Month: December 2021

Pope Francis doubled down Saturday on his efforts to quash the old Latin Mass, forbidding the celebration of some sacraments according to the ancient rite in his latest salvo against conservatives and traditionalists. The Vatican’s liturgy office issued a document that clarified some questions that arose after Francis in July reimposed restrictions on celebrating the …

Read more “Pope Doubles Down on Quashing Old Latin Mass With New Limits”

Marking International Migrants Day, the United Nations reports hostility and xenophobia are growing against migrants.  It warns the stigmatization and marginalization of migrants amid a raging pandemic is putting many lives at risk.   U.N. agencies report one seventh of the global population, or one billion people, are on the move. This number includes a record …

Read more “Pandemic Spawns New Wave of Anti-Migrant Sentiment”

Deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said Saturday that security proposals Russia has presented to the United States are an attempt to turn a potential military scenario into a political process.   Russia, which has built up troops near the border with Ukraine, said Friday it wanted a legally binding guarantee that NATO would give up …

Read more “Russia: Security Proposals Are Aimed at Avoiding Military Scenario”

The Dutch government is holding an emergency meeting Saturday with health advisers about the fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus before an expected announcement of more lockdown measures to stem its spread. The government proposed new measures Friday to curb the alarming spread of the new variant, as other European countries are moving to reimpose …

Read more “Dutch Government Holds Emergency Meeting on Omicron Spread”

The U.S. says its indirect talks with Iran on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal made modest progress in the latest round that ended Friday, but it also says much work remains to be done to prevent what is left of the agreement between Tehran and world powers from quickly falling apart. In a phone briefing …

Read more “US Cites ‘Progress’ but Warns Nuclear Deal Could Die Without Urgent Iranian Action “

The women-only farmers market in Diyarbakir, Turkey, is a unique place. Here, women, many of them divorced or survivors of abuse, can create new lives. But Turkey’s economic troubles are making their lives even more difficult. VOA’s Mahmut Bozarslan has filed this report, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. Producer and camera: Mahmut Bozarslan. …

Russia should not expect the United States and its allies to go along with its recent demand for an expansive set of “security guarantees,” including a ban on the further expansion of NATO and a cessation of all military activity by the alliance in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, experts and U.S. officials …

Read more “Experts: US, Allies Not Likely to Agree to Russian ‘Security Guarantees’”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping presented a united front after a video summit this week amid heightened tensions with the United States and the West. With Henry Ridgwell contributing, VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …

Police in Spain, France and Belgium have broken up a drug trafficking ring believed to be smuggling tons of cocaine and hashish by speedboat from Morocco to Europe, the European Union crime agency said Friday. Spanish police arrested 17 people, including 11 Spaniards and six Moroccans, earlier in the week, Europol said in a statement. …

Read more “EU Police Break Suspected Morocco-to-Europe Drug Trafficking Ring”

A video chat between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin this week consolidates efforts by the two Eurasian powers to face down their mutual rival the United States in 2022, analysts say. Putin and Xi spoke Wednesday afternoon, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported, marking the 37th time leaders of the …

Read more “Leaders’ Chat Moves Russia, China Toward Stronger Anti-US Unity, Analysts Say”

Poland’s parliament passed a media bill on Friday that critics say aims to silence a news channel critical of the government, in an unexpected move that will stoke concern over media freedom and reopen a diplomatic dispute with the United States.  Critics say the legislation will affect the ability of news channel TVN24, owned by …

Read more “Poland Pushes Controversial Media Law Though Parliament, Angering US”

Denmark proposed new lockdown measures Friday to curb the alarming spread of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, as other European countries consider imposing travel and other restrictions to stem the variant’s spread. The new variant has fueled infections in Britain close to the peak levels of early 2021, while other European countries and the United States are also experiencing surges. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at a news conference the …

Read more “Denmark Proposes New Lockdown Measures Amid World Omicron Spread”

