“How can we cope with this?” That was Patrick Bury’s thought after attending his first in-country briefing in 2008 at the headquarters of British forces in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Then a second lieutenant in the Royal Irish Regiment, Bury wrote in a subsequent memoir that he was left reeling by the three-hour briefing. “The …
Read more “Biden’s Afghanistan Decision Draws Mixed Reaction From British Veterans”
U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is asking the European Court of Human Rights to block Russia from enforcing penalties that could cost the broadcaster millions of dollars. Russia’s media watchdog Roskomnadzor last year ordered broadcasters designated as foreign agents to add a lengthy statement to news reports, social media posts and audiovisual materials …
Read more “US Broadcaster Asks European Court to Block Russian Fines”
The head of a Serbian investigative news outlet being attacked for its work uncovering corruption says his country needs to do more to protect media. During a visit to the U.S., Stevan Dojcinovic, editor in chief of the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK), met with journalist rights organizations and investigative outlets to discuss recent attacks …
Read more “Serbia’s Government ‘Has to Respect Media,’ Investigative Journalist Says”
The Biden administration on Thursday imposed tough sanctions targeting the Russian economy to punish the Kremlin for the SolarWinds cyberespionage campaign against the United States and efforts to influence the 2020 presidential election. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story. …
The United States cannot allow a foreign power to intervene with impunity in American elections, President Joe Biden said Thursday, after he took action to punish Russia for that and a major cyberattack. “Today I’ve approved several steps, including expulsion of several Russian officials, as a consequence of their actions,” Biden said at the White …
Read more “US Further Punishes Russia for Cyberattacks, Election Meddling ”
The U.S. military commander keeping close watch on Russia’s massing of military forces in Crimea and along the border of Ukraine says there is only a “low to medium” likelihood that Moscow’s forces will invade. Air Force General Tod Wolters, commander of U.S. European Command, shared the assessment with lawmakers Thursday during a hearing in Washington, …
Read more “US General Sees ‘Low to Medium’ Risk of Russian Move on Ukraine”
Brussels has been the focus this week of a full court diplomatic offensive by U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken who arrived earlier this week and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin who landed in Belgium Wednesday for his first in-person meeting since the coronavirus pandemic began with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. The main goal of the …
Read more “Ukraine Wants NATO’s Action to Match Words on Russia “
Turkish journalist and writer Ahmet Altan was released from prison on Wednesday, his lawyer said, after the top appeals court overturned a verdict against him following a ruling by a European court that his rights had been violated. The 71-year-old Altan has been in prison in western Istanbul since September 2016, on charges related …
Read more “Turkish Writer Altan Released From Prison: Lawyer”
U.S. allies including Britain have announced they too will begin pulling their troops out of Afghanistan, following Washington’s announcement it intends to withdraw all American armed forces personnel by September 11 – the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Camera: Henry Ridgwell Produced by: Henry Ridgwell, Rod James …
President Emmanuel Macron Thursday praised the painstaking efforts to rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral, two years after flames ripped through its centuries-old attic and sent its spire crashing through the vaults below. In the hours after the blaze, Macron told a distraught nation that the cathedral, which dates back to the 12th century, would be restored …
Read more “Notre-Dame Cathedral ‘Holding Up’ Two Years After Paris Fire”
The Kremlin has long sought to clamp down on opposition politician Alexey Navalny’s appeal among younger Russians — as President Vladimir Putin, 66, has struggled to maintain his popularity among members of a generation that has essentially known him as the country’s sole leader their entire lives. That approach took a new twist on …
Read more “In Arrest of Student Journalists, Signs of the Struggle for Russia’s Youth “
France advised its citizens and companies Thursday to temporarily leave Pakistan, citing “serious threats to French interests” in the South Asian nation.The move follows violent protests this week across large parts of Pakistan by activists of the radical Islamist party Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), which has been demanding that Islamabad expel the French ambassador over the …
Read more “France Advises Citizens to Leave Pakistan for Security Reasons”
