The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday a new set of sanctions targeting Russia’s financial sector and its ability to fund its war with Ukraine, hitting Gazprombank as well as many other internationally connected financial institutions, entities and individuals. In a statement posted to its website, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the …
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HELSINKI — Police in Finland said Thursday they had detained five suspects in connection with deadly violence in southeastern Nigeria and were seeking a court extension of the detentions. The police did not identify the suspects, only saying that a dual Finnish-Nigerian citizen, born in the 1980s, was under criminal investigation. However, Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian …
Read more “Finnish police arrest 5 suspects over separatist violence in Nigeria”
Washington — A new survey of public opinion in Ukraine indicates that for the first time a slight majority of Ukrainians say they are ready to concede their lands for peace; however, other recent polls indicate opinions may be more complicated. The Gallup polls released Tuesday, conducted in August and October, found that 52 percent of …
Read more “Ukrainian opinion survey tracks fluctuating opinion on quick end to war”
London — British Defense Secretary John Healey is expected to face lawmakers’ questions Thursday on media reports Ukraine used British-donated Storm Shadow missiles on targets deep inside Russia for the first time Wednesday. Healey is to appear before the parliamentary Defense Committee Thursday morning. The hearing was scheduled before Wednesday’s reported attack. Both the British and …
Read more “UK defense secretary to be quizzed on Ukraine’s firing of British missiles into Russia”
GRINDAVIK, Iceland — A volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland has erupted for the seventh time since December. The eruption started with little warning at 11:14 p.m. Wednesday and created a fissure around 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) long. The activity is estimated to be considerably smaller than the previous eruption in August, Iceland’s meteorological …
Read more “Volcano on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula erupts for the 7th time in a year”
Ukrainian officials reported damage Thursday to an industrial site in the Dnipropetrovsk region after a series of Russian attacks. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said the attacks hit the city of Dnipro and also caused several fires. Volodymyr Artiukh, governor of Ukraine’s Sumy region, said on Telegram that Russian forces shelled areas along the border between …
Read more “Russian attack causes damage in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region”
HELSINKI, Finland — Finnish authorities said Wednesday they have opened an investigation into the rupture of a data cable under the Baltic Sea, adding to a Swedish probe into the possible sabotage of that link and another cable. The C-Lion1 cable, which runs between Finland and Germany was damaged on Monday, the day after similar damage …
Read more “Finnish authorities open probe into ruptured undersea cable between Finland, Germany”
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named Matt Whitaker, a former acting attorney general from his first presidency, as the U.S. ambassador to NATO, the cornerstone Western military alliance whose member countries Trump has criticized for not spending enough money on defense. In a statement, Trump described Whitaker, 55, as “a strong warrior and loyal …
Read more “Trump picks former acting attorney general as US envoy to NATO”
It’s reported that Ukraine has fired British-supplied Storm Shadow long-range missiles into Russia for the first time. It follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s reported decision earlier this week to approve the use of American longer-range missiles on targets deep inside Russia. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …
Some U.S. weapons deliveries to Ukraine may take place after President Joe Biden’s term ends in January, Pentagon officials tell VOA, noting it will take time for certain capabilities to arrive in Ukraine. “As you know, some equipment and some systems can get to Ukraine very quickly, and you’ve seen that happen within days or …
Read more “Some US weapons may be delivered to Ukraine after Biden’s term ends, Pentagon says”
Many Ukrainians welcome the U.S. decision to let Ukraine use U.S.-supplied missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. But on the streets of Ukraine’s capital, many also say they feel the decision, coming 1,000 days into the war, is too little too late. For VOA, Anna Chernikova reports from Kyiv. VOA footage by Vladyslav Smilianets. …
Read more “Too little too late? Ukrainians react to US permission to strike deep into Russia”
belgrade, serbia — Scuffles erupted for a second day Wednesday in a northern Serbian city between police and opposition protesters demanding arrests over a deadly roof collapse at the city’s railway station earlier this month. Anti-government protesters sought to block a courthouse in Novi Sad, where the roof collapse at the station on Nov. 1 killed …
