Month: June 2024

PARIS — U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on Friday with a package of $225 million in weapons on the sidelines of D-Day anniversary events. It will be their first face-to-face talks since Zelenskyy visited Washington in December, when the two wrestled with Republican opposition to more Ukraine aid. They …

Read more “Biden to meet Zelenskyy in France with $225 million in military aid”

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian air force shot down all five missiles and 48 out of 53 drones over nine regions during Russia’s overnight attack, Ukrainian military said on Friday. The Russian forces attacked Kyiv region with drones and Kh-101/Kh-555 missiles, causing a fire at one of the industrial facilities, according to the governor. Emergency services worked …

Read more “Ukrainian military downs 5 Russian missiles, 48 drones”

UNITED NATIONS — Three European powers have written to the U.N. Security Council detailing Iran’s violations of its 2015 nuclear deal, a step diplomats said Thursday aimed to pressure Tehran to resolve the issue diplomatically and to avoid reimposing U.N. sanctions.  The British, French and German letter did not explicitly threaten to “snap back” U.N. sanctions, …

Read more “Europeans detail Iran’s nuclear violations in diplomatic gambit “

washington — On Wednesday, wrapping up his three-day official visit to China, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan tweeted about fulfilling his long-held dream of visiting Urumqi and Kashgar in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in western China. “For many years, I have had the opportunity to visit many historical cities that contributed to the establishment of the …

Read more “Turkish diplomat’s visit to Uyghur region in China raises concerns”

While marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, during World War II, U.S. President Joe Biden says global challenges are still present and urged unity in resisting Russian aggression today. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Omaha Beach, Normandy. …

A small number of U.S. World War II veterans, all in their late 90s and early 100s, returned to Normandy, France, 80 years after the largest invasion in history. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports. …

…

…

…

As world leaders and aging veterans gathered Thursday for D-Day ceremonies on the beaches of Normandy, France, towns across the region held their own celebrations, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the 1944 Allied landings. Lisa Bryant reports from the Normandy town of Carentan-les-Marais. …

…

Citizens of 27 European Union countries are choosing new representatives starting Thursday. The voting could shape the state of democracy within the EU and decide the bloc’s global role, especially in Ukraine. Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze reports. Camera: Daniil Batushchak. …

Thursday marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, in Normandy by troops from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and other countries during World War II. The objective was to help liberate Western Europe from German occupation. …

United Nations — The U.N. General Assembly approved five new members Thursday for two-year terms on the organization’s powerful 15-nation Security Council in a lackluster “election.”  Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia will start their terms on Jan. 1, 2025.  The annual election is often little more than a rubber stamp of candidates previously agreed within …

Read more “UN member states approve 5 countries for Security Council seats”

The shooting attack against Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister last month has highlighted divisions in Central Europe, a region that’s become especially polarized in the wake of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Jon Spier narrates this story from Europe reporter Ricardo Marquina. (Camera: Ricardo Marquina) …

LONDON — Government officials would be acting unlawfully by implementing Britain’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda in breach of an order from Europe’s human rights court, a civil servants’ trade union told London’s High Court on Thursday. The FDA union is taking legal action against the government over guidance issued to civil servants on …

Read more “Trade union says UK’s Rwanda deportation policy makes officials break law”

THE Hague, Netherlands — Polls opened in the Netherlands on Thursday to kick off four days of voting in European Union parliamentary elections across the 27 member states that are expected to deliver gains for the hard right. Geert Wilders, of the far-right Party for Freedom, or PVV, was among the first senior politicians to cast …

Read more “Netherlands kicks off 4 days of European Union elections across 27 nations”

…

Omaha Beach, France — Western leaders Thursday on the beaches of northern France marked 80 years since the D-Day landings to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation, mindful of the over two-year war raging again in Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. U.S. leader Joe Biden, King Charles III of the UK and Canadian Prime Minister Justin …

Read more “‘Unfailing gratitude’: Western leaders remember D-Day under Ukraine shadow”

…

…

UTAH BEACH, France — As the sun sets on the D-Day generation, it will rise again Thursday over the Normandy beaches where the waves long ago washed away the blood and boot-steps of its soldiers, but where their exploits that helped end Adolf Hitler’s tyranny are being remembered by the next generations, seeing war again in …

Read more “Costs of World War II, Ukraine war fuse as Allies remember D-Day without Russia”

…

SHANGHAI, China — Novo Nordisk is facing the prospect of intensifying competition in the promising Chinese market, where drugmakers are developing at least 15 generic versions of its diabetes drug Ozempic and weight loss treatment Wegovy, clinical trial records showed. The Danish drugmaker has high hopes that demand for its blockbuster drugs will surge in China, …

Read more “Novo Nordisk braces for generic challenge to Ozempic, Wegovy in China”