BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — Wealthy countries raised their offer of climate finance to $300 billion a year at COP29 on Saturday, raising hopes of a deal with developing nations that had dismissed an earlier proposal as insufficient to address the impacts of global warming. The United Nations climate summit had been scheduled to finish on Friday but …
Read more “Rich nations raise COP29 climate finance offer in bid to break deadlock”
Business owners in the Ukrainian city of Khmelnytskyi wanted to find a way to say thank you to the thousands of members of the military who have spent years fighting Russia’s invasion. Over 60 businesses joined to start the “Khmelnytskyi Grateful” platform. Tetiana Kukurika has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Sergiy Rybchynski …
KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukraine has lost more than 40% of the territory in Russia’s Kursk region that it rapidly seized in a surprise incursion in August as Russian forces have mounted waves of counterassaults, a senior Ukrainian military source said. The source, who is on Ukraine’s General Staff, said Russia had deployed some 59,000 troops to …
Read more “Ukraine has lost 40% of Russia’s Kursk region, military source says”
BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — Russia has included the territories it occupies in Ukraine in its recent greenhouse gas inventory report to the United Nations, drawing protests from Ukrainian officials and activists at the COP29 climate summit this week. The move by Moscow comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin eyes potential peace negotiations with incoming U.S. President Donald …
Read more “Russia’s claim of emissions in Ukraine regions draws protests at COP29”
TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran has lodged a protest with Moscow regarding what it described as the “violent” arrest of Iranian students at a university in the Russian city of Kazan, state media reported Saturday. Two Iranian students who visited a visa extension center at Kazan Federal University on Friday were arrested after being subjected to “inhumane …
Read more “Iran protests ‘violent’ arrest of students in Russia”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will travel to Italy over the weekend to attend a meeting of the Group of Seven major democracies next week, the State Department said on Friday, amid rising tensions in the war in Ukraine. G7 leaders last Saturday reiterated a pledge to keep imposing severe costs on Russia …
Read more “Blinken to attend G7 meeting in Italy, US State Department says”
Sydney — The United States expects that thousands of North Korean troops massing in Russia will “soon” enter combat against Ukraine, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Saturday. About 10,000 North Korean soldiers were believed to be based in the Russian border region of Kursk, Austin said, where they were being “integrated into the Russian formations.” “Based …
Read more “North Korean troops massed in Russia to enter Ukraine war ‘soon,’ Pentagon chief says”
NATO allies are preparing for a potentially turbulent transatlantic relationship after the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president. During his first term, he questioned NATO’s relevance and berated allies for not spending more on defense. But as Henry Ridgwell reports, many European nations are echoing calls to spend more in the face of the …
European allies in the Baltic region are investigating how two fiber optic data cables were severed earlier this week — with suspicion falling on a Chinese vessel in the area. Germany has said the incident was clearly sabotage. As Henry Ridgwell reports, Western nations have warned of a sharp increase in so-called hybrid attacks by …
Read more “Chinese vessel suspected in severing of Baltic submarine cables”
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed that Russia had indeed launched an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile into Ukraine on November 21. She told reporters that Washington “was notified through nuclear threat reduction channels shortly before the launch.” See the full story here. …
The United States has sanctioned Russia’s Gazprombank, the lender built around the country’s gas exporting giant, as well as dozens of other financial institutions. The new measures are expected to further curtail Moscow’s use of the international financial system. See the full story here. …
washington — Menacing incidents aimed at two female journalists in Europe within one week underscore the threatening environment for media, say analysts. In the first incident, in North Macedonia, journalist Miroslava Simonovska received threats online from a fake Facebook profile bearing her name and image. The threats included messages that read “We are following you” and …
Read more “Harassment of Balkan female reporters underscores global threat, say analysts”
London — European allies in the Baltic region are investigating how two fiber-optic data cables were severed earlier this week, with suspicion falling on a Chinese vessel in the area. Germany has said the incident was clearly sabotage. The Danish navy said this week it is following the Yi Peng 3, a Chinese bulk carrier, as …
Read more “Chinese vessel suspected of severing submarine cables still anchored in Baltic Sea”
Europe must be ready to fill the potential gaps in funding and weapons for Ukraine that may arise when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Friday. In an exclusive sit-down interview with VOA Eastern European Bureau chief Myroslava Gongadze, Sikorski noted that Trump and fellow Republicans appear reluctant to …
Read more “Polish foreign minister: Europe must be ready as US rethinks Ukraine strategy “
dublin — Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor sexually assaulted a woman at a party in Dublin in 2018 and must pay her nearly 250,000 euros ($259,950) in damages, a jury decided on Friday. The jury of eight women and four men reached its verdict in the civil trial at Ireland’s high court after six …
Read more “Mixed martial arts star McGregor sexually assaulted woman in 2018, jury finds”
NEW YORK — This time last year, American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was in a Russian prison, jailed on bogus charges. On Thursday night, free from her ordeal, she accepted a prestigious press freedom award from the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, in New York. “This is a very emotional moment for me. It means so …
Read more “‘We have taken risks to tell the stories,’ says press freedom awardee”
From digital passports to apps that announce air alerts or enable conscripts to update their information in the draft register, Ukraine is now a world leader in the drive to digitalize government services. From Kyiv, Lesia Bakalets reports on how Russia’s full-scale invasion has pushed Ukraine’s drive to digitalize. …
KYIV, UKRAINE — A Russian drone attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed two people and injured 12 on Friday morning, regional authorities said. Twelve apartment buildings, five private residences, a store and three cars were damaged after three drones attacked the city around 5 a.m. (0300 GMT), the national police said. Volodymyr Artiukh, …
Read more “Russian drone attack on Sumy kills 2, injures 12, local authorities say”
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Russia gave North Korea anti-air missiles in exchange for deploying troops to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Seoul’s top security adviser said Friday. The United States and South Korea have accused the nuclear-armed North of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine, with experts saying Kim Jong Un was …
Read more “Russia gave North Korea anti-air missiles in exchange for troops, Seoul says”
VIENNA — The United Nations atomic watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution on Thursday again ordering Iran to urgently improve cooperation with the agency and requesting a “comprehensive” report aimed at pressuring Iran into fresh nuclear talks. Britain, France, Germany and the United States, which proposed the resolution, dismissed as insufficient and insincere a …
Read more “IAEA board orders Iran to cooperate more; West pushes Tehran toward talks”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Russia’s use of a fast, powerful new missile to attack the city of Dnipro on Thursday, calling it a “nuclear adventure” and a stark escalation in the war. The attack has ignited fears of a dangerous new phase in the war. In a nationwide address, Russian President Vladimir Putin later …
Read more “Russia’s use of advanced missile sends signal to West, analysts say”
VIENNA, AUSTRIA — Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s next foreign policy chief, is already sending signals that she will take a tough stance on Russia and China and be an advocate for a strong alliance between Europe and America. Kallas spoke to the European Parliament for the first time in her new role at a hearing …
Read more “New EU diplomat vows tough stance on China, strong alliance with US”
Washington — Several of Beijing’s leading trading partners are urging Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to pressure North Korea to stop or reverse its deployment of troops to Russia, where more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have joined the front lines in the war against Ukraine. The appeals at the past week’s twin summits …
Read more “North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia jeopardizes China’s balancing act”
Twelve people have been arrested in connection with a roof collapse at a railway station earlier this month that killed at least 15 people in the city of Novi Sad, Serbian prosecutors said Thursday. Novi Sad’s Higher Prosecutor’s Office said the suspects, who were not identified, were arrested on suspicion of committing criminal acts against …
Read more “Serbia arrests 12 in connection with railway station roof collapse”