Year: 2022

The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution Friday that will protect humanitarian assistance from unintended negative impacts across all regimes targeted by U.N. sanctions. The United States and Ireland initiated the text and led the negotiations. Fourteen council members voted in favor and only one, India, abstained. “The United States decided to pursue this initiative …

Read more “UN Security Council Protects Humanitarian Aid from Sanctions”

On the eve of Human Rights Day, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Tuerk, launched a yearlong campaign to mark the adoption 75 years ago of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Tuerk said he hopes the campaign will renew people’s awareness and commitment to human rights and rekindle the vision that inspired …

Read more “UN: Growing Disregard for Human Rights Threatens Global Peace and Development”

Belgium’s Supreme Court has prohibited the implementation of a prisoner exchange treaty with Iran. Opponents of the exchange were concerned that the deal would facilitate a bomb-plot mastermind’s return to Iran. Assadollah Assadi, who was an Iranian diplomat, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, convicted of supplying explosives to bomb a meeting in Paris …

Read more “Belgian Court Halts Prisoner Exchange Treaty with Iran”

U.S. professional basketball star Brittney Griner has arrived in the southern U.S. state of Texas after a high-stakes prisoner swap that saw notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout returned to Moscow. Griner was flown to San Antonio and after reuniting with her family will have a medical checkup after her time in a Russian penal …

Read more “Brittney Griner Arrives in the US”

Russia has placed several Grad rocket launchers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear power utility. The weapons were placed “near power unit No. 6, right next to the territory of the station’s dry storage of spent nuclear fuel, where they had previously built some ‘protective structures’ in a secret regime, …

Read more “Russia Has Rocket Launcher at Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, Utility Says”

Britain, Italy and Japan are combining their resources to create a new generation of fighter jets. “We are announcing the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) – an ambitious endeavor to develop a next-generation fighter aircraft by 2035,” the three nations said in a joint statement. Other countries, including the United States, may also join the …

Read more “Britain, Italy, Japan Combine Forces to Build Fighter Jets”

From the Netherlands to Suriname, pride is swelling at the number of Dutch players in Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal who trace their roots to the South American former colony. On a pitch beneath the Amsterdam tower blocks where they grew up, two young friends of Surinamese origin practice free kicks and dream of wearing the …

Read more “‘Proud’ Surinamese Back Dutch World Cup Stars”

Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Rasmussen has joined a growing chorus of voices calling for the United States and its European allies to furnish Ukraine with more advanced weapons systems to help it combat a Russian missile onslaught on its energy and other infrastructure systems as winter sets in. “I don’t understand why we have imposed …

Read more “Former NATO Chief Joins Calls to Better Arm Ukraine”

As the Biden administration celebrates the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from Russian custody, it is under pressure to free other Americans held hostage abroad, including Paul Whelan, detained in Russia since 2018. White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara has the report. …

COVAX, the global program for distributing COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries, will soon be integrated into more routine vaccination programs, Gavi said Thursday. Gavi, the nonprofit vaccine alliance that provides an array of vaccines to developing countries, said its board agreed during a meeting in Geneva to phase out COVAX after 2023, stressing that the …

Read more “Gavi to Integrate COVID-19 Vaccines Into Core Vaccine Programs for Developing Nations”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed his Swedish and Finnish counterparts to the State Department on Thursday, with the U.S. in strong support of the two countries’ bid to join NATO in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine. But despite recent proclamations of NATO unity in standing up to Russia, NATO member Turkey is still …

Read more “Blinken Says He Is Confident Sweden and Finland Will Join NATO Soon   ”

German authorities said Thursday that further arrests are likely after a far-right plot to overthrow the government was thwarted. Prosecutors said they had identified over 50 suspects in the case. Three thousand police officers raided properties across Germany early Wednesday, arresting 25 people. Police in Austria and Italy also carried out several raids.   The suspects …

Read more “Germany Rocked by Far-Right Plot to Seize Power”

