Travels News. Throughout history, people have transported new information through oral means. Having developed in China over centuries, newspapers became established in Europe during the early modern period. In the 20th century, radio and television became an important means of transmitting news. Whilst in the 21st, the internet has also begun to play a similar role
Only dialogue and diplomacy can end the devastating war in Ukraine, with total victory on the battlefield impossible for either warring party, members of a group of prominent former world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela said Friday. The group, known as The Elders, delivered that message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, telling him on a …
Read more “Global Statesmen: Only Diplomacy Can End Ukraine War”
A fire in a cafe in the Russian city of Kostroma killed 15 people and injured five others Saturday, local authorities said. The blaze erupted in the early hours after someone apparently used a flare gun during a dispute, authorities said. Rescuers were able to evacuate 250 people. The governor of the Kostroma region, Sergei …
Read more “15 Killed in Russia Cafe Blaze After Flare Gun Discharged”
Russia’s “newly mobilized conscripts likely have minimal training or no training at all,” Britain’s defense ministry said Saturday in its intelligence update. The report said that “Russia is probably struggling to provide military training for its current mobilization drive and its annual autumn conscription intake. The Russian Armed Forces were already stretched providing training for …
Read more “Britain Says Russian Conscripts Receive Little to No Training”
Nineteen-year-old-year-old Mykyta wants to be a doctor, but not right now. Instead, he, like other young men and women in Ukraine, has volunteered to join the fight against invading Russian troops. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. VOA footage and video editing by Paviel Syhodolskiy. …
Europe’s challenges in formulating a common approach to China were on display this week as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz set out on a high-profile visit to Beijing while lawmakers from seven European countries and the European Union were winding up a show of solidarity in Taiwan. The eight lawmakers — from Belgium, Britain, the Czech …
Read more “European Lawmakers Visit Taiwan, Taking Different Path from Scholz”
Two U.S. senators met with families in Ukraine’s capital Thursday and promised continued humanitarian support for the war-torn country as winter nears. Democrat Chris Coons and Republican Rob Portman emphasized their commitment to the people of Ukraine while visiting a distribution center in Kyiv and speaking to families bracing for a dark, cold season with …
Read more “US Senators in Ukraine Promise Continued Aid Ahead of Winter”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is making his first visit to China as German leader this week, a diplomatically delicate trip while Germany and the European Union work on their strategy toward an increasingly assertive and authoritarian Beijing. Scholz’s messages will face close scrutiny. While his nearly year-old government has signaled a departure from predecessor Angela Merkel’s …
Read more “Germany’s Scholz Makes Difficult Visit to Assertive China”
A landmark deal to allow grain exports from Ukraine, which was back on track Wednesday after being briefly suspended, has played a crucial role in easing a global food crisis sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and signed by Moscow and Kyiv on July 22, the agreement …
Read more “Explainer: Why the Black Sea Grain Deal Is Vital for Global Food Security”
Europe has warmed more than twice as much as the rest of the world over the past three decades and has experienced the greatest temperature increase of any continent, according to a report by the World Meteorological Organization. The report on the state of the climate in Europe follows a summer of extremes. A record-breaking …
Read more “Report: Europe Warms More Than Any Other Continent in Last 3 Decades “
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is scheduled to meet with China’s Xi Jinping on Friday. Scholz heads a delegation of business executives as the first EU leader to visit China since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The visit comes less than two weeks after China’s leader Xi Jinping secured an unprecedented third term. VOA’s Mandarin …
Read more “Businessman Sees ‘End of an Era’ After 30 Years in China”
[[A series of prisoner swaps between Ukraine and Russia — the latest of which came on October 17 — are bringing relief and joy to the families of the released. But human rights activists say that an unknown number of Ukrainians — including some who were captured at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol — …
Read more “Families of Captured Ukrainian Fighters Describe Ordeal of Not Knowing Their Fate”
Ahead of the COP27 climate talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh next week, there are concerns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reversed progress on tackling global warming, diverting the world’s attention from the climate emergency. However, there is also some optimism that the energy crisis is turning some countries away from fossil …
Read more “COP27: Will Ukraine War Destroy Progress on Tackling Climate Emergency?”
