Year: 2022

Even by the standards of Turkey’s and Greece’s frequently strained relations, it was a remarkable escalation. Speaking to youths in a Black Sea town, Turkey’s president directly threatened his country’s western neighbor: Unless the Greeks “stay calm,” he said, Turkey’s new ballistic missiles would hit their capital city. Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comment on an otherwise …

Read more “Despite Rhetoric, Greek-Turkish Armed Conflict Seen Remote”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s New Year’s address to the nation usually is rather anodyne and backed with a soothing view of a snowy Kremlin. This year, with soldiers in the background, he lashed out at the West and Ukraine. The conflict in Ukraine cast a long shadow as Russia entered 2023. Cities curtailed festivities and …

Read more “Putin Tells Russia: ‘Sanctions War Was Declared on Us’”

Pope Emeritus Benedict served for just eight years before making history by stepping down in 2013, saying he didn’t have the mental or physical strength to run the church. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has more. …

On New Year’s Eve, Russian missiles rained on Ukraine nationwide. At least one person was killed and at least 28 were wounded as eight massive explosions rocked the city of Kyiv. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that at least one person was killed in the western Solomianskyi district, and that among the 11 wounded in …

Read more “Russian Missiles Pummel Ukraine on New Year’s Eve”

For millions of Ukrainians, many of them under Russian bombardment and grappling with power and water shortages, New Year’s celebrations will be muted as Russia’s 10-month war rumbles on with no end in sight. But for some families, it is a chance to reunite, however briefly, after months apart. At Kyiv’s central railway station on …

Read more “Despite War, Some Ukrainian Families Reunite for New Year”

As the old year gives way to the new, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued a heartfelt appeal to the citizens of the world to put peace at the center of their words and actions in 2023. Every new year is a moment of rebirth and hope. It is a time for reflection and for …

Read more “UN Chief Appeals for Peace in the New Year”

When Pope Benedict shocked the Roman Catholic Church in 2013 by announcing he would resign instead of ruling for life, he promised to stay in the Vatican “hidden from the world.” He kept only half that promise. Benedict may not have been seen much, but he certainly was heard.  Benedict wrote, gave interviews and, unwittingly …

Read more “Two Popes in Vatican – Sometimes More Crowd Than Company”

When Pope Gregory XII, the last pope to resign before Benedict, died in 1417, the world was not watching. Gregory had stepped down two years earlier in 1415 and spent his remaining days in virtual obscurity hundreds of miles from Rome. He was quietly buried in Recanati, a town near the northern Adriatic coast. It …

Read more “Rituals for Benedict’s Passing Could Be Template for Future Ex-Popes”

Britain’s Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update about the Russian invasion of Ukraine that Russia is expected to continue an “intensive wave” of long-range strikes across Ukraine, “primarily targeting the power distribution network.” The Saturday report, posted on Twitter, said, “Russia is almost certainly following this approach in an attempt to overwhelm Ukrainian air …

Read more “Britain: ‘Intensive Wave’ of Russia’s Strikes on Ukraine Expected to Continue”

Congress has signed off on the Congressional Gold Medal for the chief prosecutor in what was regarded as “the biggest murder trial in history.” South Floridian Benjamin Ferencz was 27 years old in 1948 when he had secured enough evidence to prosecute 22 members of Nazi killing squads responsible for the deaths of more than …

Read more “Nuremberg Prosecutor to Receive Congressional Gold Medal”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who led the Catholic Church for nearly eight years before becoming the first pope to resign in six centuries, died Saturday at the age of 95. Benedict’s death followed an appeal by Pope Francis to pray for his predecessor, with the Vatican announcing the former pontiff’s health had worsened due to …

Read more “Former Pope Benedict Dies at 95”

Behind the frontline near Kreminna, a strategically located Russian-controlled city in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s troops say they are facing a tough enemy. “We fight them every day, in any weather. We attack in the direction of Kreminna, but they are not easy to defeat,” said a 24-year-old Ukrainian soldier who goes by the call sign …

Read more “Ukraine Facing ‘Tough’ Enemy in Battle for Key City”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that Ukraine continues to endure and repel waves of Russian air attacks and that Ukrainian air defenses have been made “stronger than ever.”  “In the new year,” he added, “Ukrainian air defense will become even stronger, even more effective.” The Ukrainian leader said Ukrainian air defense “can become the …

