Month: July 2020

An international team has completed a preliminary investigative analysis of the black boxes from a Ukrainian passenger jetliner accidentally shot down by Iran in January, Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.”The work in Paris is finished, but the investigation is far from over. There are still many key questions that need to be answered,” board …

Read more “International Team Completes Analysis of Ukrainian Jet Shot Down by Iran”

The European Union agreed Thursday on Germany’s proposal for coronavirus-preventative common hygiene standards at airports and on aircraft. “I am pleased that the German proposal was accepted by my colleagues at the European level and that we could agree on these uniform standards,” Andreas Scheuer, minister of transport and digital infrastructure, said at a European aviation …

Read more “EU Agrees on Germany’s Coronavirus Proposal for Air Travel”

Following Britain’s decision to ban Chinese tech firm Huawei from its 5G telecom network, Germany is emerging as the next potential battleground to check China’s expansion of influence in world affairs, which is increasingly seen as a serious challenge to democratic institutions worldwide.Germany’s decision on whether to include Huawei equipment in its own network “is …

Read more “After Britain, Germany Emerges as Next 5G Battleground”

A Hamburg court convicted a 93-year old German man of helping to murder 5,232 prisoners, many of them Jewish, at a Nazi concentration camp during World War II and gave him a suspended two-year sentence in one of the last cases against Nazi-era crimes.Rolled into the courtroom in a wheelchair and hiding his face behind …

Read more “German Court Convicts 93-Year-Old Man for Nazi Crimes”

Spain was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in April but after imposing one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns, the infection and death rates dropped. However, that trend is taking a turn for the worse.  As Alfonso Beato reports from Barcelona, the cases have risen threefold in July and now restrictions are being re-imposed. Ihar Tsikhanenka …

Read more “As COVID Infections Soar, Spain Reimposes Restrictions”

Three imams were named Thursday to lead prayers at Turkey’s Hagia Sophia mosque, a day before the country’s president joins hundreds of worshippers inside the national landmark that was recently designated a mosque. Ali Erbas, head of Turkey’s religious authority, announced the appointments of Mehmet Boynukalin, a professor of Islamic Law at Istanbul’s Marmara University; Ferruh Mustuer and …

Read more “Turkey Appoints Hagia Sophia Mosque Imams”

The Bosnian city of Mostar will hold its first local elections in 12 years December 20, election authorities announced Thursday.While local elections in Bosnia were pushed back to November 15 because of budgetary delays, the ethnically divided city was at first excluded from holding elections at all.Croat and Bosniak ruling parties were not enforcing a …

Read more “Bosnian City to Hold First Elections in 12 Years”

A Chilean man has been extradited to France to face charges in connection with the disappearance and alleged killing of a Japanese university student.Nicolas Zepeda is charged in France with premeditated murder in the alleged 2016 slaying of his girlfriend, Narumi Kurosaki, whose body was never found.He had returned to Chile by the time Kurosaki …

Read more “Chilean Extradited to France in Connection with Ex-Girlfriend’s Disappearance”

A new British policy allowing Hong Kong residents to claim British citizenship is a “violation of international law” and interferes with China’s internal affairs, the Chinese Embassy in London said Thursday.Britain’s interior minister, Priti Patel, said in a written statement Wednesday that Hong Kong people with British National Overseas visas would be able to apply …

Read more “China: UK Citizenship Path for Hong Kongers Violates International Law”

A report by the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre this month accused hackers with links to Russian intelligence of attacking organizations developing a vaccine for COVID-19.  The report has raised diplomatic tensions and opened a window into the world of pharmaceutical intelligence. VOA’s Tatiana Vorozhko has the story. …

This Friday, Islamic prayers are due to be held in Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia for the first time since Turkey’s government decided to re-convert the ancient cathedral into a mosque. Russia has stepped in, with Moscow voicing concern to Ankara over the fate of the historic building, including its world-famous Christian mosaics.     A …

Read more “Turkey Battles Criticism Over Decision to Turn Hagia Sophia Into Mosque”

The owner of Hungary’s leading independent news website index.hu said on Wednesday it had fired editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull, a month after he warned that the media outlet’s independence from the government was at risk.  Index has set its independence barometer to “in danger” to signal what it calls external attempts to sway its content, by …

Read more “Pro-Orban Owner of Hungarian News Portal Index.hu Sacks Chief Editor”