Spanish power company Iberdrola is suing the holding company of business news site El Confidencial over coverage of an industrial espionage case, a move the site’s director says threatens its survival. The multinational energy firm, which is seeking $20 million in damages, said that for more than two years up to November 2021, El Confidencial …
Read more “Spanish Energy Company Sues Over Industrial Spying Coverage “
The International Criminal Court will next week hear an appeal by Ugandan former Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen against his conviction for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Ongwen, a former child soldier in the notorious rebel group led by the fugitive Joseph Kony in the early 2000s, was sentenced by the ICC in …
Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch. Ukraine defiant in face of Russian threat Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador in Geneva said Friday that her country will not bow to threats of military action from Russia and is …
World leaders met Friday in the French northwest coastal city of Brest for a three-day summit aimed at taking action to clean and protect the earth’s oceans. The One Ocean Summit is being hosted by France, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union Council, along with the United Nations. The goal of …
Read more “EU, UN Host Summit on Cleaning, Protecting the World’s Oceans”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Friday that Russia could attack Ukraine at “any time” and warned Americans to leave Ukraine immediately. Blinken issued the warning in Australia after meeting leaders of the Quad countries, the United States, Australia, Japan and India. Blinken cited “troubling signs” regarding Russia, including adding to the more than …
Read more “Blinken Warns that Russia Could Attack Ukraine at ‘Any Time’”
A Ukrainian skeleton athlete flashed a small sign that read ” No War in Ukraine ” to the cameras as he finished a run at the Beijing Olympics on Friday night. Vladyslav Heraskevych’s sign was printed on a blue-and-yellow piece of paper, matching the colors of his country’s flag. He did not display the message …
Read more “Olympian Displays Sign Calling for ‘No War in Ukraine’”
President Joe Biden is urging US citizens to leave Ukraine immediately as tensions with Russia over its military buildup on the border continue to intensify. The US Embassy in Kyiv had already been urging citizens to consider leaving. Some American expats heeded the advice, others did not. Oksana Lihostova spoke to some Americans in Kyiv …
Read more “How US Expats in Kyiv Feel About Russia’s Possible War With Ukraine”
U.S. President Joe Biden cautioned American citizens about staying in Ukraine on Thursday, urging them to leave the country immediately and warning of a potential major conflict with Russia should a clash erupts between U.S. and Russian troops. Speaking in a televised interview on the U.S.-based television network NBC News, Biden said “American citizens should …
As Russia builds up forces along Ukraine’s borders and Chinese officials seek to punish Lithuania for opening a door to Taiwan, the heads of the Lithuanian parliament’s defense and foreign affairs committees called on their allies in Washington for support. Their message was clear: Lithuania is holding the line against two of America’s most powerful …
Read more “Lithuania Looks to US for Help Against China, Russia”
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A ranking officer in one of North Korea’s elite military cyberwarfare units is being held in an undisclosed location in far eastern Russia after Moscow’s agents thwarted his attempt to defect, according to sources familiar with the matter and documents obtained by VOA’s Korean Service. Major Choe Kum Chol, a top information technology (IT) specialist …
Read more “North Korean Cyberwarfare Officer Arrested in Vladivostok While Seeking Asylum”
Visiting NATO headquarters Thursday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that Europe is facing its biggest security crisis in decades and pledged more military deployments in eastern Europe, in response to Russia’s troop buildup on the border with Ukraine. “The stakes are very high, and this is a very dangerous moment. And at stake are …
Read more “As Support for NATO Grows, Has Putin Miscalculated Over Ukraine?”
The commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service in London, Cressida Dick, announced her resignation Thursday following multiple accusations of misogyny, racism and sexism in the capital force’s ranks. Mayor Sadiq Khan said Thursday that he was dissatisfied with Dick’s response when he told her last week that the force needed to change to “root …
Read more “Commissioner of London Police Resigns After Multiple Scandals”
Russia opened 10 days of massive military drills in Belarus on Thursday and docked six of its ships at a strategic Black Sea port, drawing a sharp rebuke from Ukrainian officials who characterized Moscow’s actions as further escalating tensions in the region. The Russian maneuvers in Belarus involved thousands of troops and sophisticated weapons systems …
Read more “Russia Starts Military Drills in Belarus, Docks Ships at Crimean Port”
French police warned Thursday they would prevent so-called “Freedom Convoys” from blockading Paris, as protesters against COVID-19 rules began to drive toward the capital. Inspired by truckers paralyzing the Canadian capital, truckers and other motorists from across France are answering a call to converge on Paris on Friday. The movement has raised fears of a …
Read more “France to Truckers: We Won’t Tolerate Canada-style ‘Freedom Convoys’ “
French researcher Luc Montagnier, who won a Nobel Prize in 2008 for discovering HIV and more recently spread false claims about the coronavirus, has died at age 89, local government officials in France said. Montagnier died Tuesday at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a western suburb of the capital, the area’s city hall …
Read more “French Discoverer of HIV, Luc Montagnier, Dies at 89”
Visiting NATO headquarters Thursday, Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that Europe is facing its biggest security crisis in decades – and pledged more military deployments in eastern Europe in response to Russia’s troop build-up on the border with Ukraine. Henry Ridgwell reports. …
A senior Ukrainian official says her country will not bow to threats of military action from Russia and is prepared to fight to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva says she does not believe Russia intends to invade her country. Rather, Yevheniia Filipenko says Russia’s main objective …
Read more “Ukraine Remains Defiant in Face of Russian Invasion Threat”
Pentagon reporters have asked the Biden administration to grant them access to the approximately 3,000 U.S. troops being deployed to Eastern Europe and Germany in response to rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The Pentagon Press Association, which represents about 100 journalists, including two at Voice of America, wrote a letter Wednesday to Defense Secretary …
Read more “Pentagon Reporters Request Access to Troops in East Europe”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Thursday announced a more than $172 billion investment plan for Africa, as part of the European Union’s Global Gateway infrastructure initiative. Von der Leyen made the announcement at a news conference in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, as she spoke to reporters alongside President Macky Sall. Von der Leyen is …
Read more “EU Chief Announces $172 Million Investment for Africa “
Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian superstar who was expected to deliver her nation its third straight Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating, practiced as usual on Thursday, hours after reports surfaced that she had tested positive for a banned substance. Valieva tested positive for the heart medication before the Beijing Games, the Russian newspaper …
Read more “Russian Star Practices Despite Report of Positive Drug Test “