Month: March 2024

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tel aviv, israel — China conducted joint military drills this week with Russia and Iran in the Gulf of Oman, a critical water conduit near the entry to the Persian Gulf. The five-day exercise, “Maritime Security Belt 2024,” involved both naval and aviation forces, with the primary objective of enhancing the security of maritime economic activities, …

Read more “China-Russia-Iran Maritime Drills Send Signal to West”

united nations — Ukraine, joined Friday by more than 55 countries at the United Nations, condemned Russia’s attempts to organize elections on occupied Ukrainian land, saying they were not valid. “We condemn in the strongest terms the Russian Federation’s illegitimate attempts to organize Russian presidential elections in temporarily occupied areas within the internationally recognized territory of …

Read more “At UN, Ukraine Protests Russian Presidential Elections on Its Territory”

BERLIN — Ukraine’s backers will use windfall profits on frozen Russian assets to finance arms purchases for Kyiv, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said following a meeting with his French and Polish counterparts aimed at showing unity after weeks of friction.  At a joint news conference in Berlin, Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister …

Read more “Europe to Use Frozen Russian Profits to Arm Ukraine, Scholz Says”

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s executive arm Friday proposed sacrificing even more climate and environmental measures in the bloc’s latest set of concessions to farmers apparently bent on continuing disruptive tractor protests until the June EU elections. Angering environmentalists across the 27 nations, the Commission proposed to further loosen rules imposed on agriculture that they said, …

Read more “EU Plans More Environmental Concessions to Farmers”

GENEVA — U.N. investigators have accused Russian authorities of disregarding basic human rights principles and causing untold suffering to Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians by subjecting them to appalling treatment. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine submitted its latest report to the U.N. Human Rights Council this week. The investigators presented a blistering …

Read more “UN Investigators Accuse Russia of ‘Horrific Treatment’ of Ukrainian POWs, Civilians”

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White House — U.S. President Joe Biden is hosting Taoiseach of Ireland Leo Varadkar on Friday for the annual St. Patrick’s Day reception at the White House, amid calls to boycott the event by many in Ireland who are outraged by staunch U.S. support of Israel in its war against Hamas. Speaking earlier this week in …

Read more “Irish Anger Over Gaza Overshadows White House St. Patrick Celebration”

Munich — In a nondescript building in southwestern Munich, Uyghur children gather every Saturday to do something that is banned in China: learn their native language. On a recent morning, the children in the youngest course giggled as their instructor made animal noises to teach them the words for cat and goat. In more advanced classes, Uyghur …

Read more “Far From Xinjiang, Uyghurs Keep Their Culture Alive”

Once a successful lawyer, Olha Bihar is now a military commander in Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces. Bihar – who goes by the call sign Witch – oversees a mortar battery. Anna Kosstutschenko has her story. …

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Russia has rebranded its Wagner paramilitary group as an “expeditionary corps” now controlled by Moscow’s military intelligence arm, and the force is offering a “regime survival package” to autocratic regimes in Africa, Britain’s Royal United Services Institute says. Henry Ridgwell reports. …

Washington — The husband and two daughters of an American journalist jailed in Russia are in Washington this week to call on the U.S. government to do more to help secure the reporter’s release.  Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian national, has been jailed in Russia since October 2023 on charges of failing to register as a …

Read more “Husband of American Journalist Jailed in Russia Brings Campaign to Washington”

Turkey’s defense industry claims to have entered the exclusive club of stealth jet manufacturers with last month’s first flight of its Kaan fighter jet. But as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, analysts say the stealth jet is yet to prove itself. …

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london — Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied he is seeking to oust Western influence in Africa, as new analysis suggests the Kremlin’s military intelligence arm has taken over activities of the disbanded Wagner Russian paramilitary group on the continent. In a television interview broadcast in Russia on March 13, Putin dismissed claims that Moscow is …

Read more “Putin Denies Strategy to Spread Influence in Africa After Wagner ‘Rebrand’”

Washington — A Voice of America reporter was among more than 200 U.S. citizens sanctioned by the Russian government on Thursday. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday that it was sanctioning Jeff Seldin, who covers national security at VOA. Seldin was among several reporters, including some from The Washington Post and The New York …

Read more “Moscow Targets VOA Reporter in Latest Round of Sanctions Against Americans”

Barcelona, Spain — Spain’s Parliament approved on Thursday a controversial amnesty bill aimed at forgiving crimes — both proven and alleged — committed by Catalan separatists during a chaotic attempt to hold an independence referendum in the region six years ago.  Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has promoted the amnesty as a way to move past …

Read more “Spanish Parliament Approves Controversial Amnesty for Catalan Separatists”