Several NATO member states are sending troops and hardware to allies in Eastern Europe as tensions with Russia escalate. The United States has put several thousand troops on alert. Moscow has over 100,000 troops amassed on the Ukraine border, and the West fears an imminent Russian invasion, which the Kremlin denies. Henry Ridgwell looks at …
Read more “High Alert: NATO Sends Troops, Warplanes East to Counter Russian Threat”
NATO member states are sending thousands of troops, warplanes and ships to allies in eastern Europe as tensions with Russia escalate over Moscow’s deployment of more than 100,000 troops to its border with Ukraine. The West fears an imminent Russian invasion, which the Kremlin denies. Four Danish F-16 fighter jets landed in Lithuania last week …
Read more “High Alert: NATO Sends Troops, Warplanes East to Counter Russian Threat “
Mali said it is expelling the French ambassador because of “hostile and outrageous” comments by former colonial power France about Mali’s transitional government. A statement read on national television Monday said French Ambassador Joel Meyer has been given 72 hours to leave the country. “This measure follows the hostile and outrageous comments made recently by …
With Russian forces poised to attack Ukraine, Turkish-made drones are set to face a big test in battle as well as a challenge to Turkey’s relations with Russia. Despite warnings from Moscow, Turkish firms have continued to supply Kyiv with armed drones. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. …
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized before Parliament Monday following the release of a report concluding that parties held at the prime minister’s official residence during the country’s COVID-19 lockdown represented “serious failures” to observe the standards set by the government. The report, conducted by senior civil servant Sue Gray, examined a series of gatherings …
Read more “UK’s Johnson Apologizes Following Release of ‘Partygate’ Report”
U.S. President Joe Biden and Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani are meeting at the White House on Monday, with discussions about Qatar supplying natural gas to Europe in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine at the forefront of their talks. The emir is the first Persian Gulf leader to meet with …
Read more “Biden, Qatari Leader Discussing Energy Supply to Europe”
President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have repeatedly warned they will impose swift and punitive economic sanctions against Moscow in the event Vladimir Putin orders an invasion of Ukraine. British ministers announced Sunday they plan new legislation to make it easier to impose sanctions on “Putin’s oligarchs” and Russian officials who have investments and …
Read more “Britain Promises to Target Assets of ‘Putin’s Oligarchs’ “
Turkey’s president has ordered that steps be taken against media like TV programs that are deemed contrary to Turkey’s “fundamental values.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a circular posted Saturday on the Official Gazette, said the decision aims to eliminate the harmful effects of television programs with foreign content that have been adapted in …
Read more “Turkey Orders TV Programs to Protect Family Values”
Eleanor Reissa’s mother and father survived the Nazi Holocaust in Europe during the 1940’s. After the war but before they were married, they wrote letters to each other. Those letters led Eleanor on a journey to learn about her parents’ past. The result of that journey was just released in book form. Victoria Kupchinetsky has …
Read more “Holocaust-Era Letters Prompt Writer to Dive Into Family’s History”
Police in western Germany report two officers were shot and killed Monday during a pre-dawn traffic stop. Rhineland-Palatinate district police spokesman Bernhard Christian Erfort said the two officers reported via radio they were carrying out a traffic stop at 4:20 a.m. local time between Ulmet and Mayweilerhof in the west central Kusel district. A short …
Read more “2 German Police Officers Shot Dead Following Traffic Stop”
The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine: The U.S. plans to confront Russia over its actions along Ukraine’s border at a Monday meeting of the United Nations Security Council. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Sunday the Western military alliance has no intention of sending troops to Ukraine if Russia invades its former …
The United Nations Security Council is due to discuss the crisis along the Russia-Ukraine border Monday in a session the United States called to address Russia’s deployment of more than 100,000 soldiers in the region and “other destabilizing acts aimed at Ukraine.” The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on ABC’s “This …
Read more “UN Security Council to Discuss Russia-Ukraine Crisis”
