Samantha Power won fame as a human rights advocate and was picked by President Joe Biden to lead the agency that distributes billions of dollars in U.S. aid abroad, including providing more food assistance than anyone else in the world. But since Russia invaded Ukraine, that job includes a new task with a Cold War …
Read more “AP Interview: US Aid Chief Counters Food Crisis, Russia”
Russia and the United States said on Friday they were ready to discuss a prisoner swap, a day after a Russian court sentenced basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for a drugs offense. The case against Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, plunged her into …
Read more “After Griner Gets Jail, Russia Ready to Discuss Swap With US”
The Joint Coordination Center overseeing implementation of the U.N.- and Turkish-brokered deal to get commercial ships with Ukrainian grain to world markets said Thursday that three more ships are expected to sail Friday. The first ship, the Razoni, departed on Monday from Odesa and is en route to Lebanon with a cargo of corn. The …
Read more “Commercial Ship Scheduled to Leave Ukraine on Friday”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban received a warm reception Thursday in Texas, where he was a featured speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a major event on the calendar of the right wing of the Republican Party. In remarks that ran for approximately 30 minutes, Orban demonstrated why he has become popular …
Read more “Hungarian Prime Minister Shows Why American Right Embraces Him”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. A just-concluded deal on freeing up Ukrainian grain, along with Russian backing for a new Turkish offensive against Syrian Kurdish forces will be on the agenda. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Friday meeting with …
Read more “Erdogan and Putin to Meet in Sochi for 2nd Time in a Month”
Travelers heading from the United States to Europe this summer can also help transport relief supplies to Ukraine. Khrystyna Shevchenko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. …
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday the Western military alliance has the joint tasks of both supporting Ukraine in its fight against a Russian invasion and to prevent the conflict from spreading into a war between Russia and NATO. Speaking to a summer camp in his native Norway, Stoltenberg said NATO has a moral …
Read more “NATO Chief: World Will Be a More Dangerous Place if Russia Wins Ukraine War”
Liudmyla Chudyjovych used to have a career as a lawyer in Ukraine and big plans for the future. That was before the Russian invasion forced the 41-year-old to put her daughter’s safety first and leave both her job and home behind. Since fleeing the town of Stryj in western Ukraine in May, Chudyjovych has found …
Read more “Months Into War, Ukraine Refugees Slow to Join EU Workforce”
Closing arguments are expected Thursday in American basketball star Brittney Griner’s drug trial in a Russian court. Griner is facing a potential sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted. She was arrested at a Moscow airport in February with what she has acknowledged were vape cannisters with cannabis oil in her luggage. Griner’s lawyers …
Read more “Closing Arguments Expected in Griner’s Russia Trial”
A code red alert has been declared in Iceland after a volcano erupted Wednesday near the capital, Reykjavik, at a site that erupted last year, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said. The IMO said the eruption took place in an unpopulated area 30 kilometers from the capital city and that no lives were in danger. …
From the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Jewish community in Russia has not explicitly supported the military actions of the Kremlin, thus undermining President Vladimir Putin’s claim that Russian forces are on a mission to denazify Ukraine. Russian Jews avoid talking about this issue, and many have chosen to leave the country. …
Read more “Jews’ Silence Undermines Russia’s Claim of ‘Denazifying’ Ukraine”
PARIS – Fanning out like urban guerrillas through Paris’ darkened streets well after midnight, the anti-waste activists shinny up walls and drain pipes, reaching for switches to turn off the lights. Click. Click. Click. One by one, the outdoor lights that stores had left on are extinguished. It’s one small but symbolic step in a …
Read more “Cold Showers, No Lights: Europe Saves as Russian Gas Wanes”
Voting by Britain’s Conservative Party members to pick the next prime minister has been delayed after a British spy agency warned that cyber hackers could change people’s ballots, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday. There was no specific threat from a hostile state, and the advice was more general and about the voting process and its …
Read more “Britain’s Conservative Party Voting for Next PM Delayed After Hacking Alert”
The U.S. imposed new sanctions Tuesday targeting Russian elites, including oligarchs and a woman — one-time Olympic rhythmic gymnast champion Alina Kabaeva — often named in news reports as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lover and mother of four of his children. The Treasury Department froze the visa of Kabaeva, 39, and imposed other property restrictions …
Read more “US Imposes New Sanctions on Russian Elites, Including Putin’s Reported Lover”
A man was charged with intent to “alarm her Majesty” after being arrested at Queen Elizabeth’s Windsor Castle home with a crossbow on Christmas Day last year, police and prosecutors said. Jaswant Singh Chail, 20, a resident of Southampton in southern England, was arrested on the grounds of Windsor Castle, where the queen often resides. …
Read more “UK Charges Man with Intent to ‘Injure or Alarm’ Queen”
Tensions between Jerusalem and Moscow are rising over a Russian attempt to close the Jewish Agency office in Moscow. The quasi-governmental Jewish Agency helps Jews immigrate to Israel, but Russia says it violates local laws by gathering information on Russian citizens. Israeli officials say they believe it has more to do with growing Israeli support …
Thousands of Afghans took refuge in Turkey as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last year. Many of these Afghans say they are now worried about being sent back. VOA’s Mahmut Bozarslan and Soner Kizilkaya bring us one man’s story in this report, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. VOA footage by Mahmut Bozarslan and Ogulcan Bakiler. …
Read more “Afghan Migrants in Turkey Worried About Increased Deportations”
The Supreme Court of Russia, acting on a request by the Prosecutor General’s Office, has designated Ukraine’s ultra-right Azov Regiment as a “terrorist” organization. The court announced the decision on Tuesday against the group, one of the most prominent Ukrainian military formations fighting against Russia in eastern Ukraine. The court ruled to “recognize the Ukrainian …
Read more “Russia High Court Labels Ukraine’s Azov Regiment ‘Terrorist’ Group”
American basketball player Brittney Griner was back in a Russian court Tuesday for her drug possession trial as the United States attempts to negotiate with Russia about her release. Griner, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport in February as she was …
Read more “US Basketball Player Back in Russian Court on Drug Charges”
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Moscow has done its best to suppress opposition inside Russia. VOA Russian has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Aleksandr Barash, Dmitry Vershinin …
Almost 700 migrants and asylum seekers crossed the Channel to Britain in a single day this week, a new record for the year, the UK government said Tuesday. The latest arrivals suggest the government’s controversial policy to deport those attempting the dangerous crossing to Rwanda has so far failed to deter them. The Defense Ministry …
Read more “Nearly 700 Migrants Crossed Channel on Monday in 2022 Record”
The U.N. secretary-general warned Monday at the start of a nuclear non-proliferation conference that the risks of more nuclear weapons is growing as guardrails to prevent escalation are weakening. “Today, humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation,” Antonio Guterres told the opening of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference. He …
Read more “At UN, Review of Nuclear Controls in Tense World Underway”
Social media users in Turkey could face up to three years in jail for postings that authorities consider to be disinformation under proposed legislation. The move has prompted protests, with critics accusing the government of seeking to silence the last platforms that Turkish citizens have for venting their grievances. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. …
Russia announced sanctions Monday against dozens of British politicians, officials and public figures, accusing them of supporting the “demonization” of the country. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said 39 Britons would be banned from entering the country, joining more than 200 other British nationals that Moscow has already banned. The latest additions include opposition Labour Party leader …
Read more “Russia Imposes Travel Ban on Dozens More Prominent Britons”