Travels News
American basketball player Brittney Griner was back in a Russian court Tuesday for her drug possession trial as the United States attempts to negotiate with Russia about her release. Griner, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport in February as she was …
Read more “US Basketball Player Back in Russian Court on Drug Charges”
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Moscow has done its best to suppress opposition inside Russia. VOA Russian has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Aleksandr Barash, Dmitry Vershinin …
Almost 700 migrants and asylum seekers crossed the Channel to Britain in a single day this week, a new record for the year, the UK government said Tuesday. The latest arrivals suggest the government’s controversial policy to deport those attempting the dangerous crossing to Rwanda has so far failed to deter them. The Defense Ministry …
Read more “Nearly 700 Migrants Crossed Channel on Monday in 2022 Record”
The U.N. secretary-general warned Monday at the start of a nuclear non-proliferation conference that the risks of more nuclear weapons is growing as guardrails to prevent escalation are weakening. “Today, humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation,” Antonio Guterres told the opening of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference. He …
Read more “At UN, Review of Nuclear Controls in Tense World Underway”
Social media users in Turkey could face up to three years in jail for postings that authorities consider to be disinformation under proposed legislation. The move has prompted protests, with critics accusing the government of seeking to silence the last platforms that Turkish citizens have for venting their grievances. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. …
Russia announced sanctions Monday against dozens of British politicians, officials and public figures, accusing them of supporting the “demonization” of the country. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said 39 Britons would be banned from entering the country, joining more than 200 other British nationals that Moscow has already banned. The latest additions include opposition Labour Party leader …
Read more “Russia Imposes Travel Ban on Dozens More Prominent Britons”
Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Russia intensified its global battle to win support with an official trip to four African countries by its foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from the VOA Moscow Bureau. …
The Spanish government maybe had a good idea, but the execution of the body positivity campaign has gone horribly wrong. The idea was to encourage women to come out and enjoy the beaches – without any worries about how they looked in their swimsuits. But three of the five women whose photographs were used in …
Read more “Spanish Government’s Body Positivity Campaign Goes Awry”
Grain shipments from Ukraine’s port of Odesa resumed Monday. The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni was the first to leave port, carrying corn bound for Lebanon. In a statement, Turkey’s defense ministry said other unspecified ships also would depart Ukraine. Turkey and the United Nations brokered an agreement with Russia and Ukraine in late July …
The Kosovo government postponed implementation of a decision that would oblige Serbs in the north of the country to apply for car license plates issued by Pristina institutions after tensions rose between police and local communities that set roadblocks. Late on Sunday the protesters parked trucks filled with gravel and other heavy machinery on the …
Read more “Kosovo Delays License Plate Plan After Border Tensions”
There was already plenty of trouble to talk about when a major U.N. meeting on the landmark Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was originally supposed to happen in 2020. Now the pandemic-postponed conference finally starts Monday as Russia’s war in Ukraine has reanimated fears of nuclear confrontation and cranked up the urgency of trying to reinforce the …
Read more “Ukraine War Hangs Over UN Meeting on Nuclear Treaty’s Legacy”
England beat Germany 2-1 in the final of the European Championship after extra time on Sunday to win its first major women’s soccer title. Chloe Kelly scored the winning goal on a rebound in the second half of extra time after Germany failed to clear a corner. The game had finished 1-1 after 90 minutes …
Read more “England Beats Germany in Extra Time to Win Women’s Euro 2022”
Hundreds of people from the Nigerian community of the central Italian city of Civitanova Marche took to the streets Saturday to protest the slaying of a Nigerian street vendor. The killing was caught in cellphone video, but no one intervened to stop the slaying of the disabled man. Police say an Italian man, Filippo Claudio …
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Saturday for the evacuation of eastern Donetsk province, the region that has seen the fiercest fighting as Russia seeks to fully control it. Hundreds of thousands of people, including children and the elderly, remain in combat zones of the larger Donbas region, which includes Donetsk and Luhansk. It is also …
Read more “Zelenskyy Calls for Evacuation of Eastern Donetsk”
Iran has arrested a Swedish citizen on espionage charges, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday, after a court in Stockholm sentenced a former Iranian official for war crimes earlier this month. Iran has arrested dozens of foreigners and dual nationals in recent years, mostly on espionage and security-related accusations. Rights groups call that …
Read more “Iran Arrests Swedish Citizen on Espionage Charges”
Pope Francis acknowledged Saturday that he can no longer travel like he used to because of his strained knee ligaments, saying his weeklong Canadian pilgrimage was “a bit of a test” that showed he needs to slow down and one day possibly retire. Speaking to reporters while traveling home from northern Nunavut, the 85-year-old Francis …
When the first armored vehicles of Russia’s invading army reached the heart of Chernobyl nuclear plant on the afternoon of Feb. 24, they encountered a Ukrainian unit charged with defending the notorious facility. In less than two hours, and without a fight, the 169 members of the Ukrainian National Guard laid down their weapons. Russia …
Read more “How Russia Spread a Secret Web of Agents Across Ukraine”
Izzy Short, 13, struggles to pick her favorite England player as she anticipates the team’s appearance in Sunday’s final of the European soccer championships. There’s forward Ellen White. Defender Lucy Bronze. Midfielder Georgia Stanway. Captain Leah Williamson. The whole team basically. “I just look up to them really,” the high school player from Manchester said, …
Read more “Women’s Soccer Energizes England in a League of Their Own”
The United States has imposed sanctions on two Russians and four Russian entities in connection with U.S. claims of Russian interference in U.S. elections, and it formally charged one of the sanctioned individuals with using U.S. citizens and political groups to spread Russian propaganda. The U.S. Treasury Department said Friday that the designated individuals and …
Read more “US Imposes Sanctions, Files Charges Over Alleged Russian Influence Campaign”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by telephone Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, pressing him to accept a U.S. proposal to secure the release of American professional basketball star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan. The call is the first conversation between the two top diplomats since Russia’s invasion of …
Read more “Top US, Russian Diplomats Discuss Proposed Prisoner Swap”
Dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed when a prison in eastern Ukraine was destroyed in a missile strike. Russia and Ukraine on Friday accused each other of carrying out the attack. Neither claim could be independently verified. Russia’s defense ministry said 40 prisoners were killed and 75 were wounded in the strike on …
Read more “Russia, Ukraine Accuse Each Other of Prison Attacks That Killed Ukrainian POWs “
The European Union’s statistical office, Eurostat, on Friday estimated inflation is expected to reach a record 8.9% in July, while the Eurozone and EU economy overall continued to grow during the first quarter of 2022. In its report, Eurostat indicated inflation in July was driven largely by the energy sector with 39.7% growth, down from …
Read more “Record EU Inflation Expected; Economy Continues to Grow”
Russian-backed separatists say Ukrainian shelling in eastern Ukraine has killed at least 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war captured during the fighting in Mariupol. The separatists said at least 75 prisoners were wounded. The Ukrainian POWs had been among those who had taken refuge in the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol where they were able to …
Read more “Russia Says Ukrainian Shelling Kills 40 Ukrainian Prisoners of War”
Exiled Belarusian sources say recent Russian military activities inside Belarus, a key Moscow ally, show Russia is trying to maintain a threat of attack from Belarus against northern Ukraine after failing in a land-based assault on the region housing Ukraine’s capital Kyiv earlier this year. While the Belarusian journalists, analysts and dissidents say another Russian …