The British government Sunday denied a report that it is seeking a “Swiss-style” relationship with the European Union that would remove many of the economic barriers erected by Brexit — even as it tries to improve ties with the bloc after years of acrimony. Health Secretary Steve Barclay told Sky News “I don’t recognize” the …
Read more “As British Voters Cool on Brexit, UK Softens Tone Toward EU”
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it has launched airstrikes over the northern regions of Syria and Iraq where the ministry is targeting Kurdish groups that it believes are responsible for an attack last week in Istanbul. The ministry said the strikes hit the bases of the Kurdistan Wokers’ Party, or PKK, and the Syrian …
Read more “ Turkey Launches Air Strikes on PPK, YPG After Istambul Bombing “
Powerful explosions shook the area around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Saturday evening and again Sunday morning, the U.N. said, abruptly ending a period of relative calm at the facility. The International Atomic Energy Agency team at Zaporizhzhia said there was damage to some buildings, systems and equipment at the plant, but none threatened nuclear …
Read more “Explosions Shake Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant “
Britain’s Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update Sunday that Russia’s recent withdrawal from Kherson “was conducted in relatively good order” and its success “is likely partially due to a more effective, single operational command under General Sergei Surovikin.” The ministry said Russian vehicle losses were likely in the tens rather than the hundreds, …
Read more “UK: Russian General Likely Responsible for Good Withdrawal From Ukraine’s Kherson”
Bulgarian prosecutors have charged five people for supporting terrorist acts in connection with an explosion in central Istanbul that killed six people on Nov. 13, chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev said Saturday. Bulgarian special police forces detained three men of Moldovan origin and a man and woman of Syrian Kurdish descent this week following investigations and …
Read more “Bulgaria Charges 5 People in Connection with Istanbul Blast”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Saturday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine offers a preview of a world where nuclear-armed countries could threaten other nations and said Beijing, like Moscow, seeks a world where “might makes right.” Austin made the remarks at the annual Halifax International Security Forum, which attracts defense and security officials from …
Read more “China, Russia Seek ‘Might Makes Right’ World, Says US Official”
Russia is trying to deplete Ukraine’s air defenses and achieve dominance over Ukrainian skies, the Pentagon’s top policy adviser has warned. Russia has been pummeling Ukraine with missile strikes throughout the past week, the heaviest wave since Moscow invaded nine months ago. “They’re really trying to overwhelm and exhaust Ukrainian air defense systems,” Colin Kahl, …
Read more “Pentagon: Russia Aiming for Air Dominance Over Ukraine”
Pope Francis returned to his father’s birthplace in northern Italy Saturday for the first time since ascending the papacy to celebrate the 90th birthday of a second cousin who long knew him as simply “Giorgio.” The two-day visit to Francis’ ancestral homeland to renew family ties touched on keystones of his papacy, including the importance …
Read more “Pope Visits His Father’s Italian Hometown for Birthday Party”
The Polish town of Przewodow, just five kilometers from the Ukrainian border, drew the world’s attention this week when an errant missile strike raised fears that NATO could be drawn into a war with Russia. Western analysts now believe the blast that killed two Polish men was from a Ukrainian missile fired in self-defense against a …
Read more “In Polish Town Hit by Missile, Relief Is Mixed With Anger at Russia”
An explosion at a five-story apartment building in eastern Russia has killed at least nine people, four of them children, officials said Saturday. The blast on the Russian Pacific island of Sakhalin was apparently caused by a gas cylinder hooked up to a cooking stove, according to Russian news agencies. Emergency workers are continuing to …
In its intelligence update Saturday, Britain’s defense ministry said that on Wednesday, Russia held its “largest ever debt issuance in a single day.” The issuance, the ministry said, “is a key mechanism to sustain defense spending, which has increased significantly since the invasion of Ukraine.” The issuance raised $13.6 billion, according to the update posted …
Read more “Russia Raises $13 Billion for 2023 Defense Spending”
U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been taken to the Russian region of Mordovia, notorious since Soviet times for its penal colonies, to serve a nine-year sentence on drugs charges. Here are excerpts from a Reuters interview with Olga Romanova, a representative of the prison rights group Russia Behind Bars, on the conditions Griner can …