In Turkey, the right of women to wear religious headscarves has once again become the subject of political debate. With elections less than a year away, the leaders of the country’s main political parties are vowing to legally enshrine women’s rights to wear religious attire, an issue that for decades was the center of a …
Read more “Debate over Headscarves Returns to Turkish Politics Ahead of Polls”
An overwhelming majority of killings of journalists across the world go unpunished, a United Nations agency reported on Wednesday. “Impunity for killings of journalists remains unacceptably high at 86 percent,” said UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organization whose brief includes media issues. UNESCO called for “all necessary measures to ensure that crimes committed against journalists …
Read more “Most Murders of Journalists Go Unpunished: UNESCO”
The Dutch government on Tuesday ordered China to immediately close “police stations” in the Netherlands, which reports say were used to harass dissidents. The police posts in Amsterdam and Rotterdam purported to offer diplomatic assistance but they had not been declared to the Netherlands government, Dutch media reported last month. The reports followed an investigation …
Read more “Netherlands Tells China to Close ‘Police Stations’”
In the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the positions held by Russian forces, an artillery unit waits for the signal. “Ready!” The four soldiers duck and put their hands over their ears. “Fire!” The shell shoots out of the cannon toward the Russian forces in a burst of flames and …
Read more “Ukraine’s 58th Brigade in the Heart of the Bakhmut Mire”
As Ukrainian forces continue to battle Russian troops in the east and south of the country, Europe and the United States are considering additional pressure to convince Russia’s Vladimir Putin to end its invasion. VOA’s Misha Komadovsky sat down with former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul to discuss his proposals for new sanctions against …
After fleeing Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, two women found find themselves in an unlikely shelter – Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia, Bulgaria. Tatiana Vorozhko has the story. VOA footage by Svitlana Koval. Video editing – Kostiantyn Golubchyk. …
Greek authorities have launched a major search and rescue operation for dozens of migrants missing after a boat they were traveling on from Turkey overturned and sank in rough weather overnight between the islands of Evia and Andros. The coast guard said Tuesday that nine people, all men, had been found on an uninhabited rocky …
Read more “Greece: Dozens Missing After Boat Carrying Migrants Sinks”
Ukrainian officials called for Russia to be isolated from international bodies after Russian forces carried out attacks on infrastructure targets in multiple Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said Tuesday Russia should be expelled from the G-20 group of nations and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to this month’s G-20 summit in Indonesia …
Read more “Ukraine Calls for Isolating Russia After Latest Missile Attacks”
October’s Turkish energy deal with Libya’s Government of National Accord is the latest flashpoint in growing tensions between Turkey and Greece. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the effects of the rivalry are spreading in regions of Europe and the Mideast. …
Afghan special forces soldiers who fought alongside American troops and then fled to Iran after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal last year are now being recruited by the Russian military to fight in Ukraine, three former Afghan generals told The Associated Press. They said the Russians want to attract thousands of the former elite Afghan commandos …
Read more “Russia Recruiting US-trained Afghan Commandos, Former Generals Say”
The prices of wheat and corn jumped sharply in global trading Monday, after Russia’s announcement over the weekend that it could no longer “guarantee the safety” of civilian cargo ships in the Black Sea and would pull out of a deal that established a humanitarian maritime corridor there. While shipments of grain from Ukrainian ports …
Read more “Global Food Prices Rise with Ukraine-Russia Agreement in Doubt”
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Turkey’s bid to shut down lawsuits in U.S. courts stemming from a violent brawl outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington more than five years ago that left anti-government protesters badly beaten. The justices did not comment in turning away Turkey’s arguments that American law shields foreign countries from …
Read more “Supreme Court Rejects Turkey’s Bid to Stop US Brawl Lawsuits”