STOCKHOLM — The Danish military said on Wednesday that it was staying close to a Chinese ship currently sitting idle in Danish waters, days after two fiber-optic data telecommunication cables in the Baltic Sea were severed. Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 was anchored in the Kattegat strait between Denmark and Sweden on Wednesday, with a …
Read more “Danish military says it’s staying close to Chinese ship after data cable breaches”
MADRID — Spain will legalize about 300,000 undocumented migrants a year, starting next May and through 2027, the country’s migration minister said Wednesday. The policy aims to expand the aging country’s workforce and allow foreigners living in Spain without proper documentation to obtain work permits and residency. Spain has largely remained open to receiving migrants even …
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BERLIN — China has overtaken Germany in the use of robots in industry, an annual report published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) showed on Wednesday, underscoring the challenges facing Europe’s biggest economy from Beijing. In terms of robot density, an important indicator for international comparisons of the automation of the manufacturing industry, South Korea …
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MOSCOW/IRTYSH VILLAGE, RUSSIA — Russian farmers say they will sow less wheat after heavy losses this year, switching to more profitable crops such as peas, lentils, or sunflowers. Such decisions will have direct implications for global wheat prices and inflation in major buyers like Egypt, as Russia is the world’s top exporter of the grain. The …
Read more “Russian farmers ditch wheat for other crops after heavy losses”
Rovaniemi, Finland — Thousands of NATO soldiers are taking part in large-scale artillery exercises in Finland’s Arctic this month, seen by some as a signal to neighboring Russia over its war on Ukraine. Sounds of cannon fire and rocket artillery echo across the snowy, hilly Lapland landscape as some 3,600 soldiers from the United States, Sweden, …
Read more “NATO holds large Arctic exercises in Russia’s backyard”
Russia and Ukraine each carried out widespread drone attacks Wednesday, while a U.S. official confirmed the United States will soon provide antipersonnel mines for use by Ukrainian forces. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down about 50 Ukrainian drones, with intercepts taking place over the Novgorad, Kursk, Oryol, Belgorod, Tula, Tver, Bryansk, Moscow and Smolensk …
Several international human rights organizations have raised alarm about Azerbaijan’s crackdown on rights defenders, government critics and journalists before the start of the COP29 climate change conference currently being held in its capital, Baku. “We urge every delegation attending COP29 to press the Azerbaijani government to end its clampdown on civil society, guarantee the rights …
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BARCELONA, Spain — Spain’s royal couple returned Tuesday to the area devastated by last month’s catastrophic flooding for the first time since enraged survivors pelted them and top elected officials with mud on their first visit to the disaster zone. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited the town of Chiva along with a central government …
Read more “Spain’s royals return to flood disaster zone for 1st time since being pelted by mud”
rio de janeiro — Leaders of the world’s largest economies ended their two-day G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro with a statement supporting the priorities of the Global South: climate change, poverty reduction and taxing billionaires. The Global South is generally considered to be developing countries, as well as Russia and China. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio …
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In Ukraine, wounded veterans who need long rehabilitation are mostly cared for by relatives. They face the difficult job with little help from the state. Lesia Bakalets has more from Kyiv. Camera: Vladyslav Smilianets …
China has asked Germany to support efforts to resolve a dispute between the European Union and Beijing over electric vehicle tariffs. Last month, the EU decided to raise tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China to as much as 45.3%. Beijing has been negotiating with the EU to repeal the tariffs and sees Germany – …
Read more “China’s Xi, Germany’s Scholz discuss EV tariffs, ‘broad market opportunities’”
TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday slammed as unjustified the new sanctions by the European Union and United Kingdom against Tehran over its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine. “While the president of Ukraine has admitted that no Iranian ballistic missiles have been exported to Russia, the measures of the European Union and United …