Month: January 2024

CHISINAU, moldova — The chief negotiator for Moldova’s Russian-backed separatist Transniestria region said Friday that his team would no longer attend talks on the country’s future in areas under government control because he feared arrest.  Transniestria split from Moldova before the 1991 collapse of Soviet rule and fought a brief war against the newly independent country, …

Read more “Moldova Separatist Negotiator, Fearing Arrest, Won’t Meet in Government-Held Areas”

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday formally informed Congress of its intention to proceed with the $23 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, taking a major step toward completing a long-delayed process that tested ties with Ankara. The State Department sent the notification to advance the sale of 40 Lockheed Martin …

Read more “US Advances Fighter Jet Sale to Turkey, Greece”

berlin — Analysts say new draft regulations announced by the European Union this week are likely to hit Chinese exports when approved and further strain relations between Beijing and Brussels. The regulations, unveiled Wednesday, are intended to protect the bloc’s economy and keep sensitive technology from falling into the hands of geopolitical rivals. A statement accompanying …

Read more “Analysts See New EU Rules Hurting China Exports, Further Straining Ties “

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NATO has begun its biggest military exercises since the Cold War — with tens of thousands of troops set to move across Europe in the coming months in a show of force amid the threat from Russia. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …

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London — NATO began its biggest military exercises since the Cold War this week, with tens of thousands of troops set to move across Europe in a show of force meant as a warning to Russia, following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Operation Steadfast Defender 24 will see some 90,000 NATO military personnel take part in …

Read more “90,000 NATO Troops Participate in Biggest Exercise Since Cold War”

Washington — Sweden, which dropped its position of military nonalignment and sought NATO membership in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, is now one vote away from joining the alliance as its 32nd member. On Wednesday, Henrik Landerholm, Sweden’s national security adviser, met with VOA in Washington to discuss his country’s imminent membership and …

Read more “Swedish National Security Adviser Reflects on Challenges Facing Europe”

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Beijing — China confirmed on Friday that it had sentenced a British national in 2022 to five years in jail for spying. It was its first official comment of a case that had gone unreported until this week. A Beijing court in 2022 “sentenced in the first instance the British defendant … to five years in …

Read more “China Says Brit Who Disappeared There in 2018 Was Sentenced as Spy in 2022”

LONDON — An American scientist has sparked a trans-Atlantic tempest in a teapot by offering Britain advice on its favorite hot beverage. Bryn Mawr College chemistry professor Michelle Francl says one of the keys to a perfect cup of tea is a pinch of salt. The tip is included in Francl’s book Steeped: The Chemistry of …

Read more “US Scientist Offers Britain Advice on Making Tea; Brits Aren’t Having It”

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Israel is set to hear Friday whether the United Nations’ top court will order it to end its military offensive in Gaza in a provisional ruling while the panel hears a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide. The International Court of Justice’s president, Joan E. Donoghue, will read out …

Read more “Top UN Court Set to Issue Preliminary Ruling in Genocide Case Against Israel”

SYDNEY — Thousands of Australians protested the anniversary of British colonization of their country with large crowds Friday urging for Australia Day to be moved and for a day of mourning on the holiday some call “Invasion Day.” The holiday marks the arrival of 11 British ships carrying convicts at Port Jackson in present-day Sydney on …

Read more “Australians Protest British Colonization on National Holiday Some Call ‘Invasion Day’”

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washington — Alsu Kurmasheva, an American journalist jailed in Russia on charges that press freedom groups say are politically motivated and baseless, marked 100 days in detention on Thursday, as her employer and family renewed calls for her immediate release. “To be honest, it’s all becoming slowly but surely less bearable,” Kurmasheva wrote in a January …

Read more “American RFE/RL Journalist Marks 100 Days Jailed in Russia”

paris — Youssouf Doucoure handed out flyers against tough French migration legislation under slate grey skies, as thousands of people poured into Paris’ elegant Trocadero Square on January 21 for a last-shot protest against the newly passed bill. “I would say it’s more politicians,” said 25-year-old Doucoure, who hails from Mali, of an uptick of anti-migrant …

Read more “In France and Elsewhere in Europe, Far Right Feeds on Anti-Migrant Sentiments”

The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are fueling Turkey’s interest in a new China-Europe trade route known as the Middle Corridor. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, Turkey’s support for the corridor is growing as Ankara makes a big turnaround in its previously frosty relations with Beijing. Dorian Jones reports. …

Baku, Azerbaijan — Efforts to free investigative journalist Hafiz Babali from prison in Azerbaijan failed last week when the Baku Court of Appeal denied a motion to release him to house arrest.   Babali, an editor at the independent Turan News Agency, was detained on December 13 on charges of “smuggling foreign currency” and ordered to …

Read more “Azeri Journalists Believe Media Arrests Are Retaliatory”

LONDON/WASHINGTON — Britain and the United States on Thursday said they had sanctioned four senior Houthi officials for their roles in supporting or directing attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthi attacks have disrupted global shipping and stoked fears of global inflation. They have also deepened concern that fallout from the Israel-Hamas war …

Read more “UK and US Sanction Senior Houthis Over Red Sea Shipping Attacks”

Tallinn, Estonia — A Russian court on Thursday sentenced a woman to 27 years in prison for a cafe blast that killed a prominent pro-war blogger after he was given a bust of himself that later exploded. In a separate proceeding, a Moscow court convicted a former leader of separatist rebels in Ukraine who called President …

Read more “Russian Court Jails Woman Convicted of Blast That Killed Pro-War Blogger”

Ukraine has resorted to a variety of methods to fend off invading Russian forces. One of the latest ones involves training dogs to accompany Ukrainian soldiers on their missions. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. VOA footage and video editing by Pavel Suhodolskiy. …

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal has asked Russia to send back hundreds of Nepali nationals who were recruited to fight against Ukraine and repatriate the bodies of those who died in the conflict, Nepal’s top diplomat said Thursday.  The Russian army is estimated to have recruited more than 200 Nepali nationals to fight in Ukraine and at …

Read more “Nepal Asks Russia to Return Nepalis Fighting in Ukraine “

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