Year: 2022

U.S. prosecutors charged four Belarusian government officials Thursday with aircraft piracy for allegedly using a bomb threat ruse to divert a Ryanair flight last year in order to arrest an opposition journalist. The charges, announced by federal prosecutors in New York, recounted how a regularly scheduled passenger plane traveling between Athens, Greece, and Vilnius, Lithuania, …

Read more “US Charges 4 Belarus Officials With Air Piracy in Reporter’s Arrest”

U.S. President Joe Biden has sought to clear up any misunderstanding surrounding remarks made Wednesday, saying he has made very clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that any movement of Russian troops across Ukraine’s border will be treated as an invasion and will trigger severe consequences. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …

Over 1.2 million people are dying every year from bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics, according to a new study. That makes multi-resistant bacteria far deadlier than HIV/AIDS or malaria. Henry Ridgwell reports. …

French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for the European Union to pursue its own talks with the Kremlin is raising fears of a split developing in the Western response to the threat of a Russian invasion in Ukraine. Macron has struggled in the past to convince his EU partners of the need for Europe to take …

Read more “Macron’s Call for EU Talks With Kremlin Unnerves European Allies”

Now-retired Pope Benedict XVI neglected to act against clerics who allegedly committed four acts of sexual abuse in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising while he was serving as archbishop between 1977 and 1982, according to a report released Thursday. The Munich law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl produced the report after the archdiocese asked it …

Read more “Report: Now-Retired Pope Benedict Failed to Act in Child Sex Abuse Cases in Germany”

The U.S. government says it is sanctioning four Ukrainians “engaged in Russian government-directed influence activities to destabilize Ukraine.” “The individuals we are targeting, two of whom are members of Ukraine’s parliament, act at the direction of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and support Russia’s destabilizing and dangerous influence operations, which undermine not just Ukraine but …

Read more “US Sanctions 4 Ukrainians Accused of Aiding Russia”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed Thursday that the United States and its allies would inflict “swift and massive” costs on Russia if it invades Ukraine but said Russian President Vladimir Putin can still opt for a diplomatic solution to rising tensions in eastern Europe. “We’re at a decisive juncture,” Blinken said in Berlin …

Read more “Blinken Vows ‘Swift and Massive’ Response Should Russia Invade Ukraine”

Online companies would have to ramp up efforts to keep harmful content off their platforms and take other steps to protect users under rules that European Union lawmakers are set to vote on Thursday. The 27-nation bloc has gained a reputation as a trendsetter in the growing global push to rein in big tech companies …

Read more “Explainer: How Sweeping EU Rules Would Curb Tech Companies”

President Joe Biden is not planning to answer a further Russian invasion of Ukraine by sending combat troops. But he could pursue a range of less dramatic yet still risky military options, including supporting a post-invasion Ukrainian resistance. The rationale for not directly joining a Russia-Ukraine war is simple. The United States has no treaty …

Read more “Explainer: What Are US Military Options to Help Ukraine?”

British police on Thursday arrested two men as part of an investigation into a hostage taking at a synagogue in Texas. “Two men have been arrested this morning in Birmingham and Manchester,” counter terrorism police said. The daylong siege at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, about 16 miles northeast of Fort Worth, Texas, …

Read more “British Police Arrest 2 in Texas Synagogue Attack Investigation”

President Joe Biden ends his first year in office as tensions with Russia hit a fever pitch. He warned his Russian counterpart to choose a diplomatic resolution and to not invade neighboring Ukraine — a message his secretary of state also is pushing in Kyiv this week. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from …

Read more “Biden Draws Lines With Russian Leader Over Ukraine Moves”

Frustrations are growing in and around Mali, where regional and international efforts to speed up the interim government’s transition to democratic elections appear to be at a dead end. Still, key players from Europe and the United States are refusing to give up, warning what is at stake goes much beyond Mali itself. More from …

Read more “Europe, US Aim to Ensure Mali Doesn’t Become First of Many Dominoes”

