Travels News
Pope Francis, ramping up his implicit criticism of Russia, on Friday called the war in Ukraine a “perverse abuse of power” waged for partisan interests which has condemned defenseless people to violence. The pope has not actually named Russia in his condemnations, but he has used phrases such as “unacceptable armed aggression” to get his …
Read more “Pope Calls Ukraine War ‘Perverse Abuse of Power’ for Partisan Interests”
President Joe Biden spoke with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for nearly two hours Friday, saying the U.S. wants Russian President Vladimir Putin to end to his war on Ukraine. Chinese state media said Xi told Biden that Beijing does not want crisis or conflict. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …
Three weeks ago, Haseeb Noori became a refugee — for a second time. The Afghan lawyer, 45, was living with his wife and five children at a makeshift refugee camp near the Ukrainian-Slovak border when Russian bombs started falling. “My children panicked, and we decided to leave and head for the border,” Noori said in …
Read more “War Drives Thousands of Afghan Refugees Out of Ukraine”
Ukrainian officials said Friday that they had yet to find any casualties in the ruins of a theater hit by a Russian airstrike this week in the southern city of Mariupol, as Russian forces continued to fire on Ukrainian cities and as negotiators from both countries sought common ground. So far, 130 people have been …
Read more “Civilians Survive Ukrainian Theater Bombing; Search for Others Continues “
In just three weeks, amid Russia’s invasion, an estimated 3 million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, including Poland where herculean efforts are underway to feed and care for the new arrivals. VOA’s Myroslava Gongadze reports from Medyka, a Polish town along the border with Ukraine. …
Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor has accused Google’s YouTube of “spreading threats against citizens of the Russian Federation” in a statement released Friday. “Earlier it became known that YouTube video hosting users are broadcasting commercials with calls to disable the railway communications of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus,” the statement added. “The actions …
Read more “Russia Says YouTube Users Spreading ‘Terrorist’ Threats”
When Iraqi-born American entrepreneur Emad Ballack watched footage of war breaking out in Ukraine from his office in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, he decided he had to act. As civilians started to pour out of the country, Ballack, who is an ethnic Kurd, began a four-day trip to Kyiv, a city he has called home …
Read more “Man Who Grew Up With War in Iraq Now in Kyiv Using His Business to Help”
“I was thinking of a hashtag, ‘Even Switzerland,’” Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud said half jokingly, noting that U.S. President Joe Biden had uttered this phrase in his State of the Union address as he highlighted the international reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On February 28, the Swiss Federal Council announced Switzerland was joining a growing …
Read more “Swiss Ambassador: Ukraine War Is Challenge to International Law”
Russian President Vladimir Putin used a rally before a packed soccer stadium on Friday to justify the invasion of Ukraine, promising tens of thousands of people waving Russian flags that all the Kremlin’s aims would be achieved. “We know what we need to do, how to do it and at what cost. And we will …
Read more “Putin Tells Mass Rally That Russia Will Prevail in Ukraine”
Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the fifth year running, in an annual U.N.-sponsored index that again ranked Afghanistan as the unhappiest, followed closely by Lebanon. Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania recorded the biggest boosts in wellbeing. The largest falls in the World Happiness table, released on Friday, came in Lebanon, Venezuela and …
Read more “Finland Crowned World’s Happiest Nation for Fifth Year”
Many western companies and brands have temporarily closed their locations in Russia or stopped selling products there. But officials for the some of the companies say they will continue to support their employees. Karina Bafradzhian has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Artyom Kohkan. …
Britain’s communications regulator has revoked the license of Russian-backed broadcaster RT amid investigations of its coverage of the Ukraine war. The regulator, Ofcom, said it a statement that it did not consider RT’s licensee, ANO TV Novosti, to be “fit and proper to hold a U.K. broadcast license.” Ofcom says Friday’s decision followed 29 ongoing …
Read more “British Regulator Revokes License of Russia-Backed Broadcaster RT”
