On a visit to Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reassured leaders there that the United States will support Kyiv against what he termed “reckless and aggressive” Russian actions but stopped short of announcing increased military aid. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …
Britain sent two warships to the English Channel on Thursday amid a dispute with France about fishing rights. French fishermen say they are being illegally prevented from fishing the waters around the British island of Jersey. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …
Facebook has taken down a network of hundreds of fake accounts and pages targeting people in Ukraine and linked to individuals previously sanctioned by the United States for efforts to interfere in U.S. elections, the company said Thursday.Facebook said the network managed a long-running deceptive campaign across multiple social media platforms and other websites, posing …
Read more “Facebook Removes Ukraine Political ‘Influence for Hire’ Network”
The Netflix series “Zero,” which premiered globally last month, is the first Italian TV production to feature a predominantly Black cast, a bright spot in an otherwise bleak Italian television landscape where the persistent use of racist language and imagery is sparking new protests. Even as “Zero” creates a breakthrough in Italian TV history, …
Read more “Netflix Series Signals Racial Breakthrough in Italian TV”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the world’s economic powers Thursday not to shy away from serious investments in combating climate change. Merkel hosted the 2021 Petersburg Climate Dialogue, an online conference designed to drive international action on global warming and encourage nations and their leaders to focus on …
Read more “Johnson, Merkel Urge Economic Powers to Pledge Toward Climate Change”
Britain has sent two warships to the English Channel as a dispute with France about fishing rights threatens to escalate. French fishermen say they are being illegally prevented from fishing the waters around the British island of Jersey. Henry Ridgwell reports from London …
The European Union (EU) announced Thursday plans to allow the United States, Canada and Norway to join its “military mobility” project, the first time the bloc will allow nations outside its membership to join a military operation. EU defense ministers meeting in Brussels approved a plan for the three NATO-member countries to join the …
Read more “EU to Allow US, Canada, Norway to Join Military Project”
U.N. agencies are reporting a sharp rise in deaths across the Central Mediterranean among refugees and migrants fleeing conflict, persecution and economic hardship in their home countries. So far this year, say U.N. agencies, at least 500 people have lost their lives at sea trying to reach Europe via the dangerous Central Mediterranean route. …
Read more “Refugee and Migrant Deaths Growing in Central Mediterranean “
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that while Russia has withdrawn some forces from the Ukrainian border region, “significant forces” and equipment remain there and the United States wants Russia to “cease reckless and aggressive actions.” Speaking alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv, Blinken said Russia still “has the capacity on …
Read more “Blinken Urges Russia to ‘Cease Reckless and Aggressive Actions’ Toward Ukraine”
A jury in Rome on Wednesday convicted two American friends in the 2019 slaying of a police officer in a tragic unraveling of a small-time drug deal gone bad, sentencing them to life in prison. The jury deliberated more than 12 hours before delivering the verdicts against Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 20, handing them …
Read more “Rome Jury Convicts 2 US Youths in Slaying of Police Officer”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Ukraine for meetings Thursday with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. “This will be an important opportunity to discuss continued Russian aggression and to underscore the need for maintaining both the pace of and focus on reforms with our Ukrainian partners,” Blinken tweeted after arriving in Kyiv. Late last month, senior U.S. and European Union officials said …
Read more “Blinken Visits Ukraine Amid Tensions with Russia”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive in Kyiv, Ukraine, where on Thursday he’s scheduled to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba. According to a State Department news release, Blinken will “underscore unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity …
Read more “Blinken Set to Arrive in Ukraine Amid Tensions With Russia”
How politically realistic are the climate action goals that European governments are setting in lockstep with the United States?Some analysts are warning that the rich can afford the necessary changes, but the burdensome costs of a green transition for middle-class and poorer voters could trigger a backlash and prompt electoral reversals.Others worry European governments have …
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday stressed the importance of the transatlantic relationship, saying the United States will always be Europe’s most important partner. Speaking during a digital foreign relations conference, sponsored by her parliamentary coalition, Merkel said transatlantic cooperation is “back in business, if you want to put it that way,” referring to the election …
Read more “Germany’s Merkel Stresses Importance of US-European Relations”
A jury in Rome on Wednesday began deliberating the fates of two young American men who are charged with killing an Italian police officer near the hotel where they were staying while on summer vacation in 2019. Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 20, were indicated on charges of homicide, attempted extortion, assault, resisting a …
Read more “Italy Jury Deliberates Fate of 2 Americans in Police Slaying”
As its COVID-19 lockdown eases, Spain has resumed bullfights — and reignited a fiery political debate between right-wingers who defend the tradition and leftists who condemn it as animal cruelty. Jonathan Spier narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona.Camera: Alfonso Beato …
The European Commission proposed rules on Wednesday to restrain companies that benefit from foreign subsidies to buy EU businesses or take part in public tenders, with a particular eye on fending off unfair competition from China. “The EU is the most open market in the world. But openness rhymes with fairness,” the European Union executive’s …
Read more “With Eye on China, EU Drafts Rules to Curb State-Backed Foreign Buyers”
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies turn their attention to issues of global interest including coronavirus vaccines, climate change and education for girls on Wednesday as they close three days of talks in London. “I think COVAX and the ability to fund it, get vaccines to the most vulnerable countries, what we do about the …
Read more “Coronavirus Vaccines, Combatting Climate Change on G-7 Agenda”
Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized nations are meeting in London this week, with climate change, Russia and China among the challenges topping the agenda. It is the first face-to-face G-7 meeting in two years, after the coronavirus pandemic forced the Pittsburgh 2020 foreign ministers’ meeting to be held via video link. Russia was ejected from what …
Read more “G-7 Foreign Ministers Meet in London as Russia, China Top Agenda “
Paris is once again full of rumblings about the political ambitions of the French military — 60 years after France’s iconic leader Charles de Gaulle saw off a coup bid by disaffected generals, who were furious at his decision to withdraw from Algeria. The country’s media and politics has been dominated for the past week …
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the Group of 7 industrialized nations have vowed to end the 10-year civil war in Syria. My @G7 counterparts and I reaffirmed our commitment to a political resolution for ending the conflict in Syria,” Blinken tweeted as he and other G-7 members attended their first in-person meetings …
Read more “G-7 Nations Vow to End Syrian War, Top US Diplomat Says “
Belarus has never had a strong tradition for media freedom but a mass crackdown after contested elections last year has made an already repressive situation even more dire, local journalists say. More than 500 journalists have been detained since August last year, when long-term leader President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory and the opposition …
Turkey was recently heralded as one of the most successful nations in containing the spread of COVID 19, prompting the government to ease controls. But a surge in infections coupled with vaccine shortages has forced a U-turn, with the country now under its most severe lockdown, as Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Istanbul. …
German interior minister Horst Seehofer has warned of what he called an alarming rise in politically motivated crime last year, particularly among far-right groups.At a Berlin news briefing Tuesday, Seehofer said far-right offenses rose by 5.65% in 2020, totaling 23,064, accounting for more than half of all crimes categorized as “politically motivated,” the highest level …
Read more “Germany Sees Spike in Politically Motivated Crimes”