Month: March 2021

Turkish diplomats are outraged at California Governor Gavin Newsom’s refusal to appeal a court decision to allow parole for an Armenian-American man convicted in the January 1982 killing of a Turkish diplomat in a Los Angeles neighborhood.Hampig “Harry” Sassounian, now 58, was convicted in 1984, nearly two years after witnesses said he and another assailant approached …

Read more “Turkish Diplomats Angered by Armenian Killer’s California Parole”

Spain’s National Police announced Friday that they had seized, a 9-meter-long, 3-meter-wide homemade submarine designed to smuggle 2 metric tons of illicit cargo.At a news conference in the southeastern city of San Roque, Spanish National Police chief Rafael Perez told reporters the craft was discovered last month in a warehouse in Málaga, on southern Spain’s …

Read more “Spanish Police Seize 9-Meter Homemade Submarine”

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian returned to work after undergoing a medical exam, his press office said Friday, following reports that was admitted to a hospital because of COVID-19 complications.Sarkissian was diagnosed with coronavirus in January and was briefly hospitalized in London.Russian news agencies cited local media reports Friday, saying Sarkissian was undergoing treatment for heart …

Read more “Armenia’s President Said to Be Back at Work After Report of COVID-19 Complications”

European policymakers are welcoming U.S. President Joe Biden’s stimulus package amid hopes the $1.9 trillion package approved by the U.S. Congress midweek will help boost their economies, too. “Help is here,” Biden tweeted after the vote on one of the most sweeping spending bills in American history.  The U.S. president largely had Americans in mind with …

Read more “Europe Welcomes Historic US Stimulus, But Some Raise Inflation Fears”

German health officials Friday warned the country is facing a third wave of coronavirus infections, and the so-called British variant of the virus may be responsible.At a news briefing in Berlin, Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases President Lothar Wieler told reporters the COVID-B117 variant, originally identified in Britain, is spreading very rapidly in the …

Read more “Germany in Third COVID-19 Wave”

Britain is preparing for tens of thousands of Hong Kong citizens to apply for special visas to settle in Britain after the government launched a new plan offering fast-track citizenship to some residents of the former British colony, in response to China’s crackdown on basic freedoms.An online application process was launched last month, and Britain …

Read more “Fleeing Hong Kong: British Visas Offer ‘Lifeboat’ for Pro-Democracy Activists”

Catalonia’s separatist movement suffered a setback this month when a deeply divided European Parliament cleared the way for exiled separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to be extradited to Spain to face trial for sedition. Catalan activists are condemning the action as a defeat for democracy in Europe. Jonathan Spier narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in …

Read more “After Setback, Spain’s Catalan Separatists Look for Way Forward”

The European Union’s drug regulator, the Europe Medicines Agency (EMA), has given conditional approval to Johnson & Johnson’s single dose COVID-19 vaccine. European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said Thursday the formal authorization of the vaccine would follow shortly. On her Twitter account, Kyriakides wrote, “This marks another key step towards ensuring that all citizens can …

Read more “European Regulator Gives Approval to Johnson & Johnson One-Shot Vaccine”

The war in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020 is still very present in the daily lives of its people as they work to rebuild – and heal – amid a peace that many see as fragile.  Jonathan Spier narrates this report by Pablo Gonzalez in Stepanakert.Cambera:  Pablo Gonzalez, Courtesy Produced by: Rod James   …

Read more “Nagorno-Karabakh’s People Rebuild Amid Fragile Peace”

Denmark health officials announced Thursday they are suspending the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for 14 days as it investigates reports of patients developing blood clots after being inoculated. On his Twitter account, Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said authorities were looking into “signs of a possible serious side effect in the form of …

Read more “AstraZeneca Vaccine Stopped in Denmark After Reports of Blood Clots”

The British Natural History Museum said it has recovered fragments of the first meteorite collected in the United Kingdom in 30 years and one of the rarest ever discovered.  On the night of February 28, a fireball was seen streaking across the sky over southwestern Britain, dazzling onlookers and exciting scientists. No fragments from a …

Read more “British Museum Collects First Meteorite Fragments in UK in 30 Years”