Read more “Zelenskyy: Ukrainian Air Defenses Stronger Than Ever”

The condition of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI remains stable, the Vatican said Friday, as Catholics prayed for the 95-year-old former pontiff whose health has seriously deteriorated. The German, who in 2013 was the first pope since the Middle Ages to resign as head of the worldwide Catholic Church, has become increasingly frail over the years. …

Read more “Prayers in Germany, Rome for Frail Former Pope Benedict XVI”

Romanian authorities have arrested divisive social media personality Andrew Tate on suspicion of human trafficking and rape.   Prosecutors in Bucharest asked a court Friday to extend by 30 days Tate’s detention.   Tate, a former professional kickboxer, was detained along with his brother and two other men.     Tate did not comment but …

Read more “Social Media Personality Detained in Romania on Trafficking, Rape Charges”

As the person who dressed the Sex Pistols, Vivienne Westwood, who died Thursday at 81, was synonymous with 1970s punk rock, a rebelliousness that remained the hallmark of an unapologetically political designer who became one of British fashion’s biggest names. “Vivienne Westwood died today, peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London. The …

Read more “Vivienne Westwood, Britain’s Provocative Dame of Fashion, Dies at 81”

Georgiy Yatsenko was hiding in the basement trying to comfort his anxious grandchildren on Thursday morning when an explosion rocked his normally sleepy street in southern Kyiv. The blast blew out all of his windows, but the scene that greeted him when he stepped outside was even more frightening: half a dozen nearby houses were …

Read more “‘Grandma, We’ve Been Hit’; Russian Missiles Rock Kyiv”

A new wave of Russian missile strikes pounded cities throughout Ukraine on Thursday, damaging power stations and other critical infrastructure during freezing winter weather. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said a number of energy facilities were damaged and that “Russia is trying to deprive Ukrainians of light before the new year.” However, the Ukrainian military …

Read more “Ukraine Says Most Missiles Shot Down in Massive Russian Attack”

Kosovo has reopened the main border crossing with Serbia, as Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has announced dozens of other roadblocks in Northern Kosovo also would be removed.   Thursday, after days of the crossing between Kosovo and Serbia being blocked by barricades, trucks now can traverse it again. The removal of barricades blocking the main …

Read more “Kosovo Reopens Main Border Crossing With Serbia; Roadblocks to Be Dismantled”

Sarah Ashton-Cirillo used to be journalist based in Los Angeles. A transgender woman, she is now a military medic in Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Tatiana Vorozhko met with her in Washington in early December, when she came to brief U.S. lawmakers and experts on developments on the front lines. VOA footage by Dmytro Melnyk. Video editing by Dmytro Melnyk and Anna Rice. …

Namibia has halted Russia’s state atomic energy agency’s uranium exploration over concerns about potential contamination of underground water. Namibia is Africa’s biggest producer of the nuclear fuel, the world’s second, and in 2019 granted Russia’s Rosatom subsidiary, One Uranium, exploration rights. But this month, Namibia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform refused to grant …

Read more “Namibia Halts Russian Uranium Exploration Over Environmental Concerns”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is lucid, conscious and stable but his condition remains serious, the Vatican said Thursday, a day after it revealed that the 95-year-old’s health had deteriorated recently.  A statement from Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Pope Francis asked for continued prayers “to accompany him in these difficult hours.”  On Wednesday, Francis revealed …

Read more “Vatican: Benedict XVI Lucid, Stable, but Condition ‘Serious’”

The Bulgarian foreign ministry on Thursday summoned Russia’s ambassador to explain why Moscow has placed a Bulgarian journalist working for an international investigative website on a list of wanted persons. Christo Grozev, the leading Bellingcat researcher on Russia, who carried out investigations into the poisonings of opposition politician Alexey Navalny and former Russian spy Sergei …

Read more “Bulgaria Summons Russian Envoy Over Warrant for Journalist”

Kosovo reopened the country’s main border crossing with Serbia on Thursday after a nearby barricade that led to its closure was removed, while Serbia’s president said more than a dozen other Serb roadblocks in northern Kosovo also would be dismantled.  Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Serbs would start removing their barricades on Thursday. The move …

Read more “Kosovo Reopens Serbia Border Crossing, Roadblocks Yet To Go”