Month: November 2020

 Security forces in Pakistan sealed off a main highway into the capital, Islamabad, for a second day Monday to contain thousands of Islamists gathered outside the city to protest the reprinting of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in France.    Witnesses and organizers said around 5,000 followers of the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, or TLP, began …

Read more “Pakistan’s Capital Under Virtual Lockdown Over Anti-France Protest     “

A suspected Islamic State gunman who opened fire aboard a high-speed train in France in 2015 is going on trial Monday in Paris.  Ayoub El Khazzani, a Moroccan national, was heavily armed when he opened fire and shot a passenger after the train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris crossed the border into France on August …

Read more “Suspected IS Terrorist Goes on Trial in Paris”

The opposition candidate in Moldova is the projected winner of the runoff presidential election. With almost all the vote counted by Sunday evening, pro-European Maia Sandu was leading with about 57% of the vote, compared to incumbent, pro-Russian president Igor Dodon’s 43%, according to results published on the Moldovan Central Election Commission website.   Sandu, 48, a former prime minister and a former World Bank employee, ran for Moldova’s top …

Read more “Moldova Opposition Candidate Projected Winner of Presidential Election  ”

Belarusian police detained more than 1,000 people Sunday during protests across the country demanding the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko and a new election following a disputed vote in August.The Vyasna human rights group said most detentions were made in Minsk, where black-clad security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse thousands of …

Read more “More than 1,000 Detained as Belarus Police Use Tear Gas, Stun Grenades on Protesters”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-isolating after being told he came into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Sunday.”He will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic,” a statement from his office said.Johnson “is well and does not have any symptoms …

Read more “Britain’s Johnson in Self-isolation; Has No Virus Symptoms”

Belarusian police have detained scores of protesters who were demanding the resignation of Alexander Lukashenko and a new presidential election following a disputed vote in August.Black-clad security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse thousands of demonstrators in the capital, Minsk, on Sunday.The Vyasna human rights group said at least 179 protesters were …

Read more “Belarus Police Use Tear Gas, Stun Grenades to Disperse Anti-Government Protesters”

The U.N. human rights office says the government of Belarus continues to commit human rights violations with impunity against peaceful protesters three months after the country’s disputed presidential elections.Belarusian citizens remain outraged at the outcome of the August 9 presidential election that returned Alexander Lukashenko to power in an election widely seen as fraudulent. They …

Read more “UN: Widespread Human Rights Violations Continue Unchecked in Belarus”

Turkish President Erdogan visited breakaway Northern Cyprus on Sunday to meet its newly elected leader who backs his call for a “two-state” solution to the divided island’s five-decade conflict if U.N.-mediated talks yield no results.With Turkey’s support, former prime minister Ersin Tatar won a tight presidential vote last month that could further strain ties with …

Read more “Erdogan Visits Breakaway Northern Cyprus after Ally Wins Vote”

In an unassuming house in rolling hills east of the Hungarian capital, a small family firm is helping oil the wheels of the world’s big pharmaceutical companies on the path to a coronavirus vaccine. Biologist Noemi Lukacs, 71, retired to Szirak, her birth village, to establish English & Scientific Consulting (SciCons) and manufacture a genetic sensor …

Read more “In COVID-19 Vaccine Race, Hungarian Village Firm Takes Global Role “

The leader of Armenia’s opposition Homeland party, Artur Vanetsyan, has been arrested and accused of plotting to overthrow the government and kill the country’s embattled prime minister, as the country’s main security body said it had thwarted an assassination attempt.Vanetsyan, who formerly headed Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), was detained after his arrival for a …

Read more “Armenian Opposition Leader Detained, Accused of Plotting to Kill PM”

In a bitter farewell to his home of 21 years, Garo Dadevusyan wrenched off its metal roof and prepared to set the stone house on fire. Thick smoke poured from houses that his neighbors had already torched before fleeing this ethnic Armenian village about to come under Azerbaijani control.The village is to be turned over …

Read more “Armenians Torch Their Homes on Land Ceded to Azerbaijan”

Demonstrators on the Canary Islands on Saturday demanded better living conditions for thousands of migrants who have reached the Spanish archipelago from Africa.A slow procession of hundreds of demonstrators, some on foot and some in cars, crossed the island of Gran Canaria before reaching the Arguineguin dock in the town of Mogan, where nearly 2,000 …

