With the U.S. now joining Germany and Britain in promising to send battle tanks to Ukraine, what are the capabilities and differences among the three types of tanks that will join the fight? VOA’s Steve Redisch takes their measure. …
Russia launched new missile attacks on several locations in Ukraine on Thursday, killing 11 people and wounding 11 others, authorities reported. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the attacks hit 11 regions across the country. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia fired 55 missiles, with Ukraine shooting down most of them. Thirty-five buildings were damaged in the …
Around 80 German-made Leopard 2 tanks will be sent to Ukraine in the coming weeks, Berlin says, while Britain and the U.S. are also planning to send dozens of main battle tanks. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the decisions are being seen as a “pivotal” moment in the war. …
The United States recently announced that it would impose new sanctions on the Wagner Group and designate it as a transnational criminal organization. This came as new details emerged about Wagner Group recruitment efforts outside Russia. VOA’s Milena Durdic has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. …
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Thursday a series of sanctions targeting individuals associated with Russia’s paramilitary Wagner Group, including its leader and associated front companies, for waging war in Ukraine, including battlefield activities and the targeting of civilians. In a statement, Blinken said the sanctions will target five entities and one individual linked …
Read more “US to Sanction Russia’s Wagner Paramilitary Group”
After a recent military pullout, only about 400 French troops remain in Burkina Faso to help the government fight Islamist militants linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State. But now many in the country want Russia to help and the government has ordered all French troops to leave within the month. Reporter Kader Traore has …
Read more “Burkina Faso Protesters Call for Russians to Help Fight Islamist Militants”
France’s foreign ministry demanded on Thursday the immediate release of Bernard Phelan, a Franco-Irish citizen detained in Iran, whose health situation has worsened, with Paris saying he has been denied urgent medical care. Ties between France and Iran have deteriorated in recent months with Tehran detaining seven of its nationals in what Paris has said …
Read more “France Demands Release of Citizen in Iran as Health Worsens”
European Union migration ministers are meeting in Stockholm to review migration policies, especially on returning migrants with no right to asylum back to their home countries. The gathering is considered an informal meeting ahead of the meeting of all 27 EU heads of state February 10, where migration is expected to top the agenda. Speaking …
Read more “EU Migration Officials Review Migration Policies”
Russia launched a fresh wave of missile strikes on Ukraine in the morning Thursday, killing at least one person, hours after an overnight drone attack, while heavy fighting continues unabated in the east, where Moscow’s forces have been increasing pressure on Ukrainian defenders. The new missile attacks came after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking just hours …
Read more “Air Raid Alert in Ukraine as Zelenskyy Calls for Aircraft, Missiles”
South Korea, with a world-class arms industry, is facing mounting pressure to find a way to get needed arms and munitions to Ukraine without unduly angering Russia, which has hinted that it could resume military cooperation with North Korea. Experts interviewed by VOA say the most likely solution under consideration in Seoul is for the …
Read more “Experts: Arming Ukraine Via US Could Worsen South Korea’s Ties with Russia”
President Joe Biden announced the U.S. will send 31 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine just hours after Germany said it will send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. The moves are part of a united effort to help Kyiv defend itself against invading Russian forces. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …
France has received a request from junta-ruled Burkina Faso to withdraw its troops from the Sahel country and will do so within a month, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. “On Tuesday … we formally received notice from the Burkinabe government of the termination of the 2018 agreement on the status of French armed forces present …
Read more “France to Pull Troops From Burkina Faso Within a Month: Ministry”
Russia and Pakistan emphasized in bilateral talks Wednesday the need for “practical engagement” with Afghanistan’s Taliban but ruled out formal recognition of the Islamist rulers until they address international concerns over women’s rights and inclusive governance. The Russian presidential envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, led his delegation in the talks with Pakistani officials in Islamabad …
Read more “Russia, Pakistan Discuss ‘Practical Engagement’ With Afghan Taliban”
Iran imposed sanctions Wednesday on 34 individuals and entities from the European Union and Britain in reaction to similar measures they have taken over Tehran’s response to months-long protests. Tehran’s move comes two days after the EU and Britain placed another round of sanctions on the Islamic republic, which has been rocked by protests since …
Read more “Iran Responds to EU, UK Sanctions With Some of Its Own”
The U.K. said Wednesday it was reviewing how sanctioned individuals are permitted to use the country’s legal services, after reports the government helped the head of Russian mercenary group Wagner sue a British journalist. The finance ministry currently grants licenses allowing sanctioned people to circumvent restrictions so as to hire U.K. lawyers and pay their …
Read more “UK Reviews Rules After Row Over Wagner Lawsuit Against Journalist”
UNESCO on Wednesday added the historic center of Ukraine’s port city of Odesa, often described as “the pearl of the Black Sea,” to its World Heritage List, overcoming opposition from Russia. The 21 member states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s world heritage committee approved inscribing designated areas of the city with …
Read more “Ukraine’s Odesa Wins UNESCO Status Despite Russian Opposition”
The 2023 World Economic Situation and Prospects report has just been issued, and U.N. economists present a gloomy and uncertain outlook for the coming year, with the global economy projected to grow at a particularly sluggish rate. Multiple crises have converged to batter the world economy. The U.N. report cites a series of multiple and …
Read more “UN Economists Project Lowest Global Growth Rates in Decades”
The European Court of Human Rights said cases brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia over human rights violations in the two breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in Ukraine, and the shooting down of Flight MH-17, were admissible. The decision is procedural and does not rule on the merits of the cases, but …
Read more “European Rights Court Rules Dutch, Ukraine Cases Against Russia Are Admissible”
Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. “Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” Francis said during an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops …
Pleas by Ukrainian officials for more tanks, and more advanced tanks, to use in their fight against Russia have begun to resonate in Washington with the United States now preparing to send Kyiv dozens of its top-of-the-line battle tank. A U.S. official familiar with the deliberations told VOA on Tuesday that the White House is …
Read more “US-Made Tanks Likely Headed to Ukraine; Timing Uncertain”
Hundreds of people attended a memorial service in Lusaka on Tuesday for a Zambian student who died fighting for Russia in Ukraine as Tanzania confirmed the death of another student who was also recruited in a Russian jail. Family members broke down as they filed past the coffin of Lemekani Nyirenda at Lusaka Baptist Church, …
Read more “Hundreds Attend Funeral for Zambian Killed Fighting for Russia in Ukraine”
Several key U.S. lawmakers endorsed the next major step in American assistance to Ukraine on Tuesday, encouraging the White House to move forward with a plan to send M1 Abrams tanks to combat Russian aggression. “Seldom in the history of modern warfare has so much depended on so few tanks,” Republican Lindsey Graham told reporters …
Read more “Key US Lawmakers Endorse Sending Tanks to Ukraine”
Two hundred asylum-seeking children, including some younger than 16, are missing from temporary hotel accommodation in Britain, the government said on Tuesday, raising new questions about ministers’ handling of migrant arrivals. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government is under pressure on two fronts over immigration: from those who say he is failing to protect Britain’s borders …
The body of 33-year-old Tanzanian Nemes Tarimo, who was killed fighting for Russia in Ukraine, is returning home for burial. Tanzania says Tarimo agreed to fight for the Wagner Group in exchange for being released from a Russian prison, the second African known to have died that way. During a press briefing, Tanzanian Foreign Minister …
Read more “Body of Tanzanian Killed in Russia’s War on Ukraine Heads Home for Burial”