The UK government on Wednesday became the first country to announce it will regulate the use of self-driving vehicles at slow speeds on motorways, with the first such cars possibly appearing on public roads as soon as this year. Britain’s transport ministry said it was working on specific wording to update the country’s highway code for …
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World powers resumed talks Tuesday in Vienna about revitalizing the 2015 international pact to restrain Iran’s nuclear development program and bring the United States back into the accord that former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018.Current U.S. President Joe Biden wants to rejoin the pact aimed at keeping Tehran from developing nuclear …
With this week marking 100 days of Joe Biden’s U.S. presidency, European allies are noting the change in the key relationship with Washington. Henry Ridgwell reports from London on how the new administration is being viewed from across the Atlantic. Camera: Henry Ridgwell, Ricardo Marquina Montañana Produced by: Barry Unger …
Two Spanish journalists and an Irish national were killed Monday in eastern Burkina Faso by suspected jihadist insurgents.The journalists were with an anti-poaching patrol in the Arly National Park when the patrol was attacked by gunmen, according to security sources in the West African country. The journalists were filming a documentary about how Burkinabe authorities …
Read more “Two Spanish Journalists, One Irish National Killed in Burkina Faso Ambush”
Thousands rallied in Slovenia on Tuesday against the government of right-wing Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whom opponents accuse of curbing democratic freedoms in the traditionally moderate nation. The peaceful protest was held on Slovenia’s Resistance Day, which marks the start of the World War II struggle by partisan groups against Nazi German and fascist Italian occupiers. …
Read more “Thousands Rally Against Slovenia’s Right-Wing Government”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Monday he was likely to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine, adding that all sides were at the “finish line” of agreeing a new cease-fire. “It seems to me that everything is going toward the fact that this meeting will take place,” he …
Read more “Ukrainian President Upbeat on Chances of Putin Meeting, New Cease-fire”
As the EU and Britain try to work out a deal to govern their trade relations after Brexit, the dreams that many British people have of retiring in Spain are being shattered by the new reality – and a whole new set of rules. For VOA from Sitges, on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, Alfonso Beato has this report narrated by Jonathan Spier.Camera: Alfonso Beato Produced …
Read more “Brexit Crushes British Retirement Dreams in Spain”
European leaders and other American allies say President Joe Biden has done much in his first 100 days in the White House to start rebuilding confidence in U.S. leadership. But while agreeing with his key foreign policy goals, including confronting the global rise of authoritarianism, they are still taking the measure of the Biden administration — …
Read more “Biden Set Out to Repair Europe Ties, and Some Say he Is Succeeding”
Three days of U.N.-mediated talks are under way to try and reunify the island of Cyprus, which has been divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots since 1974. That was when Turkey invaded Northern Cyprus in response to a Greek-backed military coup on the island.The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, as well as foreign ministers …
EU lawmakers debated the post-Brexit trade agreement between the European Union and Britain for the last time on Tuesday, ahead of a vote that is expected to give the accord overwhelming approval.That should be the final step towards ratification of the trade and cooperation deal, struck in December after more than four years of acrimonious …
Read more “EU Lawmakers Debate Brexit Accord Before Decisive Vote”
Britain froze assets, imposed sanctions and enacted travel bans on nearly two dozen people accused of bribery, kickbacks and fraud on Monday, marking the first time the nation employed its own sanctioning powers to combat international corruption. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told lawmakers that the sanctions would prevent the United Kingdom from being used as “a …
Read more “Britain Targets 22 People in First Use of Its Anti-corruption Law”
Last week’s killing of a police worker outside Paris offers a chilling reminder that terrorism has become a grim feature of life in France. Now the country, which has weathered some of Europe’s most horrific terrorist attacks, joins just a handful of nations that are building concrete reminders. The French memorial-museum will be the first …
Read more “In France, New Museum-Memorial to Terrorism Takes Shape”
U.S. officials are not yet convinced Russia is making good on its word to de-escalate in Crimea and along its border with Ukraine following a weekslong military buildup, insisting it is “too soon to tell.” The Pentagon on Monday said it appears some Russian troops have pulled back, though the danger remains. “We have seen some departure …
Read more “US Keeping Wary Eye on Russian Troops Near Ukraine”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday demanded that U.S. President Joe Biden reverse his declaration that the World War I-era massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide.In his first comments since Biden’s statement on Saturday, Erdogan said the U.S. leader “has made baseless, unjust and untrue remarks about …
Read more “Erdogan Demands Biden Reverse Armenian Genocide Declaration”
One hundred and eight prominent members of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP went on trial in the capital, Ankara, Monday in connection with violent nationwide protests in 2014 that left 37 people dead.The protests were against the government’s failure to militarily intervene as the Islamic State was poised to overrun the predominantly Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane, …
Read more “Turkey Puts 108 Pro-Kurdish Party Officials on Trial”
Thirty-seven percent of surveyed countries are still experiencing disruptions in vaccinating children against deadly diseases like measles compared to 2020 levels, according to a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The disruptions stem from the COVID-19 pandemic, the groups say. They also say 60 lifesaving campaigns are …
Read more “WHO Pushes Routine Vaccinations Amid COVID Downturn”
Russian authorities ordered all offices of jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny closed Monday as a court reviews a request from state prosecutors to label his Anti-Corruption Foundation an “extremist” group.Labeling the group “extremist” would give Russian authorities more freedom to arrest and freeze assets of those associated with Navalny – the most high-profile opponent of …
Italy began lifting COVID-19 restrictions on bars, restaurants, theaters and museums in much of the country Monday, as one of the nations hit earliest and hardest by the coronavirus pandemic tries to reopen.Of the country’s 20 regions, 15 have been designated yellow zones, meaning there is a relatively low risk from the virus. Five are …
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could be finding himself cornered over opposition claims that his government $128 billion squandered in defending Turkey’s currency, the lira.Throughout Turkey, giant banners emblazoned with the words “where is the $128 billion?” hang from party offices of the main opposition, People’s Republican Party, CHP. Advertising trucks and vans carry images …
Read more “Questions Over Missing Billions Pose Challenge for Erdogan “
Russia is considering using convicts to expand a railway line in the far east, a government document showed, as Moscow faces migrant labor shortages due to COVID-19.Restrictions linked to the pandemic have prompted many migrant workers to leave Russia and authorities have warned construction projects could be slowed down.Russia has already brought in soldiers to …
Read more “Government Documents Show Russia Considering Using Convicts to Build Railway”
A top European Union official said Sunday that Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 should be able to travel to Europe by summer, easing existing travel restrictions.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told The New York Times that the union’s 27 members would accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that …
Read more “EU Will Let Vaccinated Americans Visit This Summer, Top Official Says”
In March, one of the world’s biggest container ships became stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal, creating a commercial logjam and spikes in the cost of oil. At a training facility in France, mariners are learning how to avoid a similar predicament. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …
A fifth person is being held for questioning in the stabbing death late last week of a police employee outside Paris, France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said Sunday. He noted the assailant, a Tunisian national, viewed videos glorifying jihad, or Muslim holy war, and may have visited to a Muslim prayer hall before the attack.AAnti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois …
Read more “Paris-Area Knife Assailant Viewed Jihadist Videos Prior to Attack, Officials Say”
A leading contender to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor this fall has called for “dialogue and toughness” toward China when it comes to defending democratic values and human rights.Annalena Baerbock, the environmentalist Greens’ candidate for chancellorship, told the weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that Europe should use its economic might to block Chinese goods made …
Read more “German Contender Wants Tougher Stance on China, Russia”