The Biden administration informed Russia on Thursday that it will not rejoin a key arms control pact, even as the two sides prepare for a summit next month between their leaders, the State Department said.U.S. officials said Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told the Russians that the administration had decided not to reenter the …
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Germany for the first time on Friday recognized it had committed genocide in Namibia during its colonial occupation, with Berlin promising financial support worth more than one billion euros to aid projects in the African nation.Namibia on Friday welcomed Germany’s acknowledgment it had committed genocide in the southwestern African country during its 20th century colonial …
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Federal prosecutors are investigating whether current and former Ukrainian officials unlawfully interfered in the U.S. presidential election, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.The criminal investigation includes examining whether the Ukrainian officials used Rudolph Giuliani, then personal lawyer to former President Donald Trump, to spread misleading claims about …
Read more “US Prosecutors Investigating Whether Ukrainians Interfered in 2020 Election, Report Says”
Germany and Norway on Thursday officially launched an undersea power cable between the two countries in a project that aids Europe’s effort to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, along with other government and industry officials, took part in a virtual ceremony to symbolically throw …
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French President Emmanuel Macron was in Rwanda’s capital Thursday, where he acknowledged France’s role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and said he hoped for forgiveness. Speaking alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the Gisozi genocide memorial in Kigali, Macron said, “I hereby humbly and with respect stand by your side today, I come to recognize …
Read more “France Had Role in 1994 Rwanda Genocide, Macron Says”
British Health Minister Matt Hancock rejected allegations Thursday he had repeatedly lied during his response to the COVID-19 pandemic made by Dominic Cummings, a former top aide of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.In testimony to lawmakers on Wednesday, Cummings accused Hancock of lying to the public and said he “should have been fired” for testing failures …
Read more “Britain’s Health Minister Denies He Lied About Pandemic”
Turkey’s foreign minister is scheduled to hold talks in Athens with his Greek counterpart Monday in the latest efforts to deescalate tensions between the two NATO members.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu rebuked his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias at a press conference in Ankara last month. The very public argument over who was to blame for …
Read more “As Tensions Rise Again, Turkish and Greek Officials to Meet”
The parents of the young opposition activist and blogger detained in Minsk after the passenger jet he was on board was forced to land in the Belarusian capital earlier this week are pleading for the international community to help free their son.“I’m asking, I’m begging, I’m calling on the whole international community to save him,” …
Read more “Parents Plea For Release of Belarus Opposition Activists”
Myanmar’s army has lost a source of revenue as French energy giant Total said Wednesday that cash payments to a joint venture with the army have been suspended due to unrest in the country. Total has come under pressure from pro-democracy activists to “stop financing the junta” since a military coup in February which has been …
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The European Union took AstraZeneca to a Belgian court Wednesday over the drug company’s failure to deliver tens of millions of COVID-19 doses it promised — slowing the EU’s efforts to kickstart its vaccine campaign.After weeks of souring relations and tough rhetoric against AstraZeneca, Europe is now turning to the legal system to force the …
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A former chief aide to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a parliamentary committee Wednesday the government failed the British people in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a statement Johnson rejects. Dominic Cummings, who left the government in December, explained to a select committee investigating the government’s pandemic response how Johnson failed to …
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At its peak in the 1980s, the USSR’s so-called Leningrad Rock Club was ground zero for a generation of Russians who chafed at Soviet-era restrictions and wanted change. From Russia’s modern-day St. Petersburg, Charles Maynes revisits the club’s legend, and whether the independent spirit that fueled it remains today.Camera: Ricardo Marquina-Montanana. …
Italian police arrested three men Wednesday as part of an ongoing investigation into a cable car crash Sunday that killed 14. The gondola crashed to the ground near the town of Stresa, killing everyone on board except a five-year-old Israeli boy who is still hospitalized. According to reports, the cable car was about …
In a landmark case brought by seven environmental groups, a Dutch court Wednesday ordered energy company Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) to cut its carbon emissions by net 45% from 2019 levels by 2030.The ruling could set a precedent for similar cases against polluting multinationals, particularly petroleum companies, around the world.The environmental groups, which included the …
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Police arrested three people Wednesday in the cable car disaster that killed 14 people in northern Italy, saying an investigation showed a clamp, intentionally placed on the brake as a patchwork repair, prevented the brake from engaging after the lead cable snapped. Carabinieri Lt. Col. Alberto Cicognani said at least one of the three people questioned overnight admitted …
Read more “3 Arrested in Italy Cable Car Crash; Clamp Deactivated Brake”
The European Union pledged to deliver at least 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries by year’s end, and develop vaccine production capacity in poorer nations, as it wrapped up a two-day summit in Brussels.After being criticized for a slow vaccination start, European leaders say they are steaming ahead on COVID-19 inoculations, …
Read more “EU to Deliver COVID-19 Shots to Developing Nations”
The White House announced Tuesday that President Joe Biden will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva next month, as the administration seeks to restore stability amid worsening bilateral tensions. Some Republican lawmakers have criticized the decision, raising concerns about recent moves by Moscow and its ally Belarus. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report. …
Airlines re-routed flights to avoid Belarusian airspace Tuesday in the aftermath of the Minsk government forcing down a passenger jet and arresting an opposition blogger critical of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.Lufthansa, KLM, SAS, Air France, LOT and Singapore Airlines were among carriers that stopped flying over Belarus along a major Europe-to-Asia corridor that generates hard …
Read more “Airlines Avoid Belarusian Airspace over Plane Diversion, Arrest of Journalist”
Talks between Iran and the world powers still adhering to the 2015 nuclear deal resumed Tuesday in Vienna with the goal of bringing the United States back into the agreement.The fifth round of talks began a day after Iran and the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency agreed to extend a deal for monitoring Iran’s …
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The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says the seizure by Belarus of a journalist traveling on a plane is tantamount to extraordinary rendition – a state-sponsored abduction. Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich was arrested after a Ryanair plane traveling from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania, was diverted by a Belarusian …
Read more “UN Likens Belarus’ Seizure of Journalist to Extraordinary Rendition”
Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Tuesday it is clear that Raman Pratasevich, the journalist arrested Sunday after the passenger jet he was traveling on was diverted and forced to land in Minsk, has been beaten in detention. Pratasevich appeared in a video posted online Monday, apparently filmed by Belarusian security services. He …
Read more “Belarus Opposition Leader Alleges Journalist from Diverted Plane Beaten in Detention”
The Russian military said Tuesday it has deployed three nuclear-capable long-range bombers to its base in Syria, a move that could strengthen Moscow’s military foothold in the Mediterranean.Russia’s Defense Ministry said that three Tu-22M3 bombers have arrived at the Hmeimim air base, located in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia and the main hub for Moscow’s …
U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a summit next month in Geneva, the first face-to-face meeting of the two leaders at a time when the two countries are at odds on several contentious issues.The White House confirmed details of the June 16 meeting with Putin on Tuesday, saying Biden would …
The Afghan Taliban have decided upon three conditions to attend an eagerly awaited U.S.-proposed conference in Turkey: The conference must be short, the agenda should not include decision-making on critical issues, and the Taliban delegation should be low level, a senior Taliban leader told VOA Tuesday. “Our leadership has proposed that the Istanbul meeting should …
Read more “VOA Exclusive: Taliban Attach Conditions to Istanbul Conference Participation “