There will be no cease-fire or concessions to Russia, Ukraine’s lead negotiator said Saturday as Russia upped its assault on Luhansk, one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. “The war will not stop (after concessions). It will just be put on pause for some time,” Mykhailo Podolyak, who is …
Read more “No Truce, Concessions, Ukraine Says, as Russia Focuses on Donbas”
The Ukrainian forces who made a determined last stand in a Mariupol steel mill against Russian troops were a mixture of seasoned soldiers, border guards, a controversial national guard regiment and volunteers who took up arms in the weeks before Russia’s invasion. As Russia announced it had completed its takeover of Mariupol with the surrender …
North Macedonia’s fugitive former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has been handed a nine-year prison sentence for illegally ordering the 2011 demolition of a multimillion-dollar residential and business complex owned by a former political ally turned opponent. The Criminal Court in the capital, Skopje, found that the demolition was an “act of political revenge” against Fijat …
Read more “Fugitive North Macedonian Ex-Premier Gets 9-year Sentence”
A storm that swept across parts of Germany generated three tornadoes, the country’s weather service said Saturday. One of them left a trail of destruction and more than 40 people injured in a western city. Meteorologists had warned of heavy rainfall, hail and strong gusts of wind in western and central Germany on Friday, and …
Read more “German Weather Service Says Storm Generated 3 Tornadoes”
Representatives of the United States and several other nations walked out of an Asia-Pacific trade ministers meeting in Bangkok on Saturday to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said. Representatives from Canada, New Zealand, Japan and Australia joined the Americans in walking out of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, two Thai officials and two …
Read more “US, Others Walk Out of APEC Talks Over Russia’s Ukraine Invasion, Officials Say”
Russia on Saturday halted providing natural gas to neighboring Finland, which has angered Moscow by applying for NATO membership, after the Nordic country refused to pay supplier Gazprom in rubles. Natural gas accounts for about 8% of Finland’s energy consumption and most of it comes from Russia. Following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow …
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again said his country will oppose applications by Finland and Sweden to join NATO unless his security conditions are met. Analysts say Erdogan may be looking for more attention to his concerns from U.S. President Joe Biden. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …
For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT: 12:02 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to Telegram to criticize Russia’s destruction of a cultural center in the city of Lazova, CNN reports. The airstrike injured at least seven people, including …
Violent storms buffeting western Germany on Friday killed at least one man and injured about 40 people, 10 of them seriously, when an apparent tornado raked several towns, police and local media said. Images on social media showed an apparent tornado with its distinctive spinning cyclone flinging debris through the air, though the German Weather …
Read more “1 Killed, 40 Hurt When Apparent Tornado Hits Germany”
French President Emmanuel Macron named new foreign and defense ministers on Friday as part of a government re-shuffle intended to create fresh momentum ahead of parliamentary elections next month. France’s ambassador to London, Catherine Colonna, was picked as foreign minister, making her only the second woman to hold the prestigious job. Sebastien Lecornu, …
Read more “Macron Names New Foreign, Defense Ministers in Cabinet Shake-up”
Before the Russian invasion, Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Replyanchuk spent his days unearthing corruption, often among judges and law enforcement. Now the Kyiv-based journalist who works for the independent media website Slidstvo.Info uses his investigative reporting skills to expose war crimes and atrocities. Every crime has a face, Replyanchuk told VOA. “War criminals who executed civilians …
Read more “Every Crime has a Face, Says Ukrainian Journalist Hunting War Criminals”
People suffering from eco-anxiety — the fear of environmental catastrophe — may get a boost from a green forum in Paris this week. Gathering hundreds of eco-entrepreneurs, companies and activists, ChangeNOW aims to trace a sustainable blueprint for the future. From food to fashion, technology to transport, a raft of green solutions for our resource-sucking …
Read more “In Paris, Green Forum Traces More Durable Footprint for the Planet”
Theater director Mikhail Durnenkov and actor Aleksey Yudnikov are both longstanding enemies of the Kremlin. For decades, their performances have parodied the Russian government and its leader, President Vladimir Putin, testing the boundaries of expressive freedom under constant state surveillance. Durnenkov’s 2015 production, The War Has Not Yet Started, has proven eerily prescient: a tense …
Read more “Russian Artists Flee Country Amid Clampdown on Opposition to Ukraine War”
France’s new government lineup will be announced later on Friday, the presidency said, with the new Cabinet set to meet on Monday. The announcement came four days after Elisabeth Borne, the outgoing labor minister, was named premier, becoming the first woman to head the French government in more than 30 years. The government reshuffle was …
Read more “New French Government To Be Announced Friday: Presidency”
The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved a new $40 billion aid package for Ukraine as the country combats Russia’s invasion. The House of Representatives voted in favor of the package last week. U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the measure promptly. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address Thursday that the …
Read more “US Senate Approves $40 Billion Ukraine Aid Package”
A 1955 Mercedes-Benz, one of only two such versions in existence, was auctioned off earlier this month for a whopping $143 million, making it the world’s most expensive car ever sold, RM Sotheby’s announced Thursday. The 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe was sold to a private collector for almost triple the previous record, which was set …
Read more “1955 Mercedes Sells For Record $143 Million: Sotheby’s”
For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT: 12:02 a.m.: U.S. think tank the Institute for the Study of War, says that Russian troops have withdrawn from the Kharkiv region and have been sent to the Donetsk region, The New …
The US Senate passed a $40 billion bill Thursday that provides humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine. After a week of delay, the vote means President Joe Biden will be able to sign the bill into law just as billions in aid passed earlier this year runs out. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more. …
Read more “US Congress Passes $40B in Military, Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine”
More than 70 years ago the United States launched a massive reconstruction effort to help rebuild Europe following the end of the Second World War. This week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin said Ukraine will need similar assistance, as the U.S. Congress prepares to approve $40 billion in military, economic and humanitarian aid for Kyiv. …
Read more “Memorial Celebrating WWII Alliances Resonates as Ukraine War Simmers “
Amid a severe clampdown on political opposition and civil society in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, thousands of people have fled the country – including many artists, whose work is often critical of President Vladimir Putin. Some of those artists are now in Finland, as Henry Ridgwell reports from Helsinki. …
The U.S. Senate completed congressional action Thursday on a new $40 billion aid package for Ukraine, overwhelmingly approving it and sending the measure to President Joe Biden for his expected signature. The package is intended to buttress Ukraine over the next five months to combat Russia’s ongoing invasion. It includes money for military equipment, training …
Read more “US Senate Overwhelmingly Approves More Ukraine Aid”
President Joe Biden on Thursday enthusiastically welcomed Sweden and Finland’s bids to join the NATO security alliance — a move that would bring two of Europe’s most modern militaries right to Russia’s northwest border. Speaking from the Rose Garden, flanked by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and President Sauli Niinistö of Finland, Biden said …
Read more “Biden Supports Sweden, Finland’s Bids to Join NATO”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday hundreds more Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, bringing the total this week to 1,730. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement it was registering fighters who left Azovstal, an operation that began Tuesday and was continuing Thursday. “The …
Read more “Russia: 1,730 Ukrainian Troops Have Surrendered in Mariupol”
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Wednesday said it had confirmed a single case of monkeypox virus infection in a man who had recently traveled to Canada. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said its labs confirmed the infection to be monkeypox on Wednesday afternoon. The state agency said it was …
Read more “Monkeypox Spreads in Europe; US Reports Its First Case”