Category: World

U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order Friday designed to allay European concerns that U.S. intelligence agencies are illegally spying on them. It promises strengthened safeguards against data collection abuses and creates a forum for legal challenges.  The order builds on a preliminary agreement Biden announced in March with European Commission President Ursula von …

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Russia concentrated its attacks Friday on the area around Zaporizhzhia, one of the four areas of eastern Ukraine that it claims to have annexed. The Ukrainian governor of the Zaporizhzhia region said that Russian forces had fired more missiles at the regional capital on Friday and had used Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones there for the first …

Read more “Russian Strikes in Zaporizhzhia Region Raise Death Toll, Safety Fears “

The U.N. Human Rights Council has appointed a special rapporteur to monitor human rights in Russia. The resolution was adopted on a vote of 17 in favor, 6 against, and 24 abstentions.   The debate on the initiative began just as a Belarusian activist and two humanitarian organizations based in Ukraine and Russia were announced …

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Bulgaria does not supply weapons to Ukraine and is not actively supporting the war-torn country on diplomatic or legal fronts. It is, however, assisting Ukrainian refugees. Tatiana Vorozhko reports from its capital, Sofia. VOA footage by Svitlana Koval. Video editing by Oleksii Osyka and Anna Rice. …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Friday held talks by phone with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to deepen relations. The talks are seen as likely to add to growing concerns among some of Turkey’s NATO partners over its relationship with Moscow and where its loyalties lie.  The phone call was announced in a press statement …

Read more “Erdogan Works to Deepen Ties With Putin Amid Allies’ Concerns”

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three recipients: Ales Bialiatski, one of the initiators of the democracy movement that emerged in Belarus in the mid-1980s – and two human rights groups – the Center for Civil Liberties, a Ukrainian group, and Memorial, a Russian organization. All three recipients represent countries once part of …

Read more “Activists From Belarus, Ukraine, Russia Win Nobel Peace Prize”

Two Russians who said they fled the country to avoid military service have requested asylum in the U.S. after landing in a small boat on a remote Alaska island in the Bering Sea, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office said Thursday. Karina Borger, a spokesperson for the Alaska Republican senator, said in an email that the …

Read more “2 Russians Seek Asylum in US After Reaching Remote Alaska Island”

A new COVID-19 wave appears to be brewing in Europe as cooler weather arrives, with public health experts warning that vaccine fatigue and confusion over types of available vaccines will likely limit booster uptake. Omicron subvariants BA.4/5 that dominated this summer are still behind the majority of infections, but newer Omicron subvariants are gaining ground. …

Read more “COVID Wave Looms in Europe as Booster Campaign Makes Slow Start”

A superyacht connected to Russian tycoon Alexey Mordashov has anchored in Hong Kong this week amid moves by Western governments to seize yachts connected to sanctioned Russian businessmen. The megayacht Nord, worth over $500 million, arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday afternoon after traveling for over a week from Vladivostok, Russia, its last port of …

Read more “Yacht Owned by Sanctioned Russian Tycoon Docks in Hong Kong”

In recent days, Ukraine has seized control of large areas in the east and south of the country from invading Russian forces. With the Kremlin troops’ retreat, the war could be entering a critical new phase, as Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …

The risk of Armageddon is the highest it has been since the early 1960s, President Joe Biden said Thursday night as Russian losses in Ukraine prompt Russian officials to discuss the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons. “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Biden said at …

Read more “Risk of ‘Armageddon’ Highest Since 1962, Biden Says”

The war in Ukraine is likely entering a critical phase as Kyiv’s forces advance in the south and east of the country, forcing invading Russian troops to retreat. In recent days, Ukrainian troops have broken through Russian lines in the southern region of Kherson, liberating several villages along the Dnieper River. Kyiv’s forces now control …

Read more “Putin Faces ‘Most Perilous Moment’ as Russian Forces Retreat in Ukraine”

Leaders from 44 European countries met Thursday in Prague in the inaugural meeting of the European Political Community, a new regional group seeking to find strategies to address shared concerns such as energy, the economy and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The group was the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron and includes all 27 members …

