Paris — At least three migrants died early Sunday while attempting to cross the English Channel to Britain from northern France, authorities said. The deaths were confirmed after an early morning rescue operation involving French emergency services and the navy’s “Dauphin” helicopter. Around 50 people were stranded in the water and on the beach near Sangatte …
Read more “3 die off northern France coast in Channel crossing attempt “
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally, and criticized Moscow for trying to “hush up” the issue for days. “We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia. […] We are not saying that it was …
Read more “Azerbaijan’s president says crashed jetliner was shot down by Russia unintentionally “
MEXICO CITY — On a Sunday afternoon in Mexico City’s Roma neighborhood, Rosa María Espinosa joins nearly 80 men under a park pavilion to play poleana, a board game requiring mental dexterity that was born in the city’s prisons nearly a century ago. Espinosa blows smoke rings with her cigarette and laughs with the others. Today …
Read more “Mexican prison board game brings together people from all walks of life”
TALLINN, ESTONIA — Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 20 more people that rights activists describe as political prisoners, a statement on the president’s website said Saturday. The announcement came amid persistent oppression in the run-up to presidential elections next month that are likely to extend Lukashenko’s decadeslong rule. Belarusian officials did not provide the names …
Read more “Belarus’ leader pardons 20 more prisoners; rights groups say repression continues”
LONDON — The U.K. will end a tax exemption for private schools Wednesday, the center-left Labour government has announced, in a move set to raise over £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) for public education. After years of worsening educational inequalities, from Jan. 1, private schools will have to pay 20% value added tax on tuition fees, which …
Read more “UK to tax private schools in $1.9 B boost to public education”
LONDON — Olivia Hussey, the actor who starred as a teenage Juliet in the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet,” has died, her family said on social media Saturday. She was 73. Hussey died on Friday, “peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones,” a statement posted to her Instagram account said. Hussey was 15 when director …
Read more “Olivia Hussey, star of the 1968 film ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ dies at 73”
As Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its third year, centers focused on soldiers’ rehabilitation and mental health are appearing across Ukraine. An active serviceman started one such place in his native village in the Carpathian Mountains. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Videographer and video editor: Yuriy Dankevych …
MOSCOW / CHISINAU, MOLDOVA — Russian energy giant Gazprom said Saturday it would suspend gas exports to Moldova from 0500 GMT on Jan. 1 due to unpaid debt by Moldova, which is bracing for severe power cuts. It said the company reserved the right to take any action, including terminating the supply contract with Moldova. Russia …
Read more “Russia to stop gas exports to Moldova beginning Jan. 1”
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN — Burial associations in Sweden are looking to acquire enough land for something they hope they’ll never have to do: bury thousands of people in the event of war. The search follows recommendations from the Church of Sweden’s national secretariat, which reflect crisis preparedness guidelines from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and the Swedish …
Read more “Sweden searches for more cemetery space in case of war”
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people. The Kremlin said in a statement that air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, due …
Read more “Putin apologizes to Azerbaijan for ‘tragic incident’ of plane crash”
ISTANBUL — A delegation from Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish DEM party is due on Saturday to visit jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence on a prison island off Istanbul, a party source said. “The delegation left in the morning,” the source told AFP, without elaborating how they would travel to the island …
Read more “Turkey’s pro-Kurd party to meet jailed PKK leader on Saturday”
Ukraine said on Saturday it had struck a storage and maintenance depot for long-range Shahed drones in Russia’s Oryol region, adding that this had “significantly reduced” Russia’s ability to launch mass drone attacks on Ukraine. Ukraine military’s general staff said in a statement on Telegram the attack took place on Thursday and was conducted by …
Read more “Ukraine says it struck drone depot in Russia’s Oryol region”
