The International Committee of the Red Cross is calling on both Russia and Ukraine to grant it unimpeded access to all prisoners of war being held by each side. The ICRC has been working since late February, when Russia invaded Ukraine, to obtain access to all prisoners of war. The Swiss-based aid agency says its …
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Ukraine’s military has recaptured more than 600 settlements from Russian forces over the past month, according to the country’s Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, as Russian forces continued to strike dozens of Ukraine’s cities, killing a number of civilians. Some 502 settlements have been liberated in the northeast Kharkiv region, where Ukrainian …
Read more “Ukraine Says Hundreds of Settlements Freed as Russian Airstrikes Continue”
Two men went on trial Friday for the murder of Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia almost five years ago to the day she died in a car bomb attack. Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio are accused of setting off the device, which killed the 53-year-old journalist outside her home on Oct. 16, 2017. They …
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Thursday for the fourth time in as many months. The frequent meetings and close ties are fueling concerns among Turkey’s Western allies that Ankara is circumventing sanctions against Russia. The latest encounter was in Astana on the sidelines of the summit of the Conference …
Read more “Russian, Turkish Leaders Meet Again as West Voices Concern”
Europe faces a higher-than-usual chance of a cold blast of weather before the end of the year, but the winter overall is likely to be warmer than average, the continent’s long-range weather forecaster said Thursday. Temperatures this winter will be crucial for homeowners worried about the record cost of heating their homes, and for European …
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NATO pledges more weapons for Ukraine …
A failed engine and high waves were to blame for the fatal shipwreck that killed at least 18 Europe-bound migrants off the coast of Greece last week, one survivor tells VOA. Speaking to VOA Somali by phone, Mustafa Farah, a survivor from Somalia in his 20s, said about 50 migrants were traveling on an overloaded …
Read more “Somali Survivor Tells Tale of Greek Migrant Shipwreck”
Anti-government protests are continuing across Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last month. She had been arrested by Iran’s morality police for ‘unsuitable attire’. Where might the protests lead – and how should the West respond? Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …
A new report finds half of all countries globally lack early warning systems that could save lives by alerting communities of impending disasters, including typhoons, droughts, and heatwaves. The joint report by the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, or UNDRR, and the World Meteorological Organization is being released to mark the International Day for …
Read more “UN: Early Warning of Impending Disasters Saves Lives”
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, the other small ex-Soviet republics watch the advancing Ukrainian army with hope, but also with concern. The fear that Russia could one day fall on them is palpable and has led to the mobilization of civil society, such as – in Estonia – with volunteer groups like the …
Read more “Estonian Volunteers Train for a Day They Hope Will Never Come”
The international community sent a clear message to Moscow on Wednesday, declaring the country’s so-called referendums and attempted annexation of parts of Ukraine illegal and invalid under international law. In its strongest show of support for Ukraine since Moscow’s February 24 invasion, the U.N. General Assembly voted 143-5, adopting a resolution condemning and rejecting Russia’s …
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‘Referendums,’ ‘Annexation’ in Ukraine “
Ekaterina Fomina lived her whole life in Moscow. And although the investigative journalist studied for a year abroad, leaving Russia was never her plan. But when Moscow invaded Ukraine, the pressure on Fomina and her news outlet, iStories, ratcheted up. IStories, which is registered outside Russia, was designated a foreign agent in 2021. But in …
Read more “‘Bucha Became the Turning Point,’ Says Russian Journalist”
Turkey’s government recently proposed legislation that would criminalize the spreading of misinformation on social media. The move is drawing national and international criticism. Turkey’s so-called disinformation bill drew condemnation from a European legal watchdog that warned the law would threaten freedom of expression and independent journalism ahead of next year’s elections. The warning is …
Read more “Turkey Slammed over Proposed Social Media Controls”
The White House rolled out a long-delayed national security strategy on Wednesday that seeks to contain China’s rise while reemphasizing the importance of working with allies to tackle challenges confronting democratic nations. The 48-page document, which was delayed by the Ukraine crisis, includes no major shifts in thinking and introduces no major new doctrines for …
Read more “Biden’s National Security Plan Aims at China, Russia”
Bosnia-Herzegovina moved a small step closer to the European Union on Wednesday with the EU’s executive advising member states to grant it candidate member status despite continuing criticism of the way the Balkan nation is run. The advice had been hotly anticipated in ethnically-divided Bosnia, which is lagging several other Balkan nations in being granted …
Read more “EU Executive Recommends Bosnia Become Candidate Member”
China is looking at the experience of the war in Ukraine to develop “hybrid warfare” strategies against Taiwan including using drones and psychological pressure, a senior Taiwanese security official said on Wednesday. Taiwan has been carefully studying the lessons of the Ukraine war to inform how it may react should China, which views the democratically …
Read more “Taiwan Says China Looking at Ukraine War to Develop ‘Hybrid’ Strategies”
Top U.S. cyber officials are warning that now is no time for governments or private sector companies to let down their guard and assume Russia’s struggles on the battlefield in Ukraine will carry over into the Kremlin’s efforts in cyberspace. Instead, they say the recent denial of service attacks targeting the public websites of major …
Following Russian missile attacks earlier this week, G-7 leaders say they will stand with Ukraine ‘for as long as it takes’ …
The Rosetta Stone stars in a new exhibition opening Thursday at the British Museum marking one of the most significant dates in Egyptology — 200 years after a French scholar finally cracked its code and deciphered hieroglyphs. The exhibition comes at a time the British Museum is under pressure from some Egyptologists to hand the …
Read more “British Museum Hails Rosetta Stone’s Role in Cracking Hieroglyphs”
Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthiest nations, meeting Tuesday in a crisis video conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, pledged Tuesday they “will stand firmly with Ukraine for as long as it takes” after Russia continued its barrage of missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. The G-7 leaders said in a statement after the virtual …
Read more “G-7 Vows Renewed Support for Ukraine; US Pledges Air Defense Systems”
The head of Britain’s cyber intelligence agency on Tuesday accused China of trying to “rewrite the rules of international security,” saying Beijing is using its economic and technological clout to clamp down at home and exert control abroad. Jeremy Fleming, director of GCHQ, said that despite war raging in Europe since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, …
Read more “UK Spy Chief Says Rise of China World’s Top Security Issue”
Energy infrastructure will become more vulnerable to extreme weather such as heatwaves and hurricanes, the World Meteorological Organization warned on Tuesday, with a senior official saying that climate change poses as big a threat to global energy security as the war in Ukraine. This year was illustrative of what the WMO says are the challenges …
Read more “Climate Extremes Pose as Big a Threat to Power System as Ukraine War, WMO Says”
Afghanistan, South Korea and Venezuela lost their bids Tuesday to serve three-year terms on the U.N. Human Rights Council. With nearly all the 193-member states voting in the General Assembly, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Georgia, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Morocco, Romania, South Africa, Sudan, and Vietnam were voted onto the 47-member Geneva-based rights body. …
Read more “Afghanistan, South Korea, Venezuela Lose Bids for UN Rights Body”
NATO will push ahead with long-planned nuclear exercises next week despite rising tensions over the war in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin’s insistence that he is not bluffing about using all available means to defend Russian territory, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday. The exercise, dubbed “Steadfast Noon,” is held annually and usually runs for …
Read more “NATO to Hold Nuclear Exercise Despite Russian Warnings”