Category: News

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who was swept to power in pro-democracy protests in 2018, triggered an early election on Sunday to try overcome criticism over his handling of last year’s conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.   His resignation, which was expected, came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden said that massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire …

Read more “Armenian PM Triggers Early Election a Day after Biden’s Genocide Announcement”

Armenians in the Middle East, in modern-day Armenia and in other parts of the world on Saturday marked the 106th anniversary of the beginning of what historians call the Armenian genocide.Hundreds gathered at the Armenian Patriarchate north of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, for the observance. The head of the Armenian Orthodox Church of Cilicia, Aram I, …

Read more “Armenians Mark Anniversary of Ottoman-era Genocide in Middle East, Yerevan”

England’s football authorities have joined forces to announce a social media boycott next weekend in response to continued online racist abuse of players.The boycott will take place across a full fixture program in the men’s and women’s professional game from 3 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) on Friday to 11.59 p.m. on May 3.Clubs across …

Read more “Soccer-English Leagues Announce Social Media Boycott in Stand Against Online Racism”

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has refused to rule out a ban from next season’s Champions League for all 12 clubs involved in trying to set up a breakaway European Super League.But Ceferin also told Britain’s Mail on Sunday that the six English clubs — Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United — deserve …

Read more “UEFA President: Ban Against Super League Teams Still on the Table”

U.S. President Joe Biden’s recognition of the Armenian genocide was met Saturday with tempered satisfaction from the nation’s U.S. diaspora, with some saying the words need to result in more pressure against Turkey.”It’s a middle step, because (Biden) didn’t say Turkey,” said Yvette Gevorkian, who was among some 400 people who marched in New York …

Read more “US Armenians Welcome ‘Little Step’ After Genocide Recognition”

Three Ukrainian television channels linked to an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin were blocked from broadcasting on Google’s YouTube on Saturday, the Ukrainian government said, following its request to YouTube to have the channels taken down.The YouTube channels of ZiK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne did not play their content and instead showed a blank …

Read more “Ukraine: YouTube Blocks Access to Ukrainian TV Channels Tied to Kremlin Ally”

U.S. President Joe Biden recognized Saturday the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.   Biden’s recognition of the mass killings fulfills a campaign promise and came on the same day that Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day was observed in Armenia and by the Armenian diaspora.   “Each year on …

Read more “Biden Recognizes Armenian Genocide a Century Ago”

Belarus’ authoritarian leader said Saturday that he would change the law on presidential succession so that power in the Eastern European nation will be transferred if he dies to the national security council, where his son plays a prominent role.Many observers have suggested that President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled with an iron fist since …

Read more “Belarus Leader Seeks to Empower Son in Succession Move”

French authorities have arrested three people in connection with the stabbing death of a police worker outside Paris Friday, as they explore possible terrorism motives of the assailant, who was killed by police.     Media report the three people detained include a father and two people who sheltered the 36-year-old Tunisian, who stabbed a …

Read more “3 Arrested as France Investigates Paris-Area Stabbing Attack”

U.S. President Joe Biden recognized Saturday the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.   Biden’s recognition of the mass killings fulfills a campaign promise and came on the same day that Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day was observed in Armenia and by the Armenian diaspora.   “Each year on …

Read more “Biden Recognizes Atrocities Against Armenians as Genocide”

Claims that Russian troops are beginning to pull back from positions in Crimea and along the Russian border with Ukraine are being met with caution in the West, where officials are demanding that Moscow be more transparent and refrain from additional saber-rattling.Western officials said Friday that they were watching the situation “very, very closely” but …

Read more “US, West Wary of Russian Claims That Military Buildup Near Ukraine Is Over”

U.S. President Joe Biden praised world leaders for coming together on climate change and urged them to make good on promises as he closed a virtual climate change summit hosted from the White House.“The commitments we’ve made must become real,” Biden said Friday on the last day of the two-day summit that involved 40 world …

Read more “Biden Urges World Leaders to Keep Promises on Climate Following Summit”

