Category: World

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On March 17, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova. They are charged with responsibility for the illegal deportation of children from occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia. …

PARIS — Vandals targeted France’s high-speed train network with a series of coordinated actions that brought major disruption to some of the country’s busiest rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony Friday. The state-owned railway operator said arsonists had targeted installations along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, …

Read more “Arsonists attack French railways hours before Olympic ceremony”

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia overnight attacked Ukrainian energy facilities in two regions with drones, disrupting electricity supplies, Ukraine’s national power grid operator said Friday. Power supplies have, however, been already restored to most consumers in the northern Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions, Ukrenergo said. Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 20 out of the 22 Russian attack drones launched …

Read more “Russian drones attack Ukrainian power facilities overnight, causing disruptions”

Washington — Over the past three weeks, Shirali Abdurehim, a 39-year-old Uyghur honey seller in Istanbul, has been detained in an immigration detention center. Abdurehim, a father of nine children, has lived in Turkey with his wife since 2013 as a refugee after fleeing repression in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China. He is …

Read more “Rights advocates cite uptick in Uyghur refugee detentions in Turkey”

kyiv, ukraine — The former prisoners of war still puzzle over the strange events leading up to the night now seared into their memories, when an explosion ripped through the Russian-controlled Olenivka prison barracks and killed so many comrades two years ago. Among the survivors: Kyrylo Masalitin, whose months in captivity and long beard age him …

Read more “2 years after Ukrainian POW prison attack, survivors and leaked UN analysis point to Russia as culprit”

Athens — Greece formally approved an offer to buy 20 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from the United States as part of a major defense overhaul, government officials said Thursday. “The letter of acceptance for the F-35s has been signed and sent to the United States,” Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said while visiting a military air base …

Read more “Greece signs deal to buy 20 US-made F-35 jets in major military overhaul”

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WASHINGTON — Retired Army Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, who was chief of staff on former President Donald Trump’s national security council, spoke with VOA about his vision for ending the war in Ukraine. Kellogg says he is not a formal adviser to the former president and has not presented his plan to Trump, but it is …

Read more “Former Trump NSC official explains his vision for ending war in Ukraine”

In the internationally accepted economic ranking by nominal GDP, the U.S. remains the world’s leading economy, while Russia ranks 11th. Volodin referred to Russia’s ranking by the purchasing power parity, or PPP, not the actual size and strength of the economy. …

New Delhi — The United Nations’ cultural agency rejected recommendations Wednesday to place Stonehenge on the list of world heritage sites in danger over concerns that Britain’s plans to build a nearby highway tunnel threaten the landscape around the prehistoric monument. Stonehenge was built on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain in southern England in stages, …

Read more “UN cultural agency rejects plan to place Britain’s Stonehenge on list of heritage sites in danger”

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Berlin, Germany — Forced to choose between its ambitious climate goals and a major loss of electric vehicle market share to China, the European Union opted to protect its carmakers. But analysts say the long-term effect on efforts to reduce greenhouse gases remains to be seen. Provisional duties of up to 37.6% on Chinese-made EVs imposed …

Read more “EU’s tariffs on Chinese EVs could slow progress on bloc’s green goals”

Paris — French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday he will keep a centrist caretaker government on through the Olympics to avoid “disorder,” brushing aside an 11th-hour prime minister nomination by the country’s leftist coalition. Macron made his widely expected announcement in a TV interview late Tuesday. Just prior to that appearance, the leftist coalition that won …

Read more “France’s Macron will keep centrist caretaker government on through Olympics”

TOKYO — Russia has banned the head of Toyota and 12 other senior Japanese business figures from entering the country, prompting a protest by Tokyo on Wednesday. The list published by Russia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday includes Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda, Rakuten chief Hiroshi Mikitani and Akihiko Tanaka, president of the government-backed Japan International Cooperation Agency. …

Read more “Russia bans entry of top Japanese executives”

LONDON — Britain’s royal family on Wednesday set out its latest plans to reduce its carbon footprint, including the installation of heat pumps at the centuries-old Windsor Castle near London. Other environmentally friendly initiatives include the electrification of the royal family’s luxury fleet of vehicles, including the Bentley State Limousines. King Charles III, a life-long environmentalist, …

Read more “British royal family announces plan to reduce carbon emissions”

Rights groups accuse French authorities of “social cleansing” ahead of the Paris Olympics by uprooting migrants, sex workers and others around the capital — undermining promises of making these Games the most inclusive ever. The government says it’s simply trying to address a longstanding problem. Lisa Bryant has more from the French capital. …

WASHINGTON — The United States has invited the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for U.S.-mediated cease-fire talks starting on August 14 in Switzerland, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.  The talks will include the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations as observers, Blinken said in a …

Read more “US invites Sudan’s warring parties for talks in Switzerland in August”

Budapest, Hungary — Hungary’s foreign minister voiced indifference on Tuesday over a decision by the European Union’s top diplomat to shift an EU ministers’ meeting from Budapest to Brussels in a sign of disapproval over Hungary’s initial use of the EU presidency. “It was all the same to me in the beginning, and it’s all the …

Read more “Hungary’s foreign minister indifferent to shift of EU meeting away from Budapest”

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Washington — Russia and China on Tuesday pushed back against a U