Month: August 2022

While many countries cut diplomatic ties with Afghanistan after the Taliban’s return to power last year, Turkey, the only NATO member with a diplomatic presence in the war-torn country, has been active on many fronts. Recently, the second phase of the Kajaki hydroelectric dam in Helmand province was completed by the Turkish company 77 Construction, …

Read more “Turkey’s Engagement With Afghanistan Has Grown Since Taliban Takeover”

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address late Thursday that “another shelling by Russia was recorded” around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear power facility. “No one else has used a nuclear plant so obviously to threaten the whole world,” Zelenskyy said. “And absolutely everyone in the world should …

Read more “Zelenskyy Calls Nuclear Plant Shelling a Global Concern”

Ukraine’s top cyber official addressed a room full of security experts at a hackers convention following a two-day trip from Kyiv to a casino in Las Vegas. During his unannounced visit, Victor Zhora, deputy head of Ukraine’s State Special Communications Service, told the so-called Black Hat convention Wednesday that the number of cyber incidents that …

Read more “Ukraine Cyber Chief Visits ‘Black Hat’ Hacker Meeting in Las Vegas”

The thick layer of ice that has covered a Swiss mountain pass for centuries will have melted away completely within a few weeks, a ski resort said Thursday. Following a dry winter, the summer heatwaves hitting Europe have been catastrophic for the Alpine glaciers, which have been melting at an accelerated rate. The pass between …

Read more “Swiss Mountain Pass Ice to Melt Completely Within Weeks”

Latvia’s parliament declared Russia a state sponsor of terror Thursday for its targeted military attacks against civilians and public places Lativia’s unicameral parliament, known as the Saeima, approved a resolution noting that Russia has supported and financed terrorist regimes and organizations for years. The Saeima used as examples Moscow’s support for the Assad government in …

Read more “Latvian Parliament Declares Russia State Sponsor of Terror”

Wildfires continued to spread through France, Spain and Portugal on Thursday as record-breaking heat waves plague Europe, prompting the head of the European Space Agency to demand immediate action on climate change.  A “monster” wildfire has destroyed thousands of hectares in the Gironde area of southwestern France just two weeks after another fire tore through …

Read more “Wildfires Rage Across Europe”

The McDonald’s corporation announced Thursday it plans to begin reopening some of its restaurants in Ukraine, after closing them due to Russia’s invasion of that country in February. In a statement to the company’s employees, the senior vice president of international operated markets, Paul Pomroy, said the decision was made “after extensive consultation and discussion …

Read more “McDonald’s To Reopen Some Ukraine Restaurants”

Satellite pictures released Thursday showed devastation at a Russian air base in Crimea, hit days earlier in an attack that suggested Kyiv may have obtained new long-range strike capability with potential to change the course of the war. Pictures released by independent satellite firm Planet Labs showed three near-identical craters that had precisely struck buildings …

Read more “Satellite Pictures Show Devastation at Russian Air Base in Crimea”

Like other countries in Europe, Britain is experiencing a labor shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But for thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war in their homeland, the deficiency provides crucial opportunities as they resettle in their new homes. For VOA, Tommy Walker reports from Newcastle upon Tyne in England. …

A 38-year-old man who is accused of being a member of an Islamic State cell dubbed “The Beatles” and who was deported from Turkey this week appeared in a London court on Thursday after police charged him with terrorism offenses. Prosecutors said they had originally authorized the charging of Aine Davis under terrorism laws in …

Read more “Islamic State ‘Beatle’ Appears in London Court Charged With Terrorism Offenses”

Greek authorities say a search and rescue operation is ongoing for a second day for dozens of migrants missing after the boat they were on sank in rough seas off a southeastern Greek island. A Greek navy vessel and three nearby merchant ships were still searching Thursday for between around 30 to 50 people believed …

Read more “Greece: Dozens Still Missing After Migrant Boat Sinks “

A British man accused of being part of an Islamic State (IS) kidnap-and-murder cell known as the “Beatles” was arrested Wednesday when he returned to the UK, media reports said. Aine Davis, 38, was arrested after landing at Luton airport on a flight from Turkey, where he had been serving a prison sentence for terrorism …