Read more “Russian Prison Activist Paints Picture of Life Facing Griner”
The founder of one of Russia’s leading independent news websites has been recognized for her “extraordinary and sustained” efforts to protect press freedom. Galina Timchenko, co-founder of independent media outlet Meduza, was presented with the Gwen Ifill award at an event in New York City on Thursday. The award is presented by the board of …
Read more “Russia’s Independent Journalists on ‘Brink of Survival’, Awardee Says”
Sweden is committed to NATO’s globe-spanning 360-degree approach to confronting both today’s and tomorrow’s challenges, and that includes both Russia and China, the top Swedish military official told an audience in Washington this week. “As of today, we see no alarming Russian movements along our borders,” Micael Byden, the supreme commander of Swedish armed forces, …
Read more “Swedish Military Chief Pledges Support for NATO Efforts”
The U.N. top trade official said Friday a shipment of Russian fertilizer is scheduled to leave a Norwegian port Monday bound for Malawi, helping to ease a backlog of 300,000 tons of the agricultural products currently in European ports. Speaking at a news briefing in Geneva, U.N. Conference on Trade and Development Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan …
Read more “UN: Shipment of Russian Fertilizer Bound for Malawi”
Russian forces continue to barrage Ukraine in multiple parts of the country — from the capital city Kyiv in the north to Odesa in the south — and target the country’s energy facilities. Amid freezing temperatures, about 10 million people have been left without power and heat, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday in his …
Russia said on Friday it hoped to clinch a prisoner swap with the United States to return convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death,” in an exchange that would likely include U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner. Amid the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two, Russia and the United …
Read more “Russia Warms to Prisoner Swap for WNBA’s Griner, Arms Trader Bout”
Ukrainian officials reported fresh missile strikes Thursday in multiple parts of the country, with targets including gas facilities. The focus of the strikes, by drones as well as missiles, continues to be energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian military said in statement, adding that the attacks stretched from Kyiv to Odesa in the south. Ukraine says it …
Read more “Millions Without Power After Russian Airstrikes, Zelenskyy Says”
Under rainy skies on Thursday afternoon, Ukrainian-controlled Kherson’s central square was bustling with humanitarian aid distribution and displays of patriotic celebration tinged with uncertainty about the future. Last week, Russia pulled its troops out of a pocket on the west bank of the Dnipro River in Ukraine, which included Kherson, the only regional capital it …
Read more “In Newly Liberated Kherson, Ukrainians Celebrate but Worry About What’s Next”
A court in the Netherlands convicted three men of mass murder Thursday for their roles in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which crashed in eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing 298. Henry Ridgwell reports. …
Strikes have been held in France and Spain for higher wages and better working conditions, while discontent in Belgium and Greece over soaring energy prices has drawn thousands into the streets. And that’s only over the past week. As fallout from the war in Ukraine hits European energy supplies, jobs and pocketbooks, public discontent grows. …
Read more “As Ukraine War Hits Pocketbooks, European Discontent Grows”
Dutch judges on Thursday convicted three men of murder for their role in the 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine, and sentenced them to life in prison. A fourth man was acquitted. MH17 was a passenger flight that was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 …
Read more “Dutch Court Sentences 3 to Life in Prison for 2014 Downing of MH17”
As the Kremlin escalates its war on Ukraine and tightens its clampdown on any domestic opposition to the invasion, the world of Russian arts and culture, historically opposed to violence and war, descends into pessimism. Marcus Harton narrates this report from VOA’s Moscow bureau. …
When Russia launched its full invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the country’s journalists found themselves on the front lines. The dedication of Ukrainian journalists to keep reporting under such trying times is being recognized Thursday, when Sevgil Musaieva, editor-in-chief of Ukrainska Pravda, is honored with an International Press Freedom Award. Known for its investigative …
Read more “Lack of News a Big Challenge in Occupied Cities, Ukrainian Journalist Says”