The Biden administration on Thursday announced the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats and sanctions against nearly three dozen people and companies as it moved to hold the Kremlin accountable for interference in last year’s presidential election and the hacking of federal agencies. The actions, foreshadowed for weeks by the administration, represent the first retaliatory measures …
Read more “US Expels Russian Diplomats, Imposes New Round of Sanctions”
In Spain, only ten percent of the population lives in rural areas, placing the Spanish countryside among the emptiest regions of Europe. The COVID pandemic and the ability for many urban dwellers to work remotely appears to be reversing that. For VOA, Alfonso Beato has this report narrated by Jonathan Spier. Camera: Alfonso Beato …
Russian authorities on Wednesday charged four editors of an online student magazine with encouraging minors to take part in illegal activity for a report about the nationwide protests supporting jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny.All four were ordered by a court not to leave their residences for the next two months and were banned from using the …
Read more “Russia Targets Student Magazine With Raids, Criminal Charges”
The United States will announce sanctions on Russia as soon as Thursday for alleged election interference and malicious cyber activity, targeting several individuals and entities, people familiar the matter said.The sanctions, in which 30 entities are expected to be blacklisted, will be tied with orders expelling about 10 Russian officials from the United States, one …
Read more “Sources: US Set to Slap New Sanctions on Russian Officials as Soon as Thursday”
President Joe Biden has offered to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a summit in a third country while at the same time warning Moscow amid a massive buildup of Russian troops that any aggression against Ukraine will have consequences. VOA’s senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine reports.Contributor: Luliia Larmolenko, Ukrainian Service …
Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney is expected to press his British counterpart, Dominic Rabb, this week during a meeting in London to convene an emergency British-Irish intergovernmental conference to discuss a recent outbreak of violence in Northern Ireland. But British ministers are reluctant. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told the House of Commons on Tuesday that the British …
Read more “British Ministers Rebuff Dublin Pleas for Emergency Summit on Northern Ireland”
European Commission President Urusula Von der Leyen Wednesday announced the European Union has reached a deal with pharmaceutical partners Pfizer-BioNTech for 50 million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine, to be delivered in the coming months. At a news briefing in Brussels, Von der Leyen said the new deal means the EU will have obtained 250 …
Read more “EU Makes Deal with Pfizer-BioNTech for 50 Million More Vaccine Doses”
France’s once-powerful Communist Party is fielding its first presidential candidate in years for the 2022 elections, a choice some consider vital for its very survival. It’s one of Western Europe’s last relevant Communist parties, whose latest move paradoxically risks further fracturing an already weakened French left. The French Communist Party’s presidential hopeful is Fabien Roussel, a former …
Read more “An Existential Choice? France’s Communist Party Eyes Presidential Race “
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet Wednesday in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and top diplomats from several U.S. allies as the United States launches it plans to withdraw forces from Afghanistan.U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is also participating in a meeting that includes German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, …
Read more “Blinken Meeting with NATO Allies as US Sets Afghanistan Withdrawal”
Alexey Navalny, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has been jailed for several months, is reportedly suffering the effects of his hunger strike, according to his wife, who visited him Tuesday. Navalny, 44, began his hunger strike at the end of March in protest over what he said was a lack of medical care …
Read more “Navalny’s Health Deteriorating From Hunger Strike”
U.S. President Joe Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call Tuesday that the United States is concerned about Moscow’s “sudden … military buildup” along Ukraine’s border and in occupied Crimea. He called on Russia to “deescalate tensions,” the White House said in a summary of the conversation.”President Biden emphasized the United States’ …
Read more “Biden Warns Putin on Russian Troop Buildup Near Ukraine”
The Taliban said on Tuesday they would not attend a summit on Afghanistan’s future in Turkey this month until all foreign forces leave their country.”Until all foreign forces completely withdraw from our homeland, (we) will not participate in any conference that shall make decisions about Afghanistan,” tweeted Mohammad Naeem, spokesman for the Taliban office in …
Read more “Taliban Shun Afghanistan Talks Until Foreign Forces Go”