Midyat, Turkey — Through a basement door in southeastern Turkey lies a sprawling underground city — perhaps the country’s largest — which one historian believes dates back to the ninth century before Jesus Christ. Archaeologists stumbled upon the city-under-a-city “almost by chance” after an excavation of house cellars in Midyat, near the Syrian border, led to …
Read more “Ancient secrets unearthed in vast Turkish cave city “
NEW YORK — Edna O’Brien, Ireland’s literary pride and outlaw who scandalized her native land with her debut novel “The Country Girls” before gaining international acclaim as a storyteller and iconoclast that found her welcomed everywhere from Dublin to the White House, has died. She was 93. O’Brien died Saturday after a long illness, according to …
Read more “Edna O’Brien, Irish literary giant who wrote ‘The Country Girls,’ dies at 93”
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HOUSTON — The gold bikini-style costume that Carrie Fisher wore as Princess Leia while making “Return of the Jedi” in the “Star Wars” franchise has sold for $175,000, according to the auction house that handled the sale. The costume was made famous when Fisher wore it at the start of the 1983 film when Leia was …
Read more “Princess Leia bikini costume from ‘Star Wars’ movie set sells for $175K”
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainians urged their government to do more to get Russia to release prisoners of war, voicing their anger on Sunday at a ceremony commemorating the second anniversary of an explosion that killed more than 50. Several thousand soldiers and civilians gathered at Kyiv’s Independence Square Sunday to commemorate the second anniversary of an …
Read more “Thousands in Ukraine honor soldiers killed in blast, push to free prisoners”
CHADDS FORD, Pa. — At first glance, it looks like an aerial photo of a cemetery destroyed by war, with charred coffins ripped from broken concrete vaults and arched marble tombstones flattened by a bomb blast. Then, the viewer begin to discern details: the coffins and vaults are actually parts of a keyboard. Instead of names …
Read more “Frank Stewart photos captured culture of jazz, church and Black life in US”
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Ankara — President Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that Turkey might enter Israel as it had done in the past in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, though he did not spell out what sort of intervention he was suggesting. Erdogan, who has been a fierce critic of Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas, started discussing that war during a …
Read more “Erdogan says Turkey might enter Israel to help Palestinians”
Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country may deploy new “strike weapons” in response to a U.S. plan to place missiles in Germany. Both the U.S. and Russia recently signaled a readiness to deploy intermediate-range weapons that were banned for decades under a Cold War-era treaty. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …
CLARK, Philippines — France renewed a commitment to help defend freedom of navigation and overflight in the Asia-Pacific Sunday and said that its supersonic fighter jets — a pair of which landed for the first time in the Philippines — and advance military power would enable it to respond rapidly to any humanitarian or security crisis …
Read more “France showcases fighter jets in the Philippines, defends freedom of navigation”
KYIV — Five civilians died and 15 more were wounded following Russian strikes Saturday and overnight in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, its governor said, as Moscow claimed further gains in its monthslong grinding offensive in the country’s war-battered industrial heartland. Shortly after Donetsk Gov. Vadym Filashkin reported on the casualties Sunday, other local Ukrainian officials said …
Read more “5 killed, dozens wounded in Ukraine’s Donetsk region; Russia claims gains “
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Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned the United States that if Washington deployed long-range missiles in Germany, then Russia would station similar missiles in striking distance of the West. The United States said on July 10 that it would start deploying long-range missiles in Germany from 2026 in preparation for a longer-term deployment …
Read more “Putin warns the United States of Cold War-style missile crisis “
HONG KONG — Three of the world’s top auction houses are racing to expand in Hong Kong, eager to woo young Asian buyers even as the global art market retreats from pandemic-era highs. In the span of two months, Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams will each see the culmination of yearslong efforts to upgrade their regional headquarters …
Read more “Defying downturn, auction houses bid high on Hong Kong”
NEW DELHI — The Charaideo Moidam royal burial complex and shrines, built by northeast India’s Ahom dynasty, has been inscribed as a new World Heritage Site, the United Nations’ cultural agency said on Friday. UNESCO experts, who are deliberating on a list of sites nominated for the World Heritage Site tag, announced the decision in Indian …
Read more “India’s Charaideo Moidam royal burial mounds designated World Heritage Site”
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LONDON — When Donald Trump suggested during the 2016 presidential campaign that he might not honor a U.S. commitment to defend other NATO countries if they were attacked, it triggered alarm throughout the trans-Atlantic alliance. With Trump’s “America First” rhetoric drawing cheers from fervent supporters, the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is once again …
Read more “With uncertainty across the Atlantic, Europe worries about its own security”
Helsinki, Finland — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will visit China from Friday to Tuesday for a trip that analysts say aims to repair the rift caused by Rome’s withdrawal last year from China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure and transportation plan sometimes called the New Silk Road. China’s foreign ministry said Thursday …
Read more “Italy’s prime minister heads to China to repair rift”
Dakar, Senegal — Mali’s army and its Russian allies suffered a major setback and significant losses on Saturday while fighting separatists in the country’s north, a spokesman for the rebels told AFP. The West African nation’s military leaders, who took power in a 2020 coup, have made it a priority to retake all of the country …
Read more “Mali army, Russian allies suffer heavy losses in country’s north, sources say”
HAVANA — Havana residents watched from shore on Saturday as Russian warships arrived for the second time in as many months in a visit that Cuba called routine. Cuban authorities fired shots into the air to signal their welcome, while curious fishermen watched from Havana’s waterside promenade as the ships advanced up the bay. Russian residents …
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BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday that Russia’s leadership was “hyper rational” and that Ukraine would never be able to fulfill its hopes of becoming a member of the European Union or NATO. Orban, a nationalist in power since 2010, made the comments during a speech in which he forecast a …
Read more “Hungary’s Orban: Russia stands to gain as ‘irrational’ West loses power”
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