Russia’s Federal Security Service has issued an arrest warrant for investigative journalist Roman Dobrokhotov, editor of the Insider news website. He’s being accused of illegally crossing the border into Ukraine in August and could face up to two years in prison. Anna Rice has the story. …
Victims of sexual abuse by priests in France are calling for historic reform of the Catholic Church after an independent commission found that hundreds of thousands of children had suffered systematic abuse over the past seven decades. Henry Ridgwell reports. …
Russia’s opposition activists and rights groups had hoped the Kremlin would ease off on a crackdown on dissent, independent media outlets and civic organizations once the elections for the Duma, the lower house of parliament, concluded last month. But there’s little sign of that happening, they say. The Justice Ministry has added nearly two dozen …
NATO said Wednesday it expelled eight members of Russia’s mission to the military alliance for allegedly working in secret as intelligence officers. “We can confirm that we have withdrawn the accreditation of eight members of the Russian Mission to NATO, who were undeclared Russian intelligence officers,” an unnamed NATO official said. NATO also said it …
A September 29th meeting between the presidents of Russia and Turkey resulted in both sides committing to deepen relations. But as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, that rapprochement could come at a high cost to Turkey’s ties with NATO ally, the United States. Dorian Jones reports. …
Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD), winners of last month’s nationwide parliamentary elections, said Wednesday they are holding talks with the nation’s Green Party and Free Democratic Party (FDP) — the respective third- and fourth-place finishers in the election, to try to form a ruling coalition. While any deal is far from being made, the announcement puts SPD …
Read more “Germany’s Greens, Free Democrats, Hold Coalition Talks With Social Democrats “
Pope Francis voiced regret Wednesday that he and the Catholic Church had not done more to protect hundreds of thousands of children who were sexually abused by church clergy and lay members in France over several decades. French Catholic clergy sexually abused more than 200,000 children in the country over the past 70 years, according …
Read more “Pope Expresses Shame Over Church’s Failure to Protect Child Abuse Victims “
A group of French senators arrived in Taiwan for a five-day visit Wednesday following a large Chinese show of force with fighter jets amid the highest tensions in decades between China and Taiwan. The group, led by senator Alain Richard, will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwanese economic and health officials and the Mainland Affairs Council. Richard, a …
Read more “French Senators Arrive in Taiwan Amid Tensions with China”
After a push to patch U.S.-French relations, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken closes a Paris visit Wednesday with the final day of ministerial talks at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Blinken highlighted several challenges as he spoke at the opening of the meeting Tuesday, including the coronavirus pandemic, the climate crisis, inequity and setting rules for …
NATO’s top official is signaling that it would be a mistake to see the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan or simmering tensions between France and the United States as a weakening of the trans-Atlantic alliance. Instead, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned would-be adversaries that NATO will remain unified and resolute against a growing number of threats …
Read more “NATO Chief Warns Alliance Should Not Be Underestimated”
Add U.S. military officials to the crescendo of voices warning Mali’s interim government against brokering any deal to use mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group to help with security and counterterrorism. For weeks, U.S. and French officials have publicly tried to dissuade Malian leaders from moving forward with a reported deal that would pay Wagner $10.8 …
Read more “Pentagon Warns Against Deal Bringing Russian Mercenaries to Mali”
The European Union announced a comprehensive plan Tuesday to fight the growing problem of antisemitism on the continent, using a three-pronged strategy that includes combating hate speech and crimes, protecting Jewish culture, and educating the public about Judaism. The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, introduced the plan at a news conference in Strasbourg, France. …
Read more “EU Unveils Strategy for Combating Growing Antisemitism in Europe”
Geologists monitoring the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish Island of La Palma say an eruption Tuesday has been louder and more explosive than in previous days, with thicker lava flowing from the volcano’s main vent. From its Twitter account, the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute, Involcan, called the eruption “explosive with falling pyroclasts [fragments of …
Read more “Spain’s La Palma Volcano Eruption Continues, Spewing Thicker Lava”
French Catholic clergy sexually abused more than 200,000 children over the past 70 years, according to an investigation by an independent commission. The panel’s report, released Tuesday, said the Catholic Church covered up a “massive phenomenon” with decades of a “veil of silence.” “Until the early 2000s, the Catholic Church showed a profound and even …
Read more “French Catholic Clergy Sexually Abused Over 200,000 Children Since 1950, Probe Finds”
The United States is sending nearly 900,000 doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to Mongolia. They are scheduled to arrive Wednesday, a White House official told VOA. “Scientific teams and legal and regulatory authorities from both countries have worked together to ensure the prompt delivery of safe and effective vaccine lots to Mongolia,” the …
The crew of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft was welcomed aboard the International Space Station Tuesday, though a communications glitch during their final approach delayed their eventual boarding. The Soyuz spacecraft was launched Tuesday from the Russian spaceport in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The ship was carrying a history-making crew, as it included film director Klim Shipenko and …
Read more “Russian Soyuz Spacecraft with Actor, Director Arrives at ISS”
With less than one month to go until the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, world religious leaders are calling for strong action to protect the environment. The leaders gathered at a meeting hosted by the Vatican this week. Religious leaders attending the one-day meeting “Faith and Science: Towards COP26” Monday made a powerful appeal …
Read more “World Religious Leaders Appeal for Action on Climate Change”
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Tuesday announced the Nobel prize in physics goes to three scientists for their work in helping to understand complex physical systems, work that has proved valuable in quantifying and predicting climate. At a Stockholm news conference, the academy’s Secretary General Goran K. Hansson and a panel of Nobel jurors …
Read more “Three Share Nobel Prize for Physics for Work on Climate Change”
French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed potential areas of cooperation Tuesday, as Blinken visited Paris to try to improve relations between the two allies following a dispute about a security partnership among the United States, Britain and Australia. A U.S. official told reporters the meeting, which was not on …
Read more “Blinken in France to Revitalize Transatlantic Alliance”
World leaders, politicians and pop stars are among thousands of individuals revealed to be concealing huge wealth through a network of anonymous companies. The revelations, known as the Pandora Papers, are part of a huge leak of almost 12 million files from the archives of several legal firms, which shed light on the secret world …
Read more “World Leaders’ Secret Wealth Revealed in ‘Pandora Papers’ Leak”
World leaders, politicians and pop stars are among the thousands of individuals revealed to be concealing huge wealth through a network of anonymous companies. The documents, known as the Pandora Papers and published Sunday, are part of a leak of almost 12 million files from the archives of several legal firms, which shed light on …
Read more “Secret Wealth of High-Profile Individuals Revealed in ‘Pandora Papers’ Leak”
Pope Francis and other religious leaders made a joint appeal on Monday for next month’s U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) to offer concrete solutions to save the planet from “an unprecedented ecological crisis”. The “Faith and Science: Towards COP26” meeting brought together Christian leaders including Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, …
Read more “Pope, Other Religious Leaders Issue Pre-COP26 Appeal on Climate Change”
Like many others, Azra Ozdemir’s parents sent her off on the first day of school with the usual sage advice about doing well so she could get into a good college. That was her first day of kindergarten. “I knew three words in English: Yes. No,” and the letter P to indicate the …
Read more “Student Lawyer Fights to Diminish Might of Misdemeanors”
More earthquakes rattled the Spanish island of La Palma on Monday, as the lava flow from an erupting volcano surged after part of the crater collapsed. Officials said they didn’t expect to evacuate any more people from the area, because the fiery molten rock was following the same route to the sea as earlier flows. …
Read more “Lava from Spanish Volcano Surges After Crater Collapse”