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Idil Abdullahi Goley’s journey seeking a better life in Europe started in Somalia with a $6,500 payment to local smugglers. It ended a month later with fellow migrants around her dying at sea, one of them screaming and reciting the Muslim profession of faith. The deaths of 25 migrants last month in boats …
Read more “Somali migrant who survived boat sinking wants to try again for Europe”
VOA Russian spoke with U.S. officials, politicians and experts to see how U.S. relations with China and Russia could change under the incoming Donald Trump administration. Experts say Beijing may be worried about Trump’s plans for the swift end of the war in Ukraine, while North Korea’s involvement in the war could become a lightning …
Read more “VOA Russian: Washington, Moscow, Beijing to form complicated strategic triangle in 2025 “
VOA Russian speaks to aviation expert Konstantin Kryvolap, who takes apart Moscow’s official versions of the crash of the Russia-bound Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan and says a Russian missile was the only viable cause. Kryvolap says as soon as the first photos and videos from the crash site started to trickle in, this became …
Read more “VOA Russian: Expert says Russian missile most likely caused plane crash in Kazakhstan”
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on the founder of Georgia’s ruling political party, which has steered the country away from a pro-Western stance and toward Russia, U.S. officials said Friday. The State and Treasury departments said they hit Georgian Dream party founder and honorary chair Bidzina Ivanishvili with penalties “for undermining the democratic …
Read more “US sanctions founder of Georgia’s ruling political party”
BAMAKO, MALI — Nearly 70 migrants died when their boat sank as they tried to reach Spain earlier this month, Mali’s Minister for Malians Living Abroad said. In a press release Thursday, Mossa Ag Attaher announced that a migrant boat bound for Spain sank on Dec. 19. The migrants in this boat “numbered 80 at the …
Read more “Boat sinks en route to Spain, dozens killed, Malian minister says”
PODGORICA, MONTENEGRO — Montenegro has approved the extradition of a South Korean mogul known as “the cryptocurrency king” to the United States, the Balkan country’s Justice Ministry said Friday. Minister Bojan Bozovic has issued a deposition allowing the handover of Do Kwon, the founder of the Singapore crypto firm Terraform Labs who was arrested in Montenegro …
Read more “Montenegro approves extradition of cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon to US”
DAKAR, SENEGAL — Senegal has announced the closure of all foreign military bases, without setting a timeline for the exit of foreign troops. Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko made the announcement Friday during a general policy statement to the National Assembly. “The president of the Republic has decided to close all foreign military bases in the very …
Read more “Senegal to close foreign military bases, cuts ties to ex-colonial power France”
Nearly 31,000 Syrians have returned home since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, Turkey’s interior minister said Friday. Turkey is home to nearly 3 million refugees who fled Syria after the start of the civil war in 2011. The recent fall of Assad’s government has raised hope that Syrian refugees …
Read more “Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees return from Turkey”
STOCKHOLM — Estonia’s armed forces have launched a naval operation to protect the Estlink 1 undersea power cable in the Baltic Sea in response to the damage this week of a parallel electricity line, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Friday. Finland on Thursday seized a ship carrying Russian oil on suspicion the vessel caused an …
Read more “Estonia’s navy to protect Baltic Sea power link after cable damage”
Russia’s invasion has pushed Ukrainian tech companies working with defense simulation technology to seriously compete in global markets. One such company is SKIFTECH, which specializes in high-tech military simulators. Iryna Solomko visited the company’s production site in Kyiv. Anna Rice narrates the story. Camera: Pavlo Terekhov …
Russia’s aviation chief said Friday that a Ukrainian drone attack was under way in the region of Chechnya at the time an Azerbaijani airliner attempted to land before diverting to Kazakhstan and crashing there earlier this week. Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, didn’t comment on statements by an Azerbaijani lawmaker and …
Brussels — NATO will bolster its military presence in the Baltic Sea after the suspected sabotage of an undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia this week, the Western military alliance’s chief Mark Rutte said on Friday. On Christmas Day, the Estlink 2 submarine cable that carries electricity from Finland to Estonia was disconnected from the …
Read more “NATO to boost military presence in Baltic after cables ‘sabotage’
“