Travels News
Here’s a look at what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats have been doing this week: US, Russia, Ukraine Following consultations with various European partners as well as Ukraine, the United States and NATO provided written responses to Moscow addressing Russia’s renewed security demands — the latest moves in diplomatic maneuvering aimed at heading off armed conflict. …
British police said Wednesday they were holding two more men in connection with an armed hostage-taking at a Texas synagogue by a man from northwest England. Malik Faisal Akram took four people, including a rabbi, hostage on January 15 at the synagogue in the small town of Colleyville. He was shot dead by the FBI …
Read more “UK Police Arrest 2 More in Texas Synagogue Attack”
The United States and NATO have provided written responses to Moscow, addressing Russia’s renewed security demands, following consultations with various European partners as well as Ukraine — the latest moves in diplomatic maneuvering aimed at heading off armed conflict. U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan delivered the document in person Wednesday to Russia’s Foreign Ministry. …
Read more “US Responds to Russia’s Security Demands, Renewing Call for Diplomacy”
A former Irish army soldier justified jihad suicide bombings while attending a mosque in Ireland before she joined the Islamic State group in Syria, a Dublin court was told Wednesday. Lisa Smith, 39, is on trial accused of being a member of the Islamist extremists after traveling to war-ravaged Syria in 2015. She has pleaded …
Read more “Ex-Irish Soldier Justified Jihad Before Joining IS, Witness Says”
The fight against corruption has stagnated amid human rights abuses and democratic declines in all regions of the world, according to an analysis by the group Transparency International. Henry Ridgwell has details from London. …
Russia doesn’t have enough troops in place to mount a “full-scale invasion,” according to Ukraine’s foreign minister. Dmytro Kuleba told reporters, “The number of Russian troops massed along the border of Ukraine and occupied territories of Ukraine is large, it poses a threat to Ukraine, a direct threat to Ukraine; however, at the moment, as …
Russia on Wednesday rejected the prospect of U.S. sanctions against President Vladimir Putin, one of several proposed responses if Russian forces were to invade neighboring Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that such sanctions would not be politically painful, but would be “destructive.” U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned of “severe” and “enormous” …
Read more “Russia Rejects Biden Warning of ‘Severe’ Actions if it Invades Ukraine”
Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France are holding talks Wednesday in Paris amid tensions at the Russia-Ukraine border. Western nations have expressed concern about the deployment of more than 100,000 Russian troops in the area and the prospect of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia denies it has such plans and has sought guarantees …
Read more “Russian, Ukrainian Officials Take Part in Paris Talks Amid Tensions”
The Biden administration has been working with European countries and energy producers around the world on ways to supply fuel to Western European countries should Russian President Vladimir Putin slash oil and gas exports in retaliation for sanctions imposed for an invasion of Ukraine. “We’ve been working to identify additional volumes of non-Russian natural gas …
Read more “Energy Contingency Plan in Motion Amid Russia-Ukraine Crisis “
Kazakhstan’s leader has trumpeted ambitious economic reforms following the worst unrest in the country of 19 million in three decades. The measures are aimed at reducing the state’s deep involvement in the economy, bridging the gap between the wealthy minority and the struggling majority — and eliminating triggers for further turmoil. Experts say the announced …
Read more “Explainer: What Post-unrest Reforms Is Kazakhstan Proposing?”