Read more “Demonstrators Demand Better Conditions for Canary Islands’ Migrant Arrivals”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads to France, Turkey and five other countries days after Democrat Joe Biden was named the projected the winner of the presidential race.  Pompeo’s refusal to recognize Biden’s victory has raised eyebrows, as VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …

French ground forces and military helicopters killed a jihadi commander linked with al-Qaida in Mali along with four others, the French military said Friday. The operation Tuesday targeted Bah ag Moussa, military chief for the RVIM Islamic extremist group, who had been on a U.N. sanctions list and was believed responsible for multiple attacks on Malian …

Read more “French Forces Kill al-Qaida-Linked Commander in Mali”

Five years after the deadly Paris attacks that killed more than 100 people in November 2015, the country paid tribute to the victims Friday. This anniversary is taking place amid a new terror threat as France has been targeted by radical Islamists in recent months.      The horrible scenes and sad memories of the …

Read more “France Marks 5 Years Since November 2015 Paris Attacks”

Hospitals in several parts of Europe, from the Midlands of England to Ukraine, are warning their intensive care units are reaching full capacity as a second wave of coronavirus sweeps across the continent.  Doctors are once again talking about a viral tsunami hitting them, one that’s likely to be worse than the first wave that …

Read more “Europe’s Hospitals Near COVID-19 Capacity”

Turkish analysts say Joe Biden’s projected presidential election victory could prove to be a pivotal moment in Turkey’s relations with the United States — one that could see Ankara pivoting back to its traditional Western allies or further deepening ties with Russia and China. While many European leaders were quick to offer congratulations to Biden, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan belatedly issued a statement Wednesday acknowledging Biden’s victory. In it, Erdogan stressed …

Read more “Biden Presidency Could Be Pivotal in US-Turkey Relations, Analysts Say”

European and world leaders Thursday insisted that when COVID-19 vaccines are ready they should be made available to everyone, under an international project that still needs $28 billion. “We aren’t going to beat the virus if we abandon part of humanity,” French President Emmanuel Macron told the Paris Peace Forum, which seeks concrete solutions to global …

Read more “World Leaders, NGOs Press for Vaccine Cash at Paris Forum”

The head of Germany’s infectious disease institute said Thursday that while the COVID-19 threat in the country remains high, and some hospitals are reaching capacity, he is cautiously optimistic. Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Lothar Wieler, president of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, said the nation as of early Thursday had recorded 21,866 new …

Read more “Germany Sees Signs for Cautious Optimism in COVID-19 Cases”

US-Russian relations have been at a low ebb over the past four years — lasting damage from charges of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. But with Joe Biden’s projected victory in the 2020 race, debate in Russia now centers on what, if anything, will change. From Moscow, Charles Maynes reports.Producer: Jason Godman. Camera: Ricardo Marquina  …

Read more “What Will Happen to US-Russia Relations Under Biden?”

For years, the European Union has been leading the fight to impose a global tax on technology multinationals. After years of resistance by the Trump administration, the Europeans now hope the incoming Biden administration will be willing to compromise – or face a possible digital tax.Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple: four companies dubbed as GAFA …

Read more “Under Biden, Europe Hopes for Compromise in US Digital Tax Debate”

Greece and Turkey have long been at loggerheads over a host of issues – from a scattering of uninhabited islands in the Aegean Sea that divide them, to the origins of souvlaki.Now, they are trading jabs anew, this time trying to trump each other’s claims to Pfizer’s creation of what may be the world’s first …

Read more “Greek-Turkish Rivalry Persists, Even in Celebration of Possible Coronavirus Vaccine”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the head of his office have been hospitalized after contracting the coronavirus earlier this week. Zelenskiy and the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, are being treated at Kyiv’s Feofaniya Clinical Hospital, Yermak’s adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said in a November 12 interview with the online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda. “A …

Read more “Ukrainian President Hospitalized Due to COVID-19”

Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo, the first female athlete to deliver the Olympic oath, in 1956, and the first woman to win a Winter Games medal for Italy four years earlier, has died at the age of 88. The Italian was hailed by her country’s alpine skiing federation as “one of the greatest post-war champions.” Chenal-Minuzzo won downhill bronze in …

Read more “Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo, First Female Olympic Oath Taker, Dies at 88”