Slovenians in a referendum on Sunday backed a bill to reduce political influence and restore editorial independence to the EU country’s public television. Media and civil organizations have slammed what they see as biased coverage by RTV Slovenija — the country’s main public broadcaster with more than 2,000 employees. Its current management was appointed by …
The Biden administration is seeking $37 billion in aid for Ukraine in the coming weeks before the new Congress convenes in January. Michelle Quinn reports. …
Italian rescue workers have found at least seven bodies, including that of a newborn child, after a landslide on the island of Ischia, officials said Sunday. The island received 126 millimeters (nearly 5 inches) of rain in six hours, triggering a massive landslide early Saturday, officials said. Authorities said at least five others were injured …
Read more “Landslide in Italy Kills at Least 7, Including Newborn “
The head of Ukraine’s state-run nuclear energy firm said on Sunday there were signs that Russian forces might be preparing to leave the vast Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant which they seized in March soon after their invasion. Such a move would be a major battlefield change in the partially occupied southeastern Zaporizhzhia region where the …
Read more “Ukraine Nuclear Boss Says He Sees Signs Russia May Leave Occupied Plant”
Musician Jon Batiste is on tap to perform at President Joe Biden’s first White House state dinner on Thursday that will highlight long-standing ties between the United States and France and honor President Emmanuel Macron. “An artist who transcends generations, Jon Batiste’s music inspires and brings people together,” said Vanessa Valdivia, a spokesperson for first …
Read more “Jon Batiste to Sing for Macron at Biden’s First State Dinner”
According to military monitors, Belarus’ authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, is allowing up to 10,000 newly mobilized Russian troops to train in his country and sending Moscow at least 211 pieces of heavy military equipment, including trucks and tanks. Critics, such as exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, talk to VOA about how Lukashenko is trying to …
Read more “Newly Mobilized Russian Troops Training in Belarus Before Ukraine Deployment”
Italian rescue workers are continuing their search for victims of Saturday’s landslide on the island of Ischial. Authorities say at least two people have died in the mud-induced landslide in the town of Casamicciola that also injured four, and displaced 167. There was confusion earlier over the death toll, when Vice Premier Matteo Salvini said …
The play finishes. The actors take their bows. Then they let loose with wartime patriotic zeal. “Glory to Ukraine!” they shout. “Glory to the heroes!” the audience yells back, leaping to its feet. The actors aren’t done. More yells follow, X-rated ones, cursing all things Russian and vowing that Ukraine will survive. More cheers, more …
Early season merrymakers sipping mulled wine and shopping for holiday decorations packed the Verona Christmas market for its inaugural weekend. But beyond the wooden market stalls, the Italian city still has not decked out its granite-clad pedestrian streets with twinkling holiday lights as officials debate how bright to make the season during an energy crisis. …
Read more “Sober Or Bright? Europe Faces Holidays During Energy Crunch”
Both Russia and Ukraine have committed “significant forces” to the area around the Ukrainian towns of Pavlivka and Vuhledar in south-central Donetsk Oblast, according to the British Defense Ministry. The agency said in an intelligence update posted on Twitter Sunday that the area “has been the scene of intense combat over the last two weeks, …
Read more “Russia Lacks ‘Quality Forces’ Needed to Take Area from Ukraine, UK Says”
Black Friday deals have prompted a backlash in Belgium where some businesses rejected promotions and chose to close for the day or even offered to repair used clothes for free. At the Xandres clothing store, in the Flemish city of Ghent, a sign on the window read “Green Friday – closed on November 25 – …
Italian officials say eight people on the island of Ischia have died in a landslide caused by heavy rains. A wave of mud in Casamicciola Terme, one of the island’s six towns, engulfed at least one house and swept several cars out to sea. Two occupants of one of the cars were reported to have …
“Russia is likely removing the nuclear warheads from ageing nuclear cruise missiles and firing the unarmed munitions at Ukraine,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said Saturday in an intelligence update posted on Twitter about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Open source imagery shows wreckage of an apparently shot-down AS-15 KENT air launched cruise missile (ALCM), designed in the …
