Month: August 2021

Dozens of Russian independent media have been labeled “foreign agents” in the run-up to parliamentary elections, which are now only three weeks away.As of August 31, the Ministry of Justice website lists 43 media outlets and journalists and 76 civil society groups as “foreign agents.” Another 46 groups have been given the label of “undesirable …

Read more “Marked by the State: Russia Ramps Up ‘Foreign Agent’ Law Ahead of Election”

Deportation centers in Turkey are filled to capacity as refugees from Afghanistan continue to cross the border from Iran by night, hoping to evade police and resettle. As VOA tours a deportation center in Van, officials say they are not sending people back to Afghanistan, but they also have no plans to release detainees. VOA’s …

Read more “Deportation Centers in Turkey Packed With Afghan Refugees”

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said Tuesday 70% of all adults in the European Union are now fully vaccinated — more than 250 million people.In a video message from EU headquarters in Brussels, Von der Leyen called the milestone a “great achievement, which really shows what we can do when we work together.”But …

Read more “EU Chief Says 70% of Bloc’s Adult Population Now Vaccinated”

European Union ministers will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss preventing uncontrolled migration from Afghanistan after the Taliban’s seizure of the country, according to a statement drafted for the meeting.EU member states hope to prevent a refugee crisis like the one fueled by Syria’s civil war in 2015. The EU was unprepared for the …

Read more “EU to Meet to Discuss Preventing Uncontrolled Migration From Afghanistan”

BBC journalist Sarah Rainsford left Russia Tuesday after Moscow abruptly refused to extend her permission to work in a tit-for-tat disagreement with Britain over the treatment of foreign media.Russian authorities earlier this month told Rainsford, one of the British broadcaster’s two English-language Moscow correspondents, to leave the country in retaliation for what it called London’s …

Read more “BBC Reporter Leaves Russia After Credentials Withdrawn in Row With Britain”

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered law enforcement officers and army staff receive $200, as he seeks support for his unpopular United Russia party ahead of parliamentary elections next month.The cash handouts follow earlier one-time payments for pensioners of $135 ahead of lower house State Duma polls in September, with United Russia’s ratings hit …

Read more “Putin Gives Cash to Police, Soldiers Ahead of Polls”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is scheduled to visit the White House on Wednesday, a trip that has been in the works for two years and delayed one day by events in Afghanistan. During the administration of former President Donald Trump, surrogates for the U.S. president pressed Ukraine to open an investigation into activities involving the son …

Read more “Ukraine, US Leaders May Address Sensitive Issues at Next Meeting”

The European Union removed the United States from a safe travel list Monday and recommended the reinstatement of COVID-19 restrictions on visitors from the U.S., where new cases and hospitalizations have risen sharply in recent weeks. The non-binding recommendation regarding non-essential travel comes two months after the EU lifted most of the restrictions for U.S. tourists, …

Read more “EU Recommends Return of COVID Travel Restrictions on US Tourists”

The mayor of Italy’s financial capital Milan demanded answers on Monday over why a fire was able to rip through an apartment block and melt its cladding, comparing it to the Grenfell Tower fire in London that killed 71 people four years ago. Firefighters said everyone managed to escape the 18 story building in the south of …

Read more “Milan Mayor Says Cladding Melted in Tower Block Blaze, as in London’s Grenfell Tower”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is scheduled to visit the White House on Wednesday, September 1st. VOA’s Ostap Yarysh reports on the long-awaited meeting from Washington.Camera: Kostiantyn Golubchyk, Contributor: Myroslava Gongadze …

European Union officials say the bloc is expected to recommend its member nations reinstate COVID-19 travel restrictions on travelers from the United States, where new cases and hospitalizations have risen sharply in recent weeks.The officials, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity as the EU travel policy is still being reviewed, say that as …

Read more “EU to Recommend Return of COVID Travel Restrictions on US Tourists”

EU governments must push ahead with a European rapid reaction force to be better prepared for future crises such as in Afghanistan, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.In an interview published on Monday, Borrell told Italian paper Il Corriere della Sera the short-notice deployment of U.S. troops to Afghanistan as security deteriorated showed …

