Month: December 2024

FRANKFURT, Germany — German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition.   Scholz lost a confidence vote on Dec. 16 and leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on Nov. 6 …

Read more “Germany’s president dissolves parliament, sets national election for Feb. 23   “

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — A North Korean soldier who was captured while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine has died of his wounds, South Korea’s spy agency said Friday. Pyongyang has deployed thousands of troops to reinforce Russia’s military, including in the Kursk border region where Ukraine mounted a shock border incursion in August. One of …

Read more “Seoul: North Korean soldier captured in Russia-Ukraine war dies”

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korea’s spy agency said Friday it had confirmed that a North Korean soldier sent to back Russia’s war against Ukraine had been captured by Ukrainian forces. Pyongyang has deployed thousands of troops to reinforce Russian troops, including in the Kursk border region where Ukraine mounted a shock border incursion in August. …

Read more “Seoul: North Korean soldier captured in Russia-Ukraine war”

CHISINAU, MOLDOVA — The parliament in ex-Soviet Moldova, controlled by pro-Western lawmakers, approved a 10-year defense strategy on Thursday calling for increased military spending as part of a plan to join the European Union. The chamber’s pro-Russian opposition ridiculed the document as pointlessly directed against Moscow in view of Moldova’s small land mass and armed forces. …

Read more “Moldova backs defense strategy calling for increased spending”

The Kremlin completed preparations to isolate the Russian segment of the internet from the rest of the World Wide Web, experts told VOA Russian. The Kremlin may implement severe internet restrictions in 2025, mirroring Iran’s experience of blocking undesirable web traffic. Experts note that YouTube speeds in Russia are 20% of the pre-war speeds, meaning …

Read more “VOA Russian: Kremlin targets full internet control in Russia “

Both Russia and Ukraine expanded the use of drones in 2024 as a relatively cheap means of warfare that requires an opponent to use a much more expensive air defense system. Moscow and Kyiv acquired 1.5 million drones between them in the past year, with Ukraine hitting thousands of targets inside Russia in recent months. …

Read more “VOA Russian: How drones changed military tactics in Russia’s war in Ukraine “

Aviation experts said Thursday that Russian air defense fire was likely responsible for the Azerbaijani plane crash the day before that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when …

Read more “Russian defense fire likely caused Azerbaijan plane crash, experts say”

FRANKFURT, GERMANY — Finnish authorities have detained a Russia-linked ship as they investigate whether it damaged a Baltic Sea power cable and several data cables, according to police and news media reports, in the latest incident involving disruption of key infrastructure. Finnish police and border guards boarded the vessel, the Eagle S, just past midnight Thursday …

Read more “Finland detains Russia-linked vessel on suspicion it damaged undersea cable”

Azerbaijan on Thursday observed a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the plane crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the disaster that remained unknown. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian city …

Read more “Azerbaijan observes day of mourning for air crash victims as speculation mounts about its cause”

Moscow — A “terrorist act” sank the cargo ship that went down in international waters in the Mediterranean this week, the Russian state-owned company that owns the vessel said Wednesday. The Oboronlogistika company said it “thinks a targeted terrorist attack was committed on December 23, 2024, against the Ursa Major,” it said in a statement cited …

Read more “Russia says cargo ship blast was ‘terrorist attack’ “

ROME — Pope Francis made a visit on Thursday to one of the largest prison complexes in Italy, opening a special “Holy Door” for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, in what the Vatican said was the first such action by a Catholic pontiff. Speaking to hundreds of inmates, guards and staff at the Rebibbia prison on …

Read more “Pope opens special ‘Holy Door’ for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison”

Ukraine’s military said Thursday it shot down 20 of the 31 drones that Russian forces launched in overnight attacks. The intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions, Ukraine’s air force said. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday it destroyed five Ukrainian aerial drones over the Volgograd, Voronezh and Belgorod regions. Belgorod Governor …

Read more “Ukraine says it shot down 20 Russian drones”

BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN — Experts say Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to enforce Western sanctions against companies supplying dual-use goods and equipment to Russia are constrained by opposition from business, limited bureaucratic resources, and unwillingness to antagonize the Kremlin. Since 2022, the U.S. and EU governments designated a dozen Kyrgyz companies as violators of international Russia sanctions. According to the …

Read more “Kyrgyzstan faces difficulties enforcing West’s Russia sanctions”

HELSINKI — An undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia suffered an outage Wednesday, Finland’s prime minister said, the latest in a series of incidents involving telecom cables and energy pipelines in the Baltic Sea.  Arto Pahkin, the head of operations of the Finnish electricity grid, told public broadcaster Yle that “the possibility of sabotage cannot …

Read more “Finland-Estonia electricity cable outage is latest Baltic Sea incident”

LILLE, FRANCE — French authorities said they rescued 107 migrants trying to cross the Channel from France to England on Wednesday. Over the course of Christmas Day, 12 rescue operations were staged along the coast of northern France, including of a boat experiencing engine trouble, France’s Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture said in a statement. …

Read more “French authorities rescue 107 migrants crossing Channel”

ISTANBUL — In a dim one-room apartment in one of Istanbul’s poorest neighborhoods, 11-year-old Atakan Sahin curls up on a threadbare sofa with his siblings to watch TV while their mother stirs a pot of pasta.  The simple meal is all the family of six can look forward to most evenings. Atakan, his two younger brothers …

Read more “Turkey’s soaring costs creating ‘lost generation’ of children”

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo’s election appeals authority on Wednesday canceled a ban on the main party of the ethnic Serb minority, allowing it to field candidates in the upcoming parliamentary election.  The Electoral Panel for Complaints and Appeals decided that the party, Srpska Lista, or Serb List, has “fulfilled the political terms to be certified for …

Read more “Kosovo appeals panel lets ethnic Serb party run in parliamentary election”

Vatican City — Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia. The pontiff’s “Urbi et Orbi” — “To the City and …

Read more “Pope urges ‘all people of all nations’ to silence arms and overcome divisions in Christmas address”

Moscow — A Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major that sank in the Mediterranean Sea was the victim of “an act of terrorism,” state news agency RIA cited the vessel’s owner as saying on Wednesday.  The ship, built in 2009, sank after an explosion ripped through its engine room and two of its 16 crew were …

Read more “Russian cargo ship which sank off Spanish coast was victim of ‘act of terrorism,’ RIA cites owner “

London — King Charles thanked the medics who have cared for him and his daughter-in-law Kate, after they both underwent treatment for cancer this year, in a Christmas Day message that touched on global conflicts and the summer’s riots in Britain. In his third Christmas TV broadcast since becoming king, Charles struck an unusually personal tone …

Read more “King Charles thanks medics for his and Kate’s cancer care “

Moscow — A Russian-born U.S. citizen already imprisoned in Russia on a bribery conviction has been handed a second 15-year jail term for espionage, Russian news agencies reported Tuesday. A Moscow court brought espionage charges against Gene Spector in August 2023. Details surrounding the case were not made public. The U.S. State Department said it was …

Read more “American imprisoned in Russia sentenced to new 15-year jail term for espionage”