worldwide news
Flames swept through a town near Athens overnight and hundreds of people were evacuated by ferry from the island of Evia as wildfires burned across Greece for a fifth day Saturday.On Evia, east of the capital, a fire that began Tuesday quickly burgeoned into several fronts, ripping through thousands of hectares (acres) of pristine forest …
Read more “Greece Battles Wildfires for Fifth Day in ‘Nightmarish Summer’”
About 40 migrants were feared dead after a boat carrying about 50 people traveling from Western Sahara to Spain’s Canary Islands capsized, a Spanish nongovernmental organization said on Friday.”Tragedy: forty-two people, among those thirty women, eight children and four men, died when a boat capsized off the coast of Dakhla,” tweeted Helena Maleno of Caminando …
Read more “About 40 Migrants Feared Dead After Boat Capsizes off Western Sahara”
Wildfires in Greece raged into the night burning more forest and homes in the northern outskirts of Athens and other parts of the country and forcing more evacuations as more international aid was on the way.Authorities struggled with 154 wildfires across the country on Friday with the biggest fronts still burning in the north of …
Read more “No End to Greek Inferno as Wildfires Rage Into Night”
While Ukraine’s president prepares for a visit to Washington, Kyiv is accepting COVID-19 vaccines from China and has signed a major infrastructure agreement with Beijing to cooperate on roads, bridges and railway projects. Some experts worry China is attaching strings to the ventures, as VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …
European Union ministers will hold emergency talks on what they view as a Belarusian pressure campaign of illegal migration against EU nations, according to Agence France-Presse.The bloc has accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of encouraging new migrants to cross the border in reaction to Poland’s decision to provide refuge to Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who …
Read more “EU Reportedly to Hold Emergency Talks on Belarusian Migration Practices”
The Vatican Museums began requiring visitors Friday to present a so-called Green Pass, a digital certificate proving they have been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from COVID-19 using a digital or paper certificate.The Green Pass is an extension of the European Union’s COVID-19 certificate, designed to make travel, as well as entry into certain venues, …
Read more “Vatican Begins Requiring COVID-19 ‘Green Pass’ for Visitors”
Two Belarusian coaches have been stripped of their Tokyo Olympics accreditations over an alleged attempt to force a sprinter to fly home, an incident that drew international condemnation.The International Olympic Committee on Friday said it had removed the accreditations of Artur Shimak and Yury Maisevich and they had left the Olympic Village.The body said this …
Read more “Two Belarus Coaches Kicked Out of Olympics Over Tsimanouskaya Removal”
A resurgent wildfire burned homes north of Athens, and blazes across southern Greece forced more evacuations Thursday as weather worsened and firefighters in a round-the-clock battle strove to save a former royal palace and the birthplace of the ancient Olympics.In a dramatic scene as flames approached, fire crews went house to house to escort residents …
Read more “Resurgent Wildfires in Greece Burn Homes, Threaten Monuments”
Russia begins mass military exercises with its Central Asian allies Tajikistan and Uzbekistan near the Tajik border with Afghanistan this week. The maneuvers come against the backdrop of a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan – and rapid territorial gains by its adversaries in the Afghan Taliban. For VOA from Moscow, Charles Maynes reports. Camera: Ricardo Marquina-Montanana, …
Read more “Russia Begins Military Drills with Allies along Afghan Border”
A Belarusian Olympic sprinter told reporters Thursday she was advised by family members not to return home because she was being criticized by the Belarus media, who reported that she was mentally ill.Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, 24, arrived in Warsaw, Poland, late Wednesday. Polish authorities granted her a humanitarian visa to seek political asylum earlier this week …
Read more “Belarus Olympic Sprinter Says Grandmother Advised Her Not to Come Home”
Activists say freedom of the press is at risk following a pair of lawsuits brought by Russian oligarchs against a British journalist and her publisher.Roman Abramovich, owner of Britain’s Chelsea Football Club, and Russia’s state-owned energy giant Rosneft, have both filed defamation lawsuits against journalist Catherine Belton and her publisher HarperCollins UK. The suits are …
Read more “Russian Defamation Trial Threatens British Press Freedom: Activists”
The owner of Britain’s Chelsea Football Club, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, and Russia’s state-owned oil giant Rosneft have both filed a defamation lawsuit against the author of a book about President Vladimir Putin’s rise to power. Activists say the case threatens the freedom of the press, as Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Camera: Henry RidgwellProduced by: …
