DAMASCUS, SYRIA — The foreign ministers of France and Germany are headed to Damascus on the first official visit to Syria by top diplomats from European Union countries after the fall of former President Bashar Assad, in what the German minister said is a clear signal that a “new beginning” between Europe and Syria is possible. …
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could be “decisive” in the outcome of the yearslong war between Ukraine and Russia. “Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukrainian television. Zelenskyy said Trump had told him he would be one …
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The Human Rights Association in Turkey announced that three female prisoners had been tortured in Patnos Prison in Agri, and despite some complaints, no investigation has been initiated. The prison administration neither denied nor confirmed the torture to VOA. Click here for the full story in Kurdish. …
The Haitian government on Wednesday celebrated the 221st anniversary of the country’s independence. In his speech, Leslie Voltaire, president of the Presidential Transition Council, called for peace in the country and took the opportunity to ask France to repay the debt of independence and reparations for slavery. Click here for the full story in Creole. …
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London — European gas prices reached a 15-month high on Thursday after Ukraine blocked the transit of Russian gas across its territory into the European Union. The Russian state-run firm Gazprom is set to lose more than $5 billion a year following the route’s closure, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called “one of Moscow’s biggest defeats.” …
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Natural gas prices in Europe have risen since Ukraine ended the flow of Russian gas across its territory into the EU. Moscow once supplied more than a third of Europe’s needs, but the continent has weaned itself off Russian gas following the Kremlin’s ’22 invasion of Ukraine. Henry Ridgwell reports. …
The Kremlin is using uncertainty following the ouster of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, and the potential loss of Russia’s military toehold in Syria, to accuse the United States of sowing instability in the country. On Dec. 29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signaled that the end of the Assad regime would push Russia to “make …
Read more “Russia ramps up disinformation efforts as its grip weakens over post-Assad Syria”
LONDON — A worker digging up clay in a southern England limestone quarry noticed unusual bumps that led to the discovery of a “dinosaur highway” and nearly 200 tracks that date back 166 million years, researchers said Thursday. The extraordinary find made after a team of more than 100 people excavated the Dewars Farm Quarry, in …
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CETINJE, Montenegro — Shock and dismay prevailed in Montenegro on Thursday after a gunman fatally shot 12 people, including two children, in a western town before killing himself. At least four others were wounded in the shooting rampage in Cetinje on Wednesday that followed a bar brawl, officials said. This was the second such incident in …
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Rome — Italy’s foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador on Thursday to demand the immediate release of reporter Cecilia Sala, who was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19 while working under a regular journalistic visa. The ministry said in a statement it had relayed “serious concern” over Sala’s detention and stressed the need for humane treatment …
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Ukraine’s military said Thursday it shot down 47 drones Russian forces launched overnight at areas in central and eastern Ukraine. Russia used a total of 72 drones in its attacks, the military said. Ukrainian air defenses shot down drones over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Odessa and Sumy regions. Officials …
LONDON — Parts of the United Kingdom were flooded Wednesday as heavy rains and powerful winds continued to disrupt New Year’s celebrations. Several communities in the Manchester area were flooded, with several homes evacuated and cars submerged up to their roofs on roads and in parking lots after nearly a month’s worth of rain fell in …
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PODGORICA, MONTENEGRO — At least 10 people, including two children, were killed and four others were wounded in a shooting on Wednesday that followed a bar brawl in a western Montenegrin city, officials said. The shooter was on the run. Police identified the attacker as Aco Martinovic, 45. He killed the owner of the bar in …
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WASHINGTON — Press freedom groups and media organizations are calling for Iran to release an Italian journalist who was arrested last month. Cecilia Sala, who works for the daily Italian newspaper Il Foglio, was arrested on Dec. 19 and is being held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. The 29-year-old was reporting in Iran on a journalist …
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ROME — Pope Francis ushered in the New Year with a renewed appeal for the faithful to reject abortion, calling for a “firm commitment” to protect and respect life from conception to natural death. Francis, 88, celebrated a New Year’s Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday that was dedicated to Mary, the mother of …
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Geneva — U.N. human rights monitors find that almost three years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the human rights situation in the country and areas occupied by Russia is on a downward spiral, as military operations intensify, civilian casualties rise, and torture, summary executions and other gross violations proliferate. “The human rights situation remains bleak with …
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Russian gas exports crossing through Ukraine were halted Wednesday with the expiration of a transit agreement. The development will force some European nations to find alternative sources of gas with the interruption of the decades-old route. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine had already prompted many in the European Union to cut their dependence on Russian …
Officials in Ukraine’s capital said Wednesday a Russian drone attack injured at least six people. Serhii Popko, head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration, said on Telegram that the attack damaged multiple buildings and a tram track. In Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, Governor Serhiy Lysak said Russia attacked with artillery, rockets and drones, damaging seven houses and …
JOHANNESBURG — The dance world mourned Tuesday the internationally acclaimed South African dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo, who died in the hospital over the weekend at age 39. Masilo died unexpectedly on Sunday after a brief illness, a spokesperson for her family said in a statement. Born in Soweto, she was described as a sprite-like, energetic …
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VOA Russian speaks to regional experts who believe that President Vladimir Putin has unexpectedly found himself in a corner after it appears Russian air defense accidentally shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane. Azerbaijan will not completely break away from Russia, but Baku’s strong statements indicate that Russia’s influence over the region will rapidly decrease. …
Read more “VOA Russian: Putin’s apology for downed plane not enough for Azerbaijan”
BELGRADE, SERBIA — Instead of the traditional boisterous street partying on New Year’s Eve, tens of thousands of protesters led by university students gathered overnight in Belgrade and other Serbian cities to demand political reforms and justice in the Balkan country. The protesters have been actively demonstrating following the tragic collapse of a concrete canopy in …
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