German authorities said Thursday more arrests are likely in the alleged far right plot to storm the German parliament and seize power. Police arrested 25 people in dawn raids across the country on Dec. 7, 2022. Henry Ridgwell reports. …

Viktor Bout, the former Russian military officer convicted of illegal arms trafficking in U.S. courts in 2012, and who was serving a 25-year prison sentence, has had his sentence commuted and is being repatriated as part of a prisoner exchange that freed United States basketball star Brittney Griner from prison in Russia. Bout, nicknamed the …

Read more “Viktor Bout, Arms Dealer in Prisoner Swap, Remembered as ‘Monster’”

The World Health Organization reports COVID-19 cases are continuing their downward spiral in Africa but warns the pandemic is not over and nations must remain vigilant. Following a recent four-week resurgence of COVID-19, cases and deaths once again are dropping in Africa. Since this month-long spike ended on November 20, the World Health Organization has …

Read more “WHO Urges Vigilance as COVID-19 Pandemic Wanes in Africa”

The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on prominent Turkish businessman Sitki Ayan and his network of companies, accusing him of acting as a facilitator for oil sales and money laundering on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. Ayan’s companies have established international sales contracts for Iranian oil, arranged shipments and helped launder the proceeds …

Read more “US Imposes Sanctions on Turkish Businessman, Citing Links to Iran’s Quds Force”

Brittney Griner, the American female basketball star who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug charges, was released Thursday in a prisoner swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has the report. …

Ukrainian American Yakov Gradinar makes prostheses.  So, after Russia’s war on Ukraine began to take its toll, he knew how he could help. Along with a team of specialists that includes American doctors and veterans, he has already assisted nearly two dozen people who lost limbs in the conflict. More are on their way. Elona …

Read more “Ukrainian American Helps Wounded Ukrainians Get Back on Their Feet”

Gunning the engine of his aging skiff, Oleksiy Kovbasyuk races away from Kherson toward an island in the Dnipro River, where stranded Ukrainians are desperate for help — or to escape. Russian troops retreated from the southern city of Kherson last month to the other side of the Dnipro, but their snipers and artillery are …

Read more “Snipers and Icy Water: Ukrainians Risk Dnipro River Crossings”

A Russian scheme to facilitate natural gas sales to China and other Asian markets through a “gas union” with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has met political resistance in the two Central Asian countries, at least partly because of unease over Russia’s war in Ukraine. On Wednesday, Uzbek Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamahmudov dashed cold water on the …

Read more “Russian Gas Swap Scheme Gets Cold Shoulder in Central Asia”

The U.S. government’s first-ever sale of offshore wind development rights off the coast of California drew $757.1 million in high bids, mainly from European companies seeking a foothold in the U.S. wind-power industry’s expansion to the Pacific Ocean.  The auction began on Tuesday and ended Wednesday, the offshore wind industry’s first chance to snag leases …

Read more “European Energy Firms Dominate Landmark California Offshore Wind Auction”

Scientists discovered the oldest known DNA and used it to reveal what life was like 2 million years ago in the northern tip of Greenland. Today, it’s a barren Arctic desert, but back then it was a lush landscape of trees and vegetation with an array of animals, even the now extinct mastodon. “The study …

Read more “Oldest Known DNA Reveals Life in Greenland 2 Million Years Ago”

Britain’s Conservative government on Wednesday approved the United Kingdom’s first new coal mine in three decades, a decision condemned by environmentalists as a leap backwards in the fight against climate change. Hours earlier, the government reversed a ban on building new onshore windfarms in Britain. Opponents called that announcement a cynical attempt to offset criticism …

Read more “UK Approves First New Coal Mine in Decades, Sparking Anger”

A court in the Russian capital on Wednesday rejected an appeal from a former journalist who was convicted of treason and given a 22-year prison sentence following what was widely seen as a politically motivated trial.  The appeals court upheld the September sentence handed to Ivan Safronov, who worked as a military affairs reporter for …

Read more “Russian Court Upholds Ex-Reporter’s 22-Year Treason Sentence”