Read more “Russian Defamation Trial Threatens British Press Freedom, Say Activists”
A heat wave in southern Europe, fed by strong hot winds from North Africa, has contributed to the outbreak of wildfires across the Mediterranean, including in Italy, Greece, Spain and Turkey. Firefighters in Italy have been deployed from all regions to battle blazes raging in many areas of the country, destroying thousands of hectares of …
Read more “As Mediterranean Wildfires Rage, Italy Counts Environmental Losses “
British police have arrested 11 people as part of an investigation into the online racist abuse directed at some of the Black players in the England soccer team following their defeat in last month’s Euro 2020 final.Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were the targets of the abuse after they missed spot-kicks in a …
Read more “Police Arrest 11 Over Racist Abuse of England Players After Euro Final”
China has lodged a stern representation with Britain’s BBC about its reporting of the floods in Henan and its statement on how foreign journalists were being treated, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.The head of communications for the BBC World Service declined to comment.The broadcaster had said in a statement last month that the Chinese government …
Read more “China Lodges Protest With BBC Over Flood Reporting “
The World Health Organization’s director-general is calling for a worldwide moratorium on COVID-19 booster shots until at least the end of September, to allow low-income nations to get more initial vaccination doses.At a media briefing at the agency’s Geneva headquarters, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus once again brought up inequities in worldwide vaccine allocation, noting more than …
Read more “WHO Wants Moratorium on Booster Shots Until Low Income Countries Catch up”
Moroccans make up the largest migrant population in Spain, with around a million people of Moroccan origin currently living in the country. Some arrive illegally to find work; others are offered seasonal jobs through official work programs in sectors like agriculture. However, as Henry Ridgwell and Alfonso Beato report, in some cases, the workers’ expectations …
Read more “In Spain’s Sweet Strawberries, A Story of Toil and Sacrifice”
Turkey is seeing one of its worst wildfires in decades, with at least nine people killed as of Wednesday. The Turkish government is coming under growing criticism because its fleet of firefighting planes is out of action.Tourists and locals use buckets to fill a tank on a pickup truck with seawater to douse a nearby …
Read more “Fires Rage in Turkey as Anger Grows over Grounded Firefighting Aircraft”
Britain’s top military commander, General Nick Carter, said Wednesday that Western powers need to retaliate for a suspected Iranian drone strike on an oil tanker, which killed a British security guard and the ship’s Romanian captain — otherwise Tehran will feel emboldened.Speaking to the BBC, Carter, chief of the British Defense Staff, said if a …
Read more “Britain’s Top General Calls for Retaliation on Iran for Drone Strike ”
Greek firefighters on Wednesday grappled with fires razing swathes of forest land on the outskirts of Athens, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate and killing animals from tortoises to horses.The inferno has scorched the slopes of Parnitha, which includes a protected nature reserve, just north of Athens.It started in a wooden ravine and is the …
Read more “Greece Grapples with Massive Forest Fires, Evacuations”
The closed-door trial of two leading Belarusian opposition figures began in Minsk on Wednesday over charges stemming from their calls for protests against the official results of last year’s widely discredited presidential election.Maryya Kalesnikava and Maksim Znak are accused of conspiring to seize power, calling for action to damage national security, and encouraging actions harmful …
Read more “Leading Belarussian Opposition Figures Go on Trial in Minsk”
Officials in the Czech Republic say three people are dead and at least 40 are injured after a high-speed express train traveling from Munich, Germany collided with a commuter train near the western village of Milavce early Wednesday.Police say the dead include both drivers of the trains and a passenger. Fire and rescue officials say …
Read more “Czech Train Collision Leaves Three Dead, 40 Injured”
A Belarusian Olympic sprinter who said she faced punishment if she returned to her country departed Japan Wednesday on a flight bound for Austria. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya was scheduled to land in Vienna Wednesday afternoon. She is then expected to travel on to Poland, where the government has offered her a humanitarian visa. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki posted Tuesday on Facebook that he had spoken …
More than 500 firefighters struggled through the night to contain a large forest fire on the outskirts of Athens, which raced into residential areas Tuesday, forcing thousands to flee. It was the worst of 81 wildfires that broke out in Greece over the past 24 hours, amid one of the country’s most intense heatwaves in …
Read more “Thousands Flee Homes Outside Athens as Heat Fuels Wildfires”