Russia says it is watching “with great concern” a U.S. move to put 8,500 troops on alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe, amid fears a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent. As VOA’s senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine reports, diplomatic efforts continue as the U.S. and NATO boost their military deterrence. …
Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere has described as “serious” and “genuine” the talks his country hosted this week between the Taliban and Afghan civil society activists as well as Western diplomats regarding the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The three-day talks concluded Tuesday amid protests and criticism, particularly from Afghan rights groups, of Norway’s …
Read more “ Norway Defends Hosting Talks with Afghan Taliban”
The United States warned Russia Tuesday that it would face faster and far more severe economic consequences if it invades Ukraine than it did when Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. “We are prepared to implement sanctions with massive consequences that were not considered in 2014,” a national security official told reporters in Washington. …
Read more “US Warns Russia Economic Sanctions Would Be Sharper Than in 2014”
Why won’t Russia’s Vladimir Putin let Ukraine go? He might not be able to, according to a former head of Britain’s MI6 external intelligence agency, Alex Younger. In an interview Tuesday with the BBC, Younger said he cannot see how the Russian leader can back down as fears mount that Putin is poised to order …
Read more “Putin ‘Playing Poker Rather Than Chess,’ Says Former UK Spy Chief”
A French national who has been in Iranian custody since May 2020 was sentenced Tuesday by an Iranian court to eight years and eight months in prison for spying. Benjamin Briere, 36, was accused by Iranian authorities of flying a drone equipped with a camera near the Turkmenistan-Iran border. He was convicted of spying and …
Read more “Iran Sentences French Citizen to 8 Years for Spying”
A severe snowstorm battering Greece is growing into a political crisis with the main opposition leader calling on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to resign and hold snap elections. The call comes after thousands of people were left trapped along a main highway near the capital, Athens. The Greek government’s response to the storm is being …
Read more “Severe Snowstorm in Greece Grows Into Political Crisis”
London police said Tuesday they were investigating Downing Street lockdown parties in 2020 to determine if U.K. government officials violated coronavirus restrictions, putting further pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The Metropolitan Police Service has launched an inquiry into “a number of events” at Downing Street because they met the force’s criteria for investigating the …
Read more “London Police Investigating Lockdown Parties at British PM’s Offices “
Most countries have made little to no progress in bringing down corruption levels over the past decade, and authorities’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic in many places has weighed on accountability, a closely watched study by an anti-graft organization found Tuesday. Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures the perception of public sector corruption …
Read more “Report: Anti-corruption Fight Is Stalled, COVID Not Helping”
Russia has added jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny and several of his allies to its list of “terrorists and extremists,” as the government continues its assault on the country’s civil society. The entries for Navalny and five of his associates — Lyubov Sobol, Vyacheslav Gimadi, Georgy Alburov, Lilia Chanysheva, and Ruslan Shaveddinov — appeared in the register …
A Slovenian business group has said its members are facing a Chinese backlash days after Prime Minister Janez Jansa publicly discussed his hopes for closer ties with Taiwan during an interview. It marks the latest case of China refusing to tolerate dissent on the issue of Taiwan’s autonomy. On January 17, Jansa told Indian media that …
Read more “Slovenian Trade Group Reports Chinese Backlash After PM Praises Taiwan”
Washington has put 8,500 military personnel on heightened alert for possible deployment to Europe and will evacuate some embassy personnel from Ukraine, as tensions rise between Russia and NATO countries over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s continued mobilization of troops near the Ukrainian border. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington. …
In the months since Russia began massing troops on the border of Ukraine, the Biden administration has, on multiple occasions, warned that any further aggression by Moscow toward its neighbor would be met with unprecedented levels of sanctions. Now, the White House appears to be dropping some specific hints about what those sanctions might look …
Read more “Biden Administration Considers Technology Sanctions if Russia Invades Ukraine”
U.S. President Joe Biden is meeting virtually Monday afternoon with key European leaders about the ongoing threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine as he weighs sending several thousand U.S. troops to the Baltics and Eastern Europe. Biden has not decided whether to move U.S. military equipment and personnel closer to Russia. But White House …
Read more “Biden Meeting with European Leaders About Threat of Russian Invasion of Ukraine”
A gunman at a German university on Monday killed one and wounded three during a lecture in the school’s auditorium before fatally shooting himself. The incident took place at the University of Heidelberg in southwestern Germany, and police say the man appears to have acted alone. “We assume that there was only one …
Read more “Lone Gunman Opens Fire at Germany’s Heidelberg University”