A Greek Orthodox priest was shot and injured Saturday at a church in the center of the French city of Lyon by an assailant who then fled, a police source and witnesses said.The priest was fired on twice around 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) as he was closing the church, and he was being treated for …
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Armenia and Azerbaijan once more accused each other of bombing residential areas on Saturday, in defiance of a pact to avoid the deliberate targeting of civilians in and around the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Shelling was reported by both sides within hours of the latest agreement to defuse the conflict, reached after talks in Geneva between …
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Security throughout France was high Saturday after this week’s deadly stabbings at a church in Nice as President Emmanuel Macron tried to ease tensions in the country. French leaders have termed Thursday’s incident an Islamist terrorist attack after the perpetrator shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest) as he decapitated a woman and killed two others in …
Read more “Security Remains High in France After Deadly Knife Attack at Church in Nice “
Scottish movie legend Sean Connery, who shot to international stardom as the suave, sexy and sophisticated British agent James Bond and went on to grace the silver screen for four decades, has died aged 90. The BBC and Sky News reported his death on Saturday. “I was heartbroken to learn this morning of the passing of …
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Rescue teams on both sides of the Aegean Sea searched Saturday through crushed buildings and concrete rubble, pulling out at least 27 dead and hundreds more injured after a powerful earthquake toppled buildings in the Turkish city of İzmir and created sea surges on at least two Greek islands. At least 60 separate aftershocks have …
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Rescue teams in Turkey working around the clock recovered another body Saturday from the rubble of a collapsed building in Bayrakli district in Izmir struck by a strong earthquake.The quake hit Turkey’s third-largest city and a nearby Greek island on Friday morning, killing at least 27 people and injuring more than 800.Haluk Ozener, director of …
Read more “At Least 27 Dead as Powerful Quake Hits Major Turkish City, Greek Islands”
Tens of thousands of Poles joined a march Friday in Warsaw, the biggest in nine days of protests against a ruling by the country’s top court last week that amounted to a near-total ban on abortion in the predominantly Catholic nation.Defying strict rules that restrict gatherings to five people during the coronavirus pandemic, demonstrators walked …
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Pope Francis said he is focused on fighting corruption in the Catholic Church, despite the challenges.”I know I have to do it (fight corruption), I was called to do it, but it will be the Lord to decide if I did well or not. Sincerely, I am not very optimistic,” he said during an interview …
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On the steps of a Bucharest court on Friday, Adrian Albu pointed to his sister among the pictures of the 65 people who died in a nightclub fire five years ago, triggering mass protests across Romania at a culture of graft and lack of accountability.Hundreds of people wearing protective masks and standing 4 meters apart …
Read more “Hundreds of Romanians Form Human Chain on Fifth Anniversary of Deadly Fire”
Officials in Greece and Turkey say rescue efforts are continuing into the night after a powerful earth struck Friday in the Aegean Sea between the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos, killing at least 14 people and injuring hundreds amid collapsed buildings and flooding caused by a minor tsunami. Video clips showed several …
Read more “Powerful Quake in Aegean Sea Leaves 6 Dead; Buildings Toppled in Turkey, Greece”
Police in France have detained a second suspect in connection with Thursday’s deadly knife attack at a church in the city of Nice. The suspect is a 47-year-old man believed to have been in contact with the attacker the night before the attack at Notre Dame Basilica, according to a judicial official, who was not authorized to …
Read more “2nd Suspect Held After Deadly Knife Attack at French Church”
Women’s rights activists have called a national strike and thousands of people have joined demonstrations to protest a decision by Poland’s Constitutional Court to ban nearly all abortions. Roderick James narrates this report filed by Pablo Gonzalez in Warsaw for VOA. Camera: Pablo Gonzalez Video editor: Henry Hernandez Contributor: Ricardo Marquina …
Thousands of Muslims in Pakistan poured out of prayer services to join anti-France protests on Friday, as the French president’s vow to protect the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad continues to roil the Muslim world. An estimated 2,000 worshippers celebrating the Mawlid, the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, took to the streets in …
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President Volodymyr Zelenskiy promised swift action on Thursday and warned Ukraine could lose international aid and support after a Constitutional Court this week ruled to abolish some anti-corruption laws. The court said it saw as excessive the punishment set for false information on officials’ asset declarations and struck down some critical powers of the key anti-graft …
Read more “Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Promises Action as Allies Sound Alarm Over Reform Rollback”
The United States is pushing NATO countries to work with Turkey in hopes of healing divisions that have seen Ankara move closer to Russia, but at least one of those allies is bracing for more turmoil.Greece, embroiled in a dispute with Turkey over rights and resources in the eastern Mediterranean, has repeatedly put its FILE …
Russian agents offered military aid to Catalan separatists at the height of their failed bid to break away from Spain in 2017, according to a judicial investigation in Spain.These are the extraordinary allegations at the heart of an investigation launched by a judge in Barcelona who is probing alleged links between the Catalan independence movement …
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday defended new coronavirus restrictions to lawmakers and lashed out at those who tried to dismiss the infection as harmless as the number of cases hit a new high. In a speech before the Bundestag – the German parliament – that was interrupted by heckling from right-wing politicians, Merkel said the …
The war of words between France and Turkey over cartoons portraying Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, triggered by the recent beheading of a French teacher, continues to escalate. But behind the diplomatic storm over freedom of expression versus religious sensitivity is a bitter rivalry for influence in Africa.To rousing applause from parliamentary deputies of his party, Turkish …
Read more “France-Turkey Dispute Grows Over Cartoons and Influence in Africa”
A rising tide of new coronavirus cases has prompted the leaders of France and Germany to impose a new round of lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus.During a televised speech Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a nationwide monthlong lockdown that will take effect Friday. Macron said restaurants, bars, cafes and other nonessential …
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Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is undergoing medical examination at a German hospital, a day after the government announced he was admitted to an Algerian hospital after self-isolating because several of his senior aides tested positive for COVID-19.The 75-year-old president’s treatment in Germany comes days before Algeria’s critical Nov. 1 referendum on changes he has proposed …
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Russians are tuning out the U.S. presidential election this year — unlike in 2016 when they followed it closely because the Kremlin presented the vote as a stark choice between warmer ties under Donald Trump or growing hostilities under Hillary Clinton. Charles Maynes in Moscow explains why there’s a difference this year. …
The United States is warning Turkey against taking any additional steps to operationalize its Russian-made S-400 air defense system, warning there will be consequences even if that risks pushing Ankara closer to an alliance with Moscow.Relations between Washington and Ankara, which have soured in recent years, hit a new low last week when Turkish President …
Europe is once again an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic and Spain – under a state of emergency – has gone into another lockdown as protests continue. Alfonso Beato has more from Barcelona in this report narrated by Roderick James.Camera: Alfonso Beato Producer: Roderick James …
Turkish officials have lashed out at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which published a cartoon mocking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The cartoon shows Erdogan, apparently in his underwear, holding a drink and lifting the skirt of a woman wearing Islamic garb. “We strongly condemn the publication concerning our president of the French magazine, which has …
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