On a visit to Kyiv, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reassured the people of Ukraine that the United States stands with them in the face of a potentially imminent Russian invasion. After meeting with Ukraine’s foreign minister Wednesday, Blinken spoke with VOA in Kyiv about the U.S. diplomatic effort to calm the situation. VOA’s …

Read more “Blinken Reassures Ukrainians Amid Threat of Russian Invasion”

On a visit to Kyiv, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reassured the people of Ukraine that the United States stands with them in the face of a potentially imminent Russian invasion. After meeting with Ukraine’s foreign minister Wednesday, Blinken spoke with VOA in Kyiv about the U.S. diplomatic effort to calm the situation. VOA’s Senior …

Read more “Blinken Reassures Ukrainians Amid Russian Invasion Threat”

A 19-year-old British-Belgian pilot landed her plane on Wednesday at an airstrip near Frankfurt, Germany, one stop away from becoming the youngest woman to fly around the world solo. Zara Rutherford told reporters she wanted to “sleep for a week” after she climbed out of the single-seat Shark ultralight aircraft at Egelsbach airfield a few …

Read more “Teen Pilot One Stop From Finishing Round-the-World Solo Flight”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke in Kyiv Wednesday with VOA’s Eastern Europe bureau chief Myroslava Gongadze about his talks with Ukrainian leaders and the prospects for heading off a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. The following is a transcript of that interview. It has been edited for clarity.  Watch the video here.   …

Read more “Blinken to VOA: Russia Has a Clear Choice to Make”

Britain is ending COVID-19 restrictions, including mask mandates, working from home and vaccine passports, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Wednesday. The measures had been introduced to slow the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant of the virus. “Many nations across Europe have endured further winter lockdowns … but this government took a different path,” …

Read more “Britain to Drop COVID-19 Restrictions”

French actor Gaspard Ulliel, known for appearing in Chanel perfume ads as well as film and television roles, died Wednesday after a skiing accident in the Alps, according to his agent’s office. He was 37. Ulliel portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in 2007’s “Hannibal Rising” and fashion mogul Yves Saint Laurent in the 2014 biopic …

Read more “French Actor Gaspard Ulliel, 37, Dies After Ski Accident”

Germany is under mounting pressure from European allies to drop its long-standing refusal to supply weapons to Ukraine to help the country to defend itself from a Russian attack. Britain flew short-range anti-tank missiles to Ukraine on Monday, avoiding German airspace. British Defense Minister Ben Wallace indicated to lawmakers that more military aid and extra …

Read more “NATO Countries Urged to Supply More Weapons to Ukraine”

VOA Eastern Europe Chief Myroslava Gongadze asked Sec. Blinken about the conflict along the Russia-Ukraine border and how the US may respond to a Russian incursion into Ukraine. They spoke in Kyiv, where Blinken was meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. …

Fire officials in Spain say six nursing home residents died and at least 17 were injured in a fire at a retirement home in a suburb of Valencia early Wednesday. The Valencia regional fire department said the fire started late Tuesday at a publicly-owned senior residence in the town of Moncada, about 12 kilometers north …

Read more “Six Dead, 17 Injured in Spain Nursing Home Fire”

Russia’s buildup of an estimated 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine, along with military exercises in Belarus, has raised concern that Russia could be planning an invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s positions include troops, tanks and artillery to Ukraine’s north, south and east. Until 1991, Ukraine was part of the Russia-led Soviet Union. Current tensions …

Read more “Ukraine: What We Know “

A group of Republican U.S. senators is due to speak to reporters Wednesday in Washington about U.S. concerns of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.  The group includes Republicans from the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees.  Three of those members — Senators Kevin Cramer, Roger Wicker and Rob Portman — were part of …

Read more “US Senators to Discuss Russia-Ukraine Tensions”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Kyiv for talks Wednesday with Ukrainian leaders as part of what he called a “diplomatic effort to de-escalate tensions surrounding unprovoked Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s borders.”  The stop in Kyiv includes meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, as well as visiting …

Read more “Blinken Visits Ukraine as He Urges Russia to De-escalate Border Tensions”