The United Nations Security Council meets Monday to discuss Russia’s buildup of more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s border. Western and Ukrainian officials continue to be on alert for a possible invasion. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …
French President Emmanuel Macron has told his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi that a deal lifting sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear activities is still possible but talks need to accelerate, Macron’s office said on Sunday. France, Germany and Britain, known as the E3, and the United States are trying to save …
Read more “Macron Tells Iran’s Raisi Nuclear Talks Need to Speed Up”
Manchester United player Mason Greenwood was arrested on suspicion of rape and assault on Sunday after a woman posted visual and audio allegations on social media of an incident. United said the 20-year-old forward “will not return to training or play matches until further notice.” The police did not name Greenwood but the statement about …
Read more “Manchester United’s Greenwood Held on Suspicion of Rape, Assault”
Portuguese voters went to the polls Sunday in a parliamentary election with no clear winner in sight and uncertainty increased by potentially low turnout amid record coronavirus infections. Polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0800 GMT). At the University of Lisbon, staff outnumbered mostly elderly voters, with signs on the walls asking people to wear …
Read more “Portuguese Vote in Election Marked by COVID, Uncertainty”
The Northern Irish city of Londonderry began commemorations Sunday of one of the darkest days in modern UK history when, 50 years ago, British troops without provocation killed 13 unarmed civil rights protesters. The anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” comes with Northern Ireland’s fragile peace destabilized by Brexit, and with families of the victims despondent over …
Read more “‘No justice’: N. Ireland Marks ‘Bloody Sunday’ Amid Brexit Backdrop”
NATO has no plans to deploy combat troops to non-NATO member Ukraine in the event of a Russian invasion, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday. Asked on BBC Television whether he would rule out putting NATO troops in Ukraine if Russia does invade, Stoltenberg said: “We have no plans to deploy NATO combat troops …
Read more “NATO Chief: No plans to Send Combat Troops to Ukraine if Russia Invades “
Britain is considering making a major NATO deployment as part of a plan to strengthen Europe’s borders in response to Russia massing troops on the border with Ukraine, the government said Saturday. Britain has said that any Russian incursion into Ukraine would be met with swift sanctions and would be devastating for both sides. Prime …
Read more “Britain Considering Major NATO Deployment Amid Ukraine Crisis”
Five decades after British soldiers killed 13 unarmed Catholic civil rights marchers on one of the defining days of the Northern Ireland conflict, relatives are still searching for the justice they believe is needed for a scarred society to heal. Family and friends of the 13 Catholics who died in Londonderry on “Bloody Sunday,” Jan. …
Read more “‘Bloody Sunday’ Still Scars Northern Ireland 50 Years On”
Russia says it will relocate naval exercises off the coast of Ireland after Dublin raised concerns about them amid a tense dispute with the West over expansion of the NATO alliance and fears that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine. The Feb. 3-8 exercises were to be held 240 kilometers off southwestern Ireland — in …
Read more “Russia Moves Naval Exercise That Rattled EU Member Ireland”
Italian President Sergio Mattarella was re-elected for a second term on Saturday, with party chiefs asking him to carry on after a week of fruitless voting in parliament to choose a successor. At the eighth round of balloting among more than 1,000 lawmakers and regional delegates in the Chamber of Deputies, loud applause broke out …
Ukraine’s leader and his defense and security aides are assessing Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s intentions differently from many of their Western counterparts. Are they just more stoical after eight years of persistent Russian provocations and a long-running war in eastern Ukraine—or are they misreading their Russian adversary? Washington and London have both warned the chances …
Read more “Ukraine, NATO Differ on Imminence of Russian Attack”
By filing a formal complaint against China at the World Trade Organization this week, the European Union is throwing its weight into support for member state Lithuania in what is being cast as a test of the EU’s willingness to defend the interests of even its smallest members in the face of Chinese power and …
Read more “European Union Rallies Behind Lithuania in Trade Fight with China”