Read more “UK: Russia Likely Removing Nukes to Fire Aging, Unarmed Munitions at Ukraine”
The outlook for the global economy headed into 2023 has soured, according to a number of recent analyses, as the ongoing war in Ukraine continues to strain trade, particularly in Europe, and as markets await a fuller reopening of the Chinese economy following months of disruptive COVID-19 lockdowns. In the United States, signs of a …
Read more “World Economic Outlook for 2023 Increasingly Gloomy”
Ukrainian authorities have worked to restore power throughout the country, making some progress to repair the electric grid following Russian missile attacks but are still unable to immediately help millions of Ukrainians in the dark. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Friday that workers had managed to halve the number of people whose …
Read more “Ukraine Gradually Restores Power After Russian Strikes”
European interior ministers welcomed Friday an EU plan to better coordinate the handling of migrant arrivals, after a furious argument over a refugee rescue boat erupted between Italy and France. France has accused Italy of failing to respect the law of the sea by turning away the vessel operated by a non-governmental organization earlier this …
Read more “EU Ministers Endorse New Migrant Plan After France-Italy Spat”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday criticized what he said were skewed media portrayals of Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine as he met with mothers of Russian soldiers fighting there. “Life is more difficult and diverse than what is shown on TV screens or even on the internet. There are many fakes, cheating, lies there,” …
Read more “Putin Decries Media ‘Lies’ at Meeting with Soldiers’ Mothers “
Older and more heavily polluting vehicles will have to pay to enter the entire metropolitan area of London starting next August, the British capital’s mayor said Friday. Sadiq Khan said the ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) would be expanded beyond its current confines starting August 29 to encompass the entire 9 million people of greater London. …
Read more “London to Expand Vehicle Pollution Zone to Cover 9 Million People”
A U.S. official in Syria on Friday called for an “immediate de-escalation” following days of deadly airstrikes and shelling along the Syria-Turkey border, saying the actions destabilize the region and undermine the fight against the Islamic State group. Turkey this week launched a wave of airstrikes on suspected Kurdish rebels hiding in neighboring Syria and …
Read more “US Official Urges ‘De-escalation’ as Turkey Strikes Syria”
Zambian authorities said they will travel next week to Russia to retrieve the body of a 23-year-old Zambian who died while fighting for the Russian military in Ukraine. His family and the Zambian government are still waiting for answers from Moscow on how he was recruited into the army while serving a nine-year prison sentence in …
Read more “Zambian Officials Head to Russia to Bring Home
Student Killed Fighting in Ukraine”
The wife of jailed Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski, one of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winners, will accept the award on his behalf at the upcoming ceremony, organizers said Friday. Bialiatski, 60, won the prestigious prize in October together with Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, which is documenting “Russian war …
Read more “Wife of Jailed Belarusian Nobel Winner to Accept His Award”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday in his nightly address, nine months to the day into Russia’s full-scale invasion, that the enemy had failed to find a way to “break us, and will not find one,” adding the Ukrainian military was holding “key lines” in all directions. He said that Ukrainian advances were planned in …
Read more “At 9-Month Mark of Invasion, Zelenskyy Says Russia Won’t ‘Break Us’”
Lawmakers in France’s lower house of parliament on Thursday adopted a bill to enshrine abortion rights in the country’s constitution, the first step in a lengthy and uncertain legislative battle prompted by the rollback of abortion rights in the United States. The vote was 337-32 in the 557-member National Assembly. To be added into the …
Read more “France Takes First Step to Add Abortion Right to Constitution”
Nurses across most of Britain will next month hold the first strikes in their union’s 106-year history, joining a host of other U.K. workers taking industrial action over pay. Staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — but not Scotland — will walk out on Dec. 15 and 20, after the Royal College of Nursing …
Read more “UK Nurses Join Other Striking Staff in 2 December Walkouts”