Britain will have a new prime minister next week, nearly two months after the resignation of Boris Johnson in July, following a series of scandals. As Henry Ridgwell reports, Johnson’s successor faces a series of daunting challenges — while Britain’s allies, including Ukraine, are watching closely. …
The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, says the bloc’s 27 members have agreed to suspend an agreement with Russia, which had made it easier for Russians to obtain tourist visas, as a sanction for Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Borrell announced the decision, which falls short of the total ban on visa issuance some …
Read more “Borrell Says EU Members Agree on Suspension of Visa Deal for Russians”
Fans of the late Princess Diana placed tributes outside the gates of her Kensington Palace home on Wednesday, marking the 25th anniversary of her death in a Paris car accident. An arrangement of white chrysanthemums spelling out “Princess Diana” sat among dozens of photos and messages left by admirers, some of whom said they make …
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Leaders and politicians around the world have expressed their condolences as news spread that the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, whose reforms helped end the Cold War and free Eastern Europe from communism, but also led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, died overnight at the age of 91. Some in Russia and elsewhere …
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A new prime minister will take power in Britain next week after the resignation of Boris Johnson in July, following a series of scandals. His successor faces a series of daunting economic and political challenges, while Britain’s allies — especially Ukraine — are watching closely. The fewer than 200,000 Conservative party members, around 0.3 percent …
Read more “As Johnson Departs, Britain’s Next Leader Faces Daunting Challenges”
India and China are among several countries taking part in Russia’s weeklong joint military drills scheduled to get underway on Thursday in the east of the country, according to Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass. While India has previously taken part in multinational military drills in Russia — an Indian contingent was part of Zapad military …
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Condolences and tributes are pouring in from around the world following Tuesday’s death of the former president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. VOA’s Michael Brown reports on some of the early reactions. …
A team of inspectors from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog headed Wednesday to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to assess safety and security issues at the Russian-controlled site. International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said the team he is leading will spend several days at the plant and said their mission is a “very …
Read more “UN Team Heads to Assess Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant ”
Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War without bloodshed but failed to prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union, died on Tuesday at the age of 91, hospital officials in Moscow said. Below are some reactions from around the world: Russian President Vladimir Putin: He expressed “his deepest condolences,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax …
Mikhail Gorbachev, who presided over the demise of the Soviet Union and helped end decades of Cold War fear, earning a Nobel Peace Prize and the lasting enmity of millions of Russians bitter about the chaos unleashed by the collapse of the world’s largest country, has died at age 91. The Central Clinical Hospital on …
Read more “Mikhail Gorbachev, Last Soviet Leader, Dies at 91”
Mikhail Gorbachev, who as the last leader of the Soviet Union waged a losing battle to salvage a crumbling empire but produced extraordinary reforms that led to the end of the Cold War, has died at 91, Russian media reported Tuesday. News organizations quoted a statement from the Central Clinical Hospital as saying he died …
Read more “Russian Media: Ex-Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev Is Dead at 91”
The Vatican sought on Tuesday to clarify the pope’s position on Ukraine, after the pontiff’s comment on the death of a Russian ultranationalist’s daughter ruffled feathers in Kyiv. “The Holy Father’s words on this dramatic issue are to be read as a voice raised in defense of human life and the values associated with it, …
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While China’s strategic partnership with Russia “without limits” has been widely reported since the start of the war in Ukraine, much less known is the strategic partnership Ukraine and China forged in 2011. Now, that partnership is being questioned by a key lawmaker in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this month sounded a soft …
Read more “Ukraine Lawmaker Questions Kyiv’s Strategic Partnership With Beijing”
Ukraine’s presidential office reported heavy fighting Tuesday in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, an area occupied by Russian forces where Ukraine says it has launched a counteroffensive to try to retake territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed in his nightly address Monday that Ukrainian forces would take back their territory. He said Ukraine would …
Read more “Ukraine Reports Heavy Fighting in Kherson Amid Southern Offensive”
Russian prosecutors at the trial of a former journalist asked the court Tuesday to hand him a 24-year prison sentence on treason charges. Ivan Safronov who worked as a journalist for a decade before becoming an adviser to the head of the Russian space corporation Roscosmos, has been in custody since his July 2020 arrest …
Read more “Russian Prosecutors Ask for 24-Year Sentence for Ex-Reporter”
In the Russian government’s latest move to reduce its reliance on a global financial system dominated by the United States and its allies, Kremlin authorities Monday began a policy of barring the use of U.S. dollars as collateral for transactions on the Moscow Exchange, Russia’s largest financial services marketplace. According to experts, the change was …
Read more “Russia’s Latest Move Toward ‘De-Dollarization’ Seen as Symbolic”
An Istanbul court has released Turkish pop star Gulsen from pretrial detention but put her under house arrest with judicial control on Monday over a remark she made about religious schools in Turkey. The 46-year-old singer-songwriter, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was taken into custody for questioning on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity …
Read more “Turkey Places Pop Star Under House Arrest Over Remark”
Norwegian carbon dioxide (CO2) storage company Northern Lights and its owners have agreed to store emissions captured at fertilizer maker Yara’s Dutch operation from 2025 in what they say is a commercial breakthrough for the business. The joint venture founded by oil companies Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell plans to inject CO2 from industrial plants into …
Read more “Norwegian CO2 Storage Company Agrees to Store Emissions Captured at Fertilizer Maker”
The Dutch defense ministry said Monday one of its soldiers died after being shot in the U.S. city of Indianapolis, Indiana. The defense ministry did not identify the soldier, but said he was a member of the Commando Corps who was participating in training in Indiana. Two other Dutch soldiers were also shot in the …
Germany has secured a power link to a planned offshore wind hub in the Danish part of the Baltic Sea that will help reduce energy dependence on Russia, Denmark’s energy ministry said on Monday. The planned energy hub on the island of Bornholm will by 2030 link several offshore wind parks in the Baltic Sea …
Read more “Germany Secures Link to Planned Baltic Sea Renewable Energy Island”
French-Israeli diamond magnate Beny Steinmetz will be back in court in Switzerland on Monday to appeal against a corruption verdict linked to mining rights in Guinea. The 66-year-old businessman was convicted in January 2021 of setting up a complex financial web to pay bribes to ensure his company could obtain permits in an area estimated …
Read more “Diamond magnate’s appeal of Swiss bribery verdict opens “
The head of the U.N.’s atomic energy agency said it has a team on the way to visit Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, situated near the front line of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi tweeted that he is leading the team that will be at the power …
Read more “UN Team on Way to Assess Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant “
Ernest Marvel has a case full of medals in his Frankford home. He was awarded his most recent addition, the French Legion of Honor, in July — almost 80 years after he helped liberate the country from the Germans in World War II. Marvel, now 98, has rarely left the Bethany Beach area, save for …
Read more “Delaware Veteran Receives France’s Highest Honor”
Greek surface-to-air missiles locked on to Turkish F-16 fighter jets carrying out a reconnaissance mission in international airspace, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said Sunday. The allegation is the latest claim from Turkey that its neighbor and fellow NATO member Greece has been targeting its aircraft above the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. The radar …
Read more “Turkey Says Greek Missiles Locked on Its Fighters Over Med”