Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, Thursday stressed the need for Germany to stock up on COVID-19 vaccine for possible repeat shots next year, and said the nation should do so with or without the rest of the European Union.Spahn made the remarks during a Berlin virtual news briefing on the countries COVID-19 vaccination program and …
Read more “German Health Minister Calls for Vaccine Stockpile”
France is rejecting a U.N. report that said a French air strike in central Mali in January killed 19 civilians as part of anti-terrorist operations in the Sahel. What happened in the village of Bounti in central Mali on January 3 remains a question that is at the heart of a dispute between France and the …
Read more “France Rejects UN Report of Airstrike on Wedding Party “
French President Emmanuel Macron will reportedly visit Kigali in coming weeks, following a report he commissioned which sheds a harsh light on France’s alleged role in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.If Macron hoped the report would put the controversy over French actions to rest, it now seems to be doing the opposite.Sounds of a Paris ceremony a …
Read more “Report on France’s Role in Rwanda’s Genocide Fails to Lay to Rest a Dark Past”
A Kenyan music producer is taking his work to remote villages to record up-and-coming artists on location to offer something new and different for Kenya’s competitive music industry. Juma Majanga caught up with producer Presta George in Awendo, Kenya, and filed this report.Camera: Jim Makhulo, Producer: Henry Hernandez … From: BoorSee
Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi says member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will respond in a “meaningful manner” to the deadly Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique. Masisi made the comments Wednesday after meeting with Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi told reporters late Wednesday he talked to his South African counterpart Cyril …
Read more “Southern African Leaders Promise Action on Mozambique Islamist Insurgency “
Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, Thursday stressed the need for Germany to stock up on COVID-19 vaccine for possible repeat shots next year, and said the nation should do so with or without the rest of the European Union.Spahn made the remarks during a Berlin virtual news briefing on the countries COVID-19 vaccination program and …
Read more “German Health Minister Calls for COVID-19 Vaccine Stockpile”
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled in favor of a journalist from RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service who has battled against the handover of her smartphone data to authorities in what the court agreed is an essential defense of a free press and privacy in democratic society. Natalia Sedletska, who hosts the award-winning investigative TV …
New U.S. unemployment compensation claims jumped again last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, as the recovery from the economic damage caused by the coronavirus remains tenuous.The government said 719,000 workers filed for benefits last week, up 61,000 from the revised figure of the previous week. The week-ago figure of 658,000 was the smallest total …
Read more “US Unemployment Benefit Claims Increased Again Last Week”
For many parents one good thing about grown kids moving out is the opportunity to focus on personal hobbies. VOA’s Maria Iman-Santoso tells of one woman whose hobby benefits others. Dhania Iman narrates the story.Camera: Maria Iman-Santoso Producer: Jon Spier … From: BoorSee
VOA traces the beginnings of the conflict that grew into a humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. In early November 2020, the federal government of Ethiopia — led by Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — launched a military campaign to regain control of the contested region from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front fighters. …
Read more “Tigray, Ethiopia: From Conflict to Humanitarian Crisis”
A court in the U.S. state of Minnesota proceeds Thursday with the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged in the death of George Floyd last year that sparked widespread protests against police brutality and systemic racism last year.Jurors on Wednesday saw about 20 minutes of police body camera video that spanned the time …
Read more “US Officer on Trial for Death that Sparked Protests Against Police Brutality”
A child was among four people killed Wednesday in a shooting at a Southern California office building that left a fifth victim and the gunman critically wounded, police said.The violence in the city of Orange southeast of Los Angeles was the nation’s third mass shooting in just over two weeks.When police arrived at the two-story …
Read more “Child Among 4 Dead in Shooting at California Office Building”
Two women and three children drowned when a boat carrying dozens of Europe-bound migrants capsized off Libya, a U.N. official said Wednesday. It was the latest shipwreck involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe.Safa Msehli, spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, said the incident took place late Tuesday. A fishing boat and Libya’s …
Read more “UN: 2 Women, 3 Children Drown in Shipwreck off Libya’s Coast”
Seven of Hong Kong’s prominent pro-democracy activists were found guilty Thursday of organizing and participating in an unlawful assembly during the 2019 anti-government demonstrations.The activists include media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Day, and 82-year-old barrister Martin Lee, one of the founders of the opposition Democratic Party. Also convicted Thursday …
Read more “7 Hong Kong Democracy Activists Convicted Over 2019 Protest”
The Philippine government said Wednesday that more than 250 Chinese vessels it believes are operated by militia have been spotted near six Manila-claimed islands and reefs in the disputed South China Sea and demanded that China immediately remove them.The gathering of the Chinese-flagged vessels, along with four Chinese navy ships at a Chinese-occupied manmade island …
Read more “Philippines Demands China Remove Vessels at 6 islands, Reefs”
A Chinese law firm linked to the defense of one of 12 pro-democracy activists who allegedly attempted to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan has been ordered to disband, a development that reflects tightening constraints on rights lawyers in China. Human rights lawyer Ren Quanniu, who represented one of the so-called Hong Kong 12, confirmed to VOA …
Read more “Beijing Orders Closure of Chinese Law Firm Tied to Hong Kong Activists”
Georgia overhauled a Civil War-era law Wednesday that allowed residents to arrest anyone they suspected of committing a crime — a “citizen’s arrest” law invoked by the defense of the three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery last year. The Arbery case garnered international outrage with civil rights activists saying it marked yet another example of a targeted attack on a Black man. The Georgia General …
Read more “Georgia State Overhauls Citizen Arrest Law Following Ahmaud Arbery’s Death”
The trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, continues for a third day in the U.S. state of Minnesota as more witnesses to Floyd’s final moments take the stand. VOA’s Jesusemen Oni has this report. … From: BoorSee
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday, affirmed Washington’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity “in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression,” the State Department said in a statement. Ukraine and Russia have been at loggerheads since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and …
Read more “Blinken Vows US Support for Ukraine in Call With Foreign Minister”
President Emmanuel Macron ordered France into its third national lockdown Wednesday in an effort to slow a third wave of COVID-19 infecting his country.Among the lockdown measures, Macron closed all schools for three weeks beginning next Monday.Macron had hoped to avoid a lockdown and the effect it would have on the economy. However, the country’s …
Read more “France’s Macron Orders Third Lockdown, Closes Schools”