More women continue to enter politics and government at the highest levels, but there is still widespread gender inequality globally for women in government and legislatures, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations said Wednesday.In its FILE – Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, speaks to the press in Doha, April 10, 2019.“When …

Read more “Women’s Participation in Politics Growing Slowly Worldwide”

European Union officials are fuming over Italy’s agreement to manufacture Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, warning they have yet to approve the jab for use in the bloc.     The production deal, announced earlier this week, has prompted an exchange of angry barbs between EU and Russian officials with the head of the European …

Read more “EU Fumes Over Italy’s Deal to Produce Russia’s Sputnik Vaccine”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday refuted claims by European Union Council President Charles Michel that Britain had imposed a ban on COVID-19 vaccine exports. In an online blog posted Tuesday to the EU website, Michel wrote that Britain and the United States have imposed “an outright ban” on the export of vaccines or vaccine …

Read more “Britain’s Prime Minister Denies EU Claim of Blocked COVID-19 Vaccine Exports”

One of the most dramatic claims in Prince Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey was the allegation that their son was denied a royal title, possibly because of his skin color. Harry and Meghan’s son, seventh in line to the British throne, is Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. In contrast, the children of Harry’s older brother, Prince …

Read more “Explainer: Why Is Harry And Meghan’s Son Not a Prince?”

Russia’s Internet regulatory body, Roskomnadzor, announced it had slowed down Twitter’s ability to function in Russia effective Wednesday — part of what authorities said was an initial penalty for the American social media platform’s failure to delete illegal content inside the country.According to a statement posted on Roskomnadzor’s website, 100 percent of mobile devices and …

Read more “Russia Clamps Down on Twitter”

Greece’s prime minister appealed for calm Tuesday night after youths protesting an incident of police violence attacked an Athens police station with firebombs and severely injured one officer. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued a statement strongly condemning the violence at the march.  “Blind rage leads nowhere,” Mitsotakis said. “These scenes of violence must be the last.” The …

Read more “Youths Protesting Police Violence Attack Athens Precinct”

Buckingham Palace said Tuesday the British royal family is “saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the past few years have been” for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, popularly known as Harry and Meghan.Following a widely publicized CBS interview Sunday with Oprah Winfrey, in which issues of race, family dynamics and suicidal …

Read more “British Royals Say Race Issues Will Be Addressed ‘Privately’ “

With the Kremlin cutting deals to ship its Sputnik V vaccine to countries struggling to combat the coronavirus, Russian soft power is on display. Yet the global outreach campaign is happening amid signs the government is struggling to inoculate its own population at home.  For VOA from Moscow, Charles Maynes reports.Camera: Ricardo Marquina …

U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry was in Brussels Tuesday to discuss transatlantic cooperation with European Union (EU) officials and U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to rejoin the global climate change effort.   Speaking to reporters alongside EU climate chief Frans Timmermans, Kerry reiterated that climate is “one of the most important issues” that …

Read more “US Climate Envoy in Brussels to Meet With EU Leaders”

The European Parliament voted Tuesday to waive the immunity of the former head of Spain’s Catalonia region and two other separatists, raising the prospect they could be extradited to Spain to face sedition charges.   Carles Puigdemont and former cabinet members Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati have had immunity since winning seats in the European …

Read more “European Parliament Lifts Immunity of 3 Catalan Separatists”

The United States denounced Monday what it called a Russian disinformation campaign against U.S.-made COVID-19 vaccines, saying Moscow was putting lives at risk. The Global Engagement Center, an arm of the State Department whose activities include monitoring foreign propaganda, said that Russian intelligence was behind four online platforms involved in a campaign. The sites have “included disinformation about …

Read more “US Denounces Russian ‘Disinformation’ Over COVID-19 Vaccines”

New controversy is brewing for Britain’s royal family after an interview on U.S. television with Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle raised questions of possible racism in the royal family. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Camera: Henry Ridgwell       …

For her studies in quieting wind turbines and making other forms of renewable energy more competitive, a University of California-Merced student from Germany has been awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University in the U.K. In October, Selina Brinkmann will start four years of study, all expenses paid, courtesy of the Rhodes program …

Read more “New Rhodes Scholar Hopes to Advance Renewable Energy  “