U.S. officials have indicated President Joe Biden will likely soon recognize that the systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago was genocide.  As VOA Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports, he would be the first American president to do so. Camera:  Dilge Timocin,  Aram Avetisyan …

U.N. agencies have delivered 23 tons of hygiene items to civilians in the rebel-controlled part of eastern Ukraine, the United Nations said Friday.This was the second time this month that a U.N.-organized humanitarian convoy had been allowed to cross the 500-kilometer contact line, which separates Ukrainian government forces from the Russian-backed rebels. The first delivery …

Read more “UN Delivers Humanitarian Aid to Separatist-controlled Parts of Ukraine “

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny announced Friday he is ending his hunger strike after he was examined by a panel of civilian doctors.   Navalny made the announcement from his Instagram account. He began the hunger strike March 31 to protest what he said was a lack of medical care for severe back and leg …

Read more “Russian Opposition Leader Navalny to End Hunger Strike”

“Thirty years of infidelity” is how France’s current affairs magazine Marianne describes Germany’s relationship with France. An issue this month was devoted to how Germany has been “fleecing France” for years.Marianne isn’t alone in fulminating against Germany. French frustrations with Germany appear to be mounting, judging by French media criticism of its European neighbor.Conservative magazine, …

Read more “French Complain of Germany’s ‘Political Infidelity’”

Police officials in Rambouillet, France, say a man attacked and killed a police administrator Friday with a knife outside a police station in the southwest suburb of Paris. The officials say at least one police officer at the scene opened fire on the assailant – identified as a 36-year-old Tunisian national living in France – …

Read more “French Police Administrator Killed in Knife attack”

Germany’s health minister said Friday the nation’s coronavirus vaccination program is picking up momentum just as “emergency brake” COVID-19 restrictions go into effect across the country to slow the spread of the virus.   The German parliament this week gave approval to measures granting emergency powers the Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to implement nationwide shutdowns, …

Read more “German Health Minister: ‘Emergency Brake’ To Be Applied Saturday”

As many as 130 people died this week in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Safa Msehli, IOM spokeswoman said “For two days, the NGO Alarm Phone, which is responsible for sending distress calls to the relevant maritime rescue centers in the Mediterranean region had been calling …

Read more “IOM Says Up to 130 Dead as Boat Overturns in Mediterranean”

The White House brought out the billionaires, the CEOs and the union executives Friday to help sell President Joe Biden’s vision of a climate-friendly transformation of the U.S. economy at his virtual summit of world leaders.The closing day of the two-day summit on climate change showcased Bill Gates and Mike Bloomberg, steelworker and electrical union …

Read more “Climate Summit Day 2: Invest for Big Payoff – WATCH LIVE”

The killing of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis last year sparked Black Lives Matter protests around the world, alongside demands for a reexamination of injustice, racism and colonial history.Now, how will the guilty verdicts rendered this week against Floyd’s murderer — white former police Officer Derek Chauvin — influence those demands for change?Britain was …

Read more “Will Conviction in Floyd Case Deliver Global Change?”

Athletes who make political or social justice protests at the Tokyo Olympics were promised legal support Thursday by a global union and an activist group in Germany.The pledges came one day after the International Olympic Committee confirmed its long-standing ban on “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda” on the field of play, medal podiums …

Read more “Olympic Athletes Promised Legal Support if They Protest”

The police killing of the 46-year-old Black man George Floyd in Minneapolis last year sparked Black Lives Matter protests around the world – and demands for a re-examination of injustice, racism and colonial history. So how will the guilty verdicts handed down this week against Floyd’s murderer – former police officer Derek Chauvin – influence those global demands for …

Read more “George Floyd’s Killing Spawned Global Movement for Racial Justice. Will His Murderer’s Conviction Deliver Change?”

Pakistan’s parliament will resume debating the fate of the French ambassador Friday after the government appeared, for now, to put a lid on bloody anti-France protests that rocked the country for a week.A resolution calls for debate on whether to expel the French envoy, for the national assembly to condemn Western blasphemy, for Muslim nations …

Read more “Pakistan Parliament to Resume Debate on French Envoy’s Expulsion”