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told reporters Friday he expects a “massive” fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic driven by the omicron variant of the coronavirus that causes the disease.  Lauterbach made the comments during a news briefing following a tour of a vaccination center in Germany’s northern lower Saxony state.  During a press conference, …

Read more “German Health Minister Warns of Massive Fifth COVID-19 Wave “

Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.    Afghanistan’s economy   U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths appealed for flexible and sustained international funding before the end of this year to prevent the further collapse of Afghanistan’s economy. He …

Read more “UN Recap: December 12-17, 2021”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson took “personal responsibility” Friday for the rout of his Conservatives in a by-election for a seat his ruling party had held for 189 years. In an extraordinary victory in North Shropshire, a mainly rural constituency in the English Midlands, the Liberal Democrats benefited from a 34 percent voter swing, the …

Read more “Stunning By-Election Defeat Punctures Britain’s Boris Johnson”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday suffered a crushing by-election defeat in a constituency never previously lost by his Conservative Party, a result which raises serious questions about his leadership. His party won the seat in North Shropshire, central England, by a massive majority in 2019, but that was wiped out by the Liberal …

Read more “UK PM Johnson Suffers By-Election Disaster”

China and Russia have begun collaborating on technology to rival the United States’ GPS and European Galileo satellite navigation systems, as the two countries pursue closer military and strategic ties. Earlier this year, China agreed to host ground monitoring stations for Russia’s GLONASS positioning system on its soil, which improves global range and accuracy but …

Read more “China-Russia Collaboration in Space Poses Challenge for West”

Soaring infections in Britain driven in part by the omicron variant of the coronavirus rattled Europe on Thursday, prompting new restrictions and fueling a familiar dread on both sides of the Atlantic about entering a new phase of the pandemic just in time for the holidays.  Much remains unknown about omicron, but officials increasingly warn …

Read more “Soaring Infections Rattle Europe, Fuel Dread About Holidays”

The European Union’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, on Thursday recommended two new treatments against COVID-19 for use among EU member nations, as well as offer advice on the use of another, pending its authorization. In separate statements on its website, the EMA recommended the use of Swedish-made drug Kineret and U.S.-made Xevudy for …

Read more “European Drug Regulator Recommends 2 New COVID Treatments”

New German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Thursday he is seeking to secure additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine for a swift booster vaccine offensive, which is the center of the government’s strategy for fighting off the new omicron variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Speaking at his first COVID-19 briefing, along with Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases (RKI), Lauterbach said 1.5 million booster vaccinations were given Wednesday …

Read more “Germany Health Minister Says Boosters at Center of COVID-19 Strategy”

Authorities on Spain’s La Palma island allowed evacuated residents to return to clear their ash-covered houses on Thursday as scientists suggested solidifying lava vents beneath the Cumbre Vieja volcano could herald an end to the three-month eruption.  Deep banks of black ash had piled up to head height outside Daniel Geronimo’s whitewashed house in the village of …

Read more “Cautious Clean-up on La Palma as Hopes Rise for End to Volcano Eruption”

Older Russians blame NATO for rising tensions between the Kremlin and Western powers over Ukraine, according to a public survey conducted this week by an independent Moscow-based pollster. Across all age groups, half of those polled by the Levada Center believe the United States and other NATO nations are “the initiators of the exacerbation of …

Read more “Russians Split on Responsibility for Worsening Tensions Over Ukraine”

Authorities in Belarus have again failed to release a freelance journalist who has worked for RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, even though the second consecutive jail term he was handed on a controversial hooliganism charge ended on December 15. Andrey Kuznechyk was initially sentenced to 10 days in jail on November 26 after a trial in which …

Read more “Belarusian Journalist Kuznechyk Remains Detained Despite Fulfilling Sentence”

Leaders of European Union member states are meeting in Brussels Thursday seeking a unified approach to the new omicron coronavirus variant to avoid widespread lockdowns and closed borders.  Ahead of the summit, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control on Wednesday said the new, highly transmissible omicron is likely to become the dominant variant …

Read more “EU Leaders Meet in Brussels to Strategize Against Omicron”