Month: October 2024

TBILISI — Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili called on Sunday for people to take to the streets to protest the results of Saturday’s disputed parliamentary election, which the electoral commission said the ruling party had won.  The Georgian Dream party clinched nearly 54% of the vote, the commission said, as opposition parties contested the result and vote …

Read more “Georgian president calls for protests after ruling party wins disputed election”

VILNIUS, Lithuania — The opposition Social Democrats took an early lead in the second round of Lithuania’s parliamentary election on Sunday, with voters focusing on concerns over the cost of living and potential threats from neighboring Russia.  Official government data showed the center-left grouping leading with 33 seats after 64% of the vote was counted on …

Read more “Lithuania left-wing opposition leading in early election results”

Kyiv, Ukraine — Russian forces thwarted an attempt at another cross-border incursion by Ukraine into southwestern Russia, a local official reported Sunday, months after Kyiv staged a bold assault on its nuclear-armed enemy that Moscow is still struggling to halt. An “armed group” sought Sunday to breach the border between Ukraine and Russia’s Bryansk region, its …

Read more “Russian forces thwart attempted cross-border assault from Ukraine, official says”

The former Soviet republic of Georgia’s ruling party is claiming victory following Saturday’s parliamentary elections. Opposition groups call the election rigged, as polls show that most Georgians say they want closer ties to the European Union, not Moscow. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has this story. …

Madrid — Real Madrid, the Spanish league and the local government on Sunday condemned racist insults against Lamine Yamal during Saturday’s “clasico,” and Madrid said it was working to identify those who abused the Barcelona forward. Madrid said it “has opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable …

Read more “Real Madrid, Spanish league and government condemn racist insults against Yamal in league ‘clasico’”

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarians were voting Sunday in the seventh general election in more than three years with little hope that a stable government will be formed to stop the country’s slide into political instability.  Voter fatigue and disillusionment with politicians have created an environment where radical political voices, aided by Moscow’s widespread disinformation, are successfully …

Read more “Bulgarians’ 7th vote in 3 years unlikely to break political deadlock”

Tbilisi, Georgia — The streets of Tbilisi echoed with despair on Sunday as the Central Election Commission said the ruling Georgian Dream party won Saturday’s parliamentary election. The opposition parties are disputing the results. With 99% of the precincts reporting, Georgian Dream had secured 54.8% of the vote, reinforcing its grip on a nation polarized over …

Read more “Georgian Dream declared election winner; opposition disputes results”

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Moscow will use “a range of responses” if the United States and its NATO allies allow Ukraine to use Western long-range weapons to strike inside Russia, according to remarks published on Sunday.   “[The Russian defense ministry] is thinking about how to respond to the possible long-range strikes on Russian …

Read more “Putin threatens ‘range of responses’ if Ukraine strikes deep into Russia “

KYIV, Ukraine — North Korean troops are poised to be deployed by Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine as early as this weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Friday.  Western officials have warned that North Korean units joining the fight would stoke the almost three-year war and bring geopolitical consequences as far away as the Indo-Pacific …

Read more “Zelenskyy says North Korean troops poised to join war, cancels UN chief’s visit”

New York — Finance ministers of the G7 nations vowed Saturday to step up efforts to prevent Russia from evading sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine.    “We remain committed to taking further initiatives in response to oil price cap violations,” the group said in a statement following a meeting in Washington. Those further steps were …

Read more “G7 agrees new steps to curb Russian sanctions evasion”

New Delhi — BRICS leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, have publicly voiced their commitment to jointly introduce an alternative payment system that would not be dependent on the U.S. dollar. Independent analysts, however, question the feasibility of implementing the idea anytime soon. The recently concluded meeting of BRICS — Brazil, …

Read more “BRICS’ de-dollarization agenda has a long way to go”

paris — French authorities maintained a night curfew amid fresh unrest on the Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe on Saturday as they battled to restore power they accused striking energy workers of sabotaging.  Guadeloupe and the nearby French island of Martinique have seen weeks of often violent protests over the cost of living. A night curfew has …

Read more “Curfew extended in French Caribbean territory amid power blackout”

ROME — Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in seven Italian cities on Saturday calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East, Ukraine and all global conflicts.  Peaceful rallies were held in Rome, Turin, Milan, Florence, Bari, Palermo and Cagliari, with the support of hundreds of associations committed to peace, disarmament and …

Read more “Thousands of demonstrators march across Italy to call for end to wars”

united nations — More than 600 million women and girls are now affected by war, a 50% increase from a decade ago, and they fear the world has forgotten them amid an escalating backlash against women’s rights and gender equality, top United Nations officials say.  U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a new report that amid …

Read more “War affects more than 600 million women and girls, UN says”

WASHINGTON — Analysts warn that Apple’s removal of two apps from an independent media site from its Russian App Store sets a “dangerous precedent.” The affected apps are for Current Time, a Russian-language network produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, or RFE/RL, in cooperation with VOA, and a Kyrgyz-language news app. RFE/RL and VOA are independent …

Read more “Experts: Apple’s removal of news apps in Russia sets ‘dangerous precedent’”

Russian missile strikes killed three people including a child in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro while a teenager and another person died in attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region, officials said Saturday. Overnight strikes on Dnipro wounded 19 others and damaged multiple buildings, said Sergiy Lysak, the governor of the central Dnipropetrovsk region. A …

Read more “Russian attacks on central Ukraine, Kyiv kill 5”

Georgians headed to the polls Saturday in a ballot many citizens see as a make-or-break vote on the opportunity to join the European Union. The pre-election campaign in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people has been dominated by foreign policy and marked by a bitter fight for votes and allegations of a smear …

Read more “Georgia votes in an election that could take it toward the EU or into Russia’s orbit”