations have called for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. They have raised concerns about atrocities and human rights violations by the Chinese government.

US announces diplomatic boycott of 2022 Beijing Olympics

He is the most famous Chinese dissident and one of the best-known contemporary artists in the world. Ai Weiwei was harassed by the Chinese authorities, who bulldozed his Shanghai studio, sent him to jail without charge and drove him out of his country. After the February 2 publication of the French translation of his memoir, "1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows", the artist sat with Eve Jackson to talk about the moment in a Chinese prison when he decided to write his life’s story for his son and what he learned growing up in a labour camp with his persecuted father, the poet Ai Qing.

Berlin still hopes that relatives of Israeli Olympic team members killed by Palestinian terrorists in 1972 will attend a 50th anniversary ceremony next month.

Relatives of the Israeli Olympic team members killed by Palestinian terrorists call for a boycott of the commemoration ceremony. The bereaved have called Berlin’s compensation offer 'an insult. '

Officials in several French cities are announcing that they will not be organizing public viewing areas for World Cup matches. There won't be any of the usual big screen broadcasts in the plazas, parks, and promenades of Paris, Marseille, Lille, Bordeaux, Reims, and Strasbourg.

The world's two largest cocoa producers boycott a major industry meeting in Europe over a price dispute. Also, South Africa says its government will take the lead in informing the public about any imminent threat to its territory after the US embassy issued a terror alert in Johannesburg for this weekend.

Former Germany captain and World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger told DW he's not sure the current crop are good enough to win in Qatar. He also said the controversial World Cup hosts should be judged post-tournament.

The mood in Germany in the run-up to a football World Cup has never been as subdued. In many pubs, the previously unimaginable is happening: There won't be any soccer matches shown during the World Cup.