Month: July 2021

KABUL / MOSCOW – Taliban officials said on Friday the Sunni Muslim insurgent group had taken control of 85% of territory in Afghanistan, and  its fighters were tightening their grip on strategic areas.    Government officials dismissed the assertion by a Taliban delegation visiting Moscow as part of a propaganda campaign launched as foreign forces, including the United States, withdraw after almost 20 …

Read more “Taliban Seize More Territory, Say They Control Most of Afghanistan”

Turkey is claiming success in its COVID immunization campaign, but the majority Kurdish region lags far behind the rest of the country. Some blame it on the health ministry’s refusal to use the Kurdish language in literature that encourages people to get vaccinated.  For VOA, Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. …

A London Metropolitan Police officer pleaded guilty Friday to the murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard, whose disappearance and subsequent murder in March sparked grief and outrage regarding violence against women.   Appearing by video link from the Belmarsh high-security prison, 48-year-old Wayne Couzens pleaded guilty to murder during a hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court. …

Read more “British Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Murder of Sarah Everard”

A Vatican spokesman said Pope Francis is continuing to recover from intestinal surgery performed earlier this week and will deliver his Sunday noon blessing from the hospital.   In a statement, Vatican Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said the 84-year-old pope walked in the corridor of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital Thursday and “resumed his work, alternating …

Read more “Pope Francis Continues Surgical Recovery, Will Deliver Sunday Blessing”

A Taliban delegation in Moscow said on Friday that the group controlled over 85% of territory in Afghanistan and reassured Russia it would not allow the country to be used as a platform to attack others.   The Taliban’s claim of control of much of the country, disputed by the Afghan government, is impossible to …

Read more “Taliban Says It Controls Most of Afghanistan, Reassures Russia”

Moldovan voters go to the polls this weekend in a snap parliamentary election that could decide whether the former Soviet republic fully embraces pro-Western reforms or prolongs a political impasse under strong Russian influence.   The landlocked country of 3.5 million — Europe’s poorest, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine — has in recent years lurched …

Read more “Moldova to Hold Vote Pitting Reformists Against Pro-Russians”

During a grueling, weekslong mission in northern Mali, French soldiers were confronted by a familiar threat: Extremists trying to impose the same strict Islamic rule that preceded France’s military intervention here more than eight years ago.Traumatized residents showed scars on their shoulders and backs from whippings they endured after failing to submit to the jihadis’ …

Read more “As France Plans to Shrink Sahel Force, Jihadi Threat Grows”

Finance ministers and central bankers from the group of 20 rich countries will meet face to face on Friday for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic at a gathering in Venice where corporate tax reform will top the agenda.The G-20 is expected to give its political endorsement to plans for new …

Read more “Tax Reform Tops Agenda as G-20 Finance Chiefs Meet in Venice”

Anti-poverty organization Oxfam said Thursday that 11 people die of hunger each minute and that the number facing faminelike conditions around the globe has increased six times over the last year.In a report titled The Hunger Virus Multiplies, Oxfam said that the death toll from famine outpaces that of COVID-19, which kills around seven people …

Read more “Oxfam: 11 People Die of Hunger Each Minute Around the Globe”

Montenegro is weeks away from securing a deal to either swap or refinance with European and U.S. banks nearly $1 billion in debt owed to China, and it hopes to reduce the interest rate on the debt to below 1%, Economy Minister Jakov Milatovic told Reuters.   Montenegro borrowed $944 million from China in 2014 …

Read more “Montenegro Close to Deal on Lifting Chinese Debt Burden: Minister”

Britain’s transportation secretary said Thursday that, beginning July 19, British residents, who are fully vaccinated, will no longer have to self-quarantine when returning from so-called “green” or “amber” or medium-risk nations, including the United States and the European Union.Speaking to parliament Thursday, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said travelers will still be required to take …

Read more “Britain to Ease Restrictions on Fully-vaccinated Travelers”

European countries are almost evenly split on whether to administer coronavirus vaccinations to teenagers as alarm mounts on the continent about a possible fourth wave of infections.     Sixteen countries, including France and Italy, are now vaccinating children above the age of 12 or plan to do so; while 17 countries have decided against, …