Read more “British IS ‘Beatle’ Suspect Arrested on Return to UK, Media Says”

At the end of a dusty track in southwest England where the River Thames usually first emerges from the ground, there is scant sign of any moisture at all. The driest start to a year in decades has shifted the source of this emblematic English river several miles downstream, leaving scorched earth and the occasional …

Read more “In Scorched UK, Source of River Thames Dries Up”

Wildfires tore through the Gironde region of southwestern France on Wednesday, destroying homes and forcing the evacuation of 10,000 residents, some of whom had clambered onto rooftops as the flames got closer.  Black-and-orange skies, darkened by the smoke billowing from forests and lit up by the flames, were seen across the area as the fires …

Read more “Wildfires Rage in France; Thousands Evacuated From Homes “

Russians are snapping up Western fashion and furniture this week as H&M and IKEA sell off the last of their inventory in Russia, moving forward with their exit from the country after it sent troops into Ukraine. Sweden-based H&M and Netherlands-based IKEA had paused sales in Russia after the military operation began and are now …

Read more “Russians Buy Last Goods From H&M, IKEA as Stores Wind Down”

Britain is launching a polio vaccine booster campaign for children in London aged below 10, after confirming that the virus is spreading in the capital for the first time since the 1980s.  The UK Health Security Agency has identified 116 polioviruses from 19 sewage samples this year in London. It first raised the alert on …

Read more “Polio Spreading in London, Booster Campaign Launched for Kids Under 10”

A senior U.N. official said Wednesday that a deal to move stranded Ukrainian grain that had been blocked in silos and Black Sea ports is working well, with more than 370,000 tons of food stuffs moved in the first week. “Three hundred and seventy-thousand metric tons in the initial phase of this operation, I think …

Read more “UN: Movement of Grain Ships from Ukraine ‘Encouraging’”

The U.S. military says Russian military surveillance aircraft entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on two separate occasions over the past two days. U.S. F-22 fighter jets intercepted the second aircraft upon entering the airspace, a defense official told VOA. Both entries involved the same type of Russian surveillance aircraft, the official added. An …

Read more “Russian Surveillance Aircraft Spotted Near Alaskan Air Space”

A beluga whale that captured French hearts when it showed up in the Seine River had to be euthanized Wednesday after it was successfully removed from the French waterway, authorities said. A rescue team was preparing to transfer the whale to a saltwater pool in Normandy. The male marine mammal was first spotted in the …

Read more “Stranded Whale Euthanized After Removal From French River “

Vienna, a city known for its Christmas markets and its New Year concert, is cutting back on public lighting in the face of soaring energy prices. “There will be no Christmas illuminations this year on the Ring,” the famous boulevard that encircles the center of the Austrian capital, city spokeswoman Roberta Kraft told AFP. And …

Read more “Vienna Dims Street Lighting As Energy Prices Soar”

A flock of sheep shelter from the midday sun under the gothic arches of a medieval bridge flooded in 1956 to create the Cijara reservoir in central Spain, but now fully exposed as the reservoir is 84% empty after a severe drought. In Andalusia, one of Europe’s hottest and driest regions, paddle-boats and waterslides lie …

Read more “‘Hitting Rock Bottom’ – Drought, Heat Drain Spanish Reservoirs”

The U.S. has completed its final step in ratifying NATO’s expansion to include Sweden and Finland. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb reports on the most significant expansion of the military alliance in more than two decades, which needs only seven more countries for completion …

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda discussed the challenges for his country caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year with VOA’s Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze on Tuesday in Vilnius. “Nothing less than democracy and the world order is at stake in that war,” Nauseda told VOA. “There is no limit for the appetite …

Read more “VOA Interview: Lithuania President Gitanas Nauseda”

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda discussed the challenges for his country caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year with VOA’s Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze on Tuesday in Vilnius. …