The European Union (EU) and India agreed on Monday to set up a trade and technology council to step up cooperation, as the bloc’s chief held talks with officials in New Delhi who have seen a flurry of top visits since the start of the Ukraine war. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is …
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Russia’s foreign ministry said on Monday that it had declared 40 German diplomatic staff “personae non gratae” in a retaliatory move after Berlin expelled the same number of Russian diplomats. In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said it had taken the decision after Germany on April 4 declared a “significant number” of officials at the …
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A Gambian man went on trial in Germany Monday, accused of belonging to a death squad that assassinated opponents of former dictator Yahya Jammeh, including an AFP journalist. The suspect, identified by media as Bai Lowe, is accused of crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder, including the 2004 killing of AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara. …
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Moscow said Monday it had arrested members of a “neo-Nazi terrorist” group in Russia who allegedly planned to assassinate pro-Kremlin TV anchor Vladimir Solovyov on orders from Ukraine. “The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation detained a group of members of the neo-Nazi terrorist organization National Socialism/White Power, which is banned in Russia,” Russia’s FSB …
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Greenpeace activists sought to block a tanker on Monday from delivering Russian oil to Norway, chaining themselves to the vessel in a protest against the war in Ukraine, the advocacy group said. The Ust Luga product tanker is currently anchored outside Exxon Mobil’s Slagen oil terminal some 70 km south of the capital Oslo, according …
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The world’s largest security body on Sunday called for the “immediate release” of four of its Ukrainian members detained in pro-Russian separatist territories in the country’s east. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) evacuated many of its staff from the country after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Many had been …
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American diplomats will start returning to Ukraine this week, first to the western city of Lviv and then eventually to the capital, Kyiv. The United States is also providing further foreign military financing to Ukraine to help the country obtain more advanced weapons and air defense systems to fend off Russian attacks, according to senior …
An opposition liberal party convincingly won Sunday’s parliamentary election in Slovenia, according to early official results, in a major defeat for populist Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who was accused of pushing the small European Union country to the right while in office. The Freedom Movement won nearly 34% of the votes, compared with around 24% …
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have visited Kyiv to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid Russia’s ongoing war on that country. Continued Russian attacks came against the backdrop of Easter Sunday for Orthodox Christians. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. This video contains images of war, which some may find disturbing. …
April 24 marks two months of war in Ukraine, and Easter for Orthodox Christians, the vast majority of the country’s population. Services this year in battle-worn areas were often sparse amid growing numbers of deaths, injuries and families fleeing their homes. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Irpin in Ukraine with Yan Boechat in Kharkiv. …
As Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its third month with details of atrocities mounting, journalists covering the conflict are taking a more cautious approach. Several journalists—foreign and Ukrainian—have been killed since February 24, and dozens more have been wounded, either by incoming fire or being shot at while on assignment, according to media groups including …
Read more “Journalists Covering Ukraine War Often at Crossroads Between Story, Safety”
Hundreds of Russians and Ukrainians alike crowded into the only Russian Orthodox Church on the Arabian Peninsula on Sunday to celebrate the most important Christian religious festival of the year — far from home and in the shadow of a war that has brought devastation to Ukraine and international isolation to Moscow. The church’s gold …
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Far from home and unsure when or even if they will ever get back, Ukrainians displaced by war gathered at churches across eastern Europe on Sunday to celebrate the Orthodox Easter holiday in safety and to pray for an end to the fighting with Russia. Hundreds of believers crowded into the Church of Saint Michael …
Read more “Far From Home, Ukrainian Refugees Pray at Easter for Peace”
President Joe Biden on Sunday commemorated the 107th anniversary of the start of the “Armenian genocide,” issuing a statement in memory of the 1.5 million Armenians “who were deported, massacred or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination.” The statement did not reference the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Biden has called a …
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Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, called overnight for the opening of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine where he said, “an indescribable human tragedy is unfolding.” Bartholomew, who has previously called for an end to war in Ukraine, said that he hoped this year’s Easter would be “the impetus to open …
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France began voting in a presidential runoff election Sunday in a race between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right politician Marine Le Pen. Macron is in pole position to win reelection for a second five-year term in the country’s presidential runoff, yet his lead over Le Pen depends on one major uncertainty: voters who could decide …
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Rescue workers in southern Poland have reached four of the 10 miners who went missing early Saturday after a powerful underground tremor and methane gas discharge hit, mining authorities said. It was the second coal mine accident this week in Poland. The condition of the four was not immediately released and officials said there was …
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The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said on Saturday it was working to secure the release of a number of Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) members who had been detained in eastern Ukraine. “The OSCE is extremely concerned that a number of SMM national mission members have been deprived of their liberty in Donetsk …
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Turkey has closed its airspace to Russian civilian and military planes flying to Syria, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying Saturday by local media. The announcement marks one of the strongest responses to date by Turkey, which has cultivated close ties with Moscow despite being a member of the NATO defense alliance, to …
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The World Health Organization warns the health system in eastern Ukraine has all but collapsed, putting the lives of thousands of people trapped in Mariupol and other besieged areas at risk. U.N. health officials say it is critical they be granted immediate access to Mariupol and other areas hardest hit by fighting in eastern Ukraine. …
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Ukraine will attempt to evacuate people Saturday from the besieged port city of Mariupol. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram that authorities will try to get women, children and the elderly out of the city where Russian troops have thwarted previous evacuation efforts. It is unlikely that humanitarian corridors for the public …
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France goes to the polls Sunday for the final round of voting in the presidential election, with Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally party just a few points behind incumbent Emmanuel Macron. A Le Pen victory would have big implications for European security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin links In a fiery …
Read more “France Election: Le Pen’s Late Surge Rattles Europe Amid Russian Security Threat”
Russian authorities have opened a criminal case against a prominent opposition activist and remanded him in pre-trial detention Friday for allegedly spreading “false information” about the country’s armed forces. A court in Moscow ordered Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. held in detention until June 12. Lawyer Vadim Prokhorov told reporters that the false information case against Kara-Murza …
Read more “Kremlin Critic Jailed Over Denouncing Ukraine War”
A 5.7-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Bosnia late Friday, killing one person and injuring several others, local media reports said. A 28-year-old woman who was injured when a rock fell on her house in the town of Stolac, near Mostar, died in hospital, a medical source quoted by media said. Several others were slightly injured, including …
Read more “1 Killed, Several Injured as 5.7 Quake Shakes Bosnia”