Read more “European Countries Evenly Split on COVID Jabs for Teenagers”

A news conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at a NATO airbase in Lithuania was interrupted Thursday when fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian jets.   The two leaders were three minutes into a news conference, televised live from the Siauliai airbase in northern Lithuanian, when flight …

Read more “Lithuanian, Spanish Leaders Interrupted by Jets Scrambling to Intercept Russian Planes”

The UK says most of its troops have left Afghanistan.    Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed the news Thursday, saying the threat from al-Qaida had lessened.     “All British troops assigned to NATO’s mission in Afghanistan are now returning home,” he said, adding that “most of our personnel have already left.”    He appeared …

Read more “Britain Confirms Most UK Troops Have Left Afghanistan “

Ethnic minorities, the self-employed and low-income families in Britain suffered greater deprivation levels during the coronavirus pandemic despite “surprisingly positive” living standards figures, a report published Thursday found.The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank’s annual report on living standards, poverty and inequality identified these groups as the hardest hit, even as unprecedented state support …

Read more “UK Pandemic Hammered Minorities, Self-employed, Study Finds”

The Greeks are redoubling a monthslong diplomatic effort to persuade Germany to stop selling submarines to Turkey, saying that the planned sale of a half dozen subs will shift the balance of naval power in the eastern Mediterranean.Greece and Turkey have been locked in a quarrel about the territorial status of Mediterranean real estate and …

Read more “Greece Still Hopes to Halt German Submarine Deal with Turkey”

A Vatican spokesman said Wednesday Pope Francis’ recovery from intestinal surgery continues to be “regular and satisfactory.”   In a statement, Vatican Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said the 84-year-old pope was continuing to eat regularly following his Sunday surgery to remove the left side of his colon, and that intravenous therapy had been stopped. …

Read more “Pope Francis Recovery ‘Regular and Satisfactory’”

The Transportation Department issued a final order Tuesday that blocks most travel between the United States and Belarus, underscoring Washington’s concern about the recent forced landing of a passenger jet to arrest a dissident Belarussian journalist.The order, which was requested by the State Department, bars airlines from selling tickets for travel between the two countries, …

Read more “US Finalizes Ban on Belarus Travel Over Forced Landing”

Celebrity crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, known for his work in exposing the Dutch underworld, was shot and seriously wounded on a street in Amsterdam, police said Tuesday. “Peter R. de Vries was shot down in Lange Leidsedwarsstraat,” police said in a statement, referring to a street near one of the city’s largest public squares, …

Read more “Dutch Crime Reporter De Vries Shot on Amsterdam Street, Police Say”

Russian authorities say the country is facing a surge in new coronavirus infections.  And, as Charles Maynes reports from Moscow, that has prompted a renewed effort to convince a skeptical public that the time to get vaccinated is now.Camera: Ricardo Marquina      Video editor: Rob Raffaele …

Britain is about to try something that no other nation has yet dared: lifting coronavirus restrictions amid a new wave of infections.The government says that with more than half of Britons now fully vaccinated, the time is right to reopen in the coming weeks. However, some scientists have warned that a sudden reopening of the …

Read more “Britain’s Gamble: ‘Freedom Day’ Announced Amid Rising COVID Cases”

With infection rates falling and vaccination numbers rising, Turkey has lifted nearly all COVID restrictions and is seeking a return to normalcy after several months of lockdown measures. Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Istanbul.    …

Belgium’s Africa Museum, once a celebration of the country’s colonial rule, will begin a multi-year process of returning stolen art to Democratic Republic of Congo, the Belgian government said on Tuesday.   From the late 19th century to 1960, thousands of art works including wooden statues, elephant ivory masks, manuscripts and musical instruments were likely …

Read more “Belgium Begins Long Road to Returning Looted Congolese Art Works”

Russia reported a record 737 deaths from coronavirus-linked causes in the past 24 hours on Tuesday, pushing the national death toll to 139,316.   The country confirmed 23,378 new COVID-19 cases, including 5,498 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 5,658,672.   The federal statistics agency has kept a separate …

Read more “Russia Reports Record 737 COVID-19 Deaths”