A sixth-year medical student at Ternopil National Medical University in Ukraine, Dominic Oru, a Nigerian, was two months from completing his medical degree when Russian forces invaded the country on Feb. 24. Oru woke up that day to news about explosions in many Ukrainian cities. And, like hundreds of other students in Ternopil, he fled …
Read more “Nigerian Medical Students Who Fled Ukraine Continue Education Online”
Pallets loaded onto the Japanese Self-Defense Force cargo aircraft this month contained bulletproof vests, helmets, and other nonlethal military equipment – much different from the shoulder-fired missiles, drones, and other weapons many Western countries have sent to Ukrainians fighting Russia’s invasion. Japan’s decision to ship military equipment to Ukraine still marked a major step for …
Read more “More Assertive Japan Stands Up to Russia Over Ukraine”
Australia imposed sanctions on Friday on two Russian oligarchs with links to its mining industry, one of them a billionaire with an investment connection to Rio Tinto’s Gladstone alumina refinery joint venture. Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia was working in close cooperation with international partners to increase sanctions pressure on oligarchs close to Russian …
Read more “Australia Sanctions Russian Billionaires With Mining Industry Links”
According to U.S. and Ukrainian officials, Moscow’s efforts to win over the world with its accounts of events in Ukraine are doing no better than Russia’s military forces inside Ukraine. More often than not, they are meeting with stiff resistance. “Outside of Russia, we have not seen their information operations really find purchase,” a senior …
Read more “US Sees No Letup in Russian Influence Operations”
Ukrainian and Russian officials say they have made progress in negotiations toward a cease-fire in the 3-week war. Experts detect a shift in Russia’s demands as the war has gone on much longer than it planned. But U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he sees no evidence Russia is serious about diplomacy. VOA’s senior …
Read more “Blinken: No Evidence Russia Is Serious About Cease-Fire in Ukraine”
Ottawa announced Thursday it was establishing a new immigration program that would offer Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion a temporary Canadian residence permit for up to three years. Canada, which has a large Ukrainian diaspora, especially in the center and west of the country, said in a statement that “Ukrainians and their immediate family members …
Read more “Canada Offers 3 Years of Temporary Residency to Ukrainians”
The head of the World Health Organization said Thursday that “the lifesaving medicine” needed in Ukraine is peace. “Prolonged conflict is in nobody’s interests and will only prolong the suffering of the most vulnerable,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an emergency U.N. Security Council session on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine, which has …
Read more “UN: Ukraine’s Humanitarian Situation Worsening Daily”
While the United States and European Union are enforcing powerful financial and trade sanctions on Moscow and closing their airspace to Russian airplanes, Turkey strongly opposes such measures, arguing they are counterproductive. As a result, concerns are growing that Turkey is helping Russians to circumvent the sanctions, said Timothy Ash, an emerging-markets analyst with London-based …
Read more “Turkey’s Opposition to Russian Sanctions Stokes Suspicions of Sanctions-Busting “
An American man was killed in a Russian attack on the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, where he was seeking medical treatment for his partner. The death of Jim Hill was reported Thursday by his sister. “My brother Jimmy Hill was killed yesterday in Chernihiv, Ukraine. He was waiting in a bread line with several …
Read more “American Among Civilians Killed in Russian Attack in Ukraine”
VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb interviews AFRICOM commander Gen. Stephen Townsend. Their conversation touches on Somalia, Russia, China and Iran. …
Washington turned its gaze at Beijing on Thursday, with U.S. President Joe Biden scheduling a rare phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a high-stakes conversation as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy begged the world for help fighting against a three-week Russian invasion. China has played an increasingly important role in the conflict amid reports that …
Read more “Ukraine President Appeals for Help as US Gaze Turns to China”
Russian attacks on civilians in Ukraine are pushing millions out of the country. While most have fled through Poland, more than 300,000 refugees have gone through Moldova, very close to the Ukrainian city of Odesa. Jon Spier narrates this report by Ricardo Marquina at Palanka. …