Read more “EU Says Afghanistan Shows Need for Rapid-Reaction Force”

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday visited Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, which suffered widespread destruction during the war to defeat the Islamic State group in 2017. He vowed to fight alongside regional governments against terrorism. Macron said IS carried out deadly attacks throughout the world from its self-declared caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq. …

Read more “France’s Macron Visits Iraq’s Mosul  Destroyed by IS War “

The Arc de Triomphe has seen parades, protests and tourists galore, but never before has the war monument in Paris been wrapped in silver and blue recyclable polypropylene fabric. That’s about to happen next month in a posthumous art installation designed by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude.”Christo has wrapped museums, parliaments as in Germany, but a …

Read more “Arc De Triomphe to be Wrapped for Posthumous Work by Christo”

France and Britain on Monday will urge the United Nations to work for the creation of a “safe zone” in the Afghan capital, Kabul, to protect humanitarian operations, French President Emmanuel Macron said. “This is very important. This would provide a framework for the United Nations to act in an emergency,” Macron said in comments published …

Read more “France, Britain to Call for Kabul ‘Safe Zone,’ Macron Says “

French President Emmanuel Macron is among the leaders set to attend a regional summit Saturday in Iraq, with the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and a deadly jihadist attack in Kabul overshadowing the meeting.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II also are to attend the Baghdad summit, while the foreign ministers of arch-foes …

Read more “Macron to Attend Baghdad Summit Amid Fears Over IS”

​A first group of 121 evacuees from Afghanistan arrived early Friday in Albania, after the country agreed to temporarily house at-risk Afghan nationals at the request of the United States.More are expected to go to the Western Balkan country, but the timing is uncertain because of the chaos and evolving situation at the Kabul airport, …

Read more “First Group of Afghan Evacuees Arrives in Albania”

Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is heading back to England to play for the team where he became a legend.Manchester United said Friday that it had reached an agreement to bring the 36-year-old Portuguese forward back to Old Trafford, where the storied club plays.”Manchester United is delighted to confirm that the club has reached agreement with …

Read more “Soccer Legend Cristiano Ronaldo to Return to Manchester United”

Abuja and Moscow have signed an agreement for the former to buy nearly $1 billion in military equipment and services, Nigeria’s ambassador to Russia, Abdullahi Shehu, told VOA.The Nigerian Embassy released a statement that said the agreement “provides a legal framework for the supply of military equipment, provision of after sales services, training of personnel …

Read more “Nigeria, Russia Sign Military Agreement”

With the Taliban in control of Afghanistan, the European Union is looking to Turkey to bear the brunt of an expected exodus of Afghan refugees heading to Europe. But Turkey is resisting the call.  Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. Video editor: Marcus Harton …

Ukraine, which is marking 30 years of independence this August, is among Europe’s poorest countries. But its vibrant culture and business climate have attracted many foreigners who now call Ukraine home. Among them is American investment banker Nick Piazza, who has been living in Ukraine since 2004. Iryna Solomko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. …

Thirty years ago, a group of Soviet hard-liners attempted a coup in the Soviet Union aimed at stopping reforms started by then President Mikhail Gorbachev. The coup failed in the course of three days but put in motion events that would forever change its course. VOA’s Daria Dieguts reports. …

The European Court of Human Rights has asked Poland and Latvia to help dozens of migrants trapped at their respective borders with Belarus.   Neither country is allowing the migrants in, and both Poland and the Baltic states have accused Belarus of using the migrants as a political tool for revenge, specifically over European Union …

Read more “European Rights Court Urges Poland, Latvia to Help Migrants at Belarus Border”

Russia’s central regions on Wednesday battled “extreme” wildfires fueled by an unusual heatwave that comes after forest fires linked to climate change ravaged Siberia for most of the summer.    Authorities were fighting 15 wildfires in the Urals region of Sverdlovsk, the Emergencies Ministry said.    The region — which lies on the border of Europe and Asia — …

Read more “Wildfires in Russia Spread to Central Regions   “