Read more “New European Political Community Forum Holds Inaugural Meeting in Prague”

Turkey’s disinformation bill is one step closer to being signed into law, despite protests by the country’s media. Parliamentary debate on the “proposal on the amendment of the press law and other laws” started Tuesday. The Turkish government says the bill, suggested in May by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its alliance …

Read more “‘Public Will Be Silenced’ by Turkey’s Proposed Disinformation Bill”

WNBA star Brittney Griner is at her “absolute weakest moment in life right now” as she faces a hearing in Russia later this month for her appeal of a nine-year prison sentence for drug possession, Griner’s wife said in an interview aired Thursday. Cherelle Griner told “CBS Mornings” that her wife, a two-time Olympic gold …

Read more “Brittney Griner at ‘Weakest Moment’ in Russia, Her Wife Says”

EU lawmakers on Thursday condemned the crackdown on media freedom in military-ruled Myanmar and called for the release of “every unfairly detained journalist.” Since the military seized power in February last year, it has forced at least 12 media outlets to shut down and arrested about 142 journalists, 57 of whom remain detained.  Most of …

Read more “EU Lawmakers Condemn Myanmar’s Crackdown on Media Freedom”

Sweden’s domestic security agency said Thursday that its initial investigation into explosions last week along two Russian natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea “has strengthened the suspicions of serious sabotage” as the cause. Separately, a Swedish prosecutor said that “seizures have been made at the crime scene and these will now be investigated,” although …

Read more “Sweden: ‘Serious Sabotage’ Suspected in Baltic Sea Pipeline Explosions”

The Ukrainian city of Bucha was the scene of one of the worst massacres in Russia’s war against its neighbor, with hundreds of bodies discovered in mass graves back in April. Now, against many expectations, a robust reconstruction effort is making it possible for children to return to school. For VOA, Anna Chernikova reports from …

Read more “After Russian Atrocities, Ukraine’s Bucha Inches Toward Normalcy”

Drought that stretched across three continents this summer — drying out large parts of Europe, the United States and China — was made 20 times more likely by climate change, according to a new study. Drought dried up major rivers, destroyed crops, sparked wildfire, threatened aquatic species and led to water restrictions in Europe. It …

Read more “Study: Climate Change Made Summer Drought 20 Times More Likely”

Greece’s coast guard said Thursday at least 16 people were dead after two boats carrying migrants sank in separate incidents. Authorities said one boat carrying about 40 people went down near the eastern island of Lesbos, near Turkey. Fifteen bodies were recovered and five people were rescued, with a search ongoing for the rest of …

Read more “At Least 16 Dead After Migrant Boats Sink in Greek Waters “

Amid unconfirmed reports that a train operated by Russia’s nuclear division was spotted heading toward Ukraine, the White House says that it has no indication that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine. Nuclear weapons experts tell VOA if Russia is moving nuclear weapons toward the Ukrainian border, the United States will know. …

Read more “Is Russia Moving Nuclear Weapons Toward Ukraine?”

Greece is warning it is ready to use all its diplomatic and military might to defend its sovereignty against what it calls hostile plans by its historic foe Turkey. The direct warning follows a controversial energy deal Turkey recently signed with an element of Libya’s divided government. But the tensions that have been building up …

Read more “Greece Warns Turkey on Illegal Drilling  “

For the first time in 20 years, a Russian cosmonaut rocketed from the U.S. on Wednesday, launching to the International Space Station alongside NASA and Japanese astronauts despite tensions over the war in Ukraine.  Their SpaceX flight was delayed by Hurricane Ian, which ripped across the state last week.  “I hope with this launch we …

Read more “Russian Launches to Space From US, 1st Time in 20 Years”

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law Wednesday to formalize Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions, a move widely condemned as illegal and one that comes as Ukrainian forces advance in a counteroffensive to take back areas under Russian control. The Russian measure, approved earlier this week by the country’s parliament, claims Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, …

Read more “Putin Finalizes Annexation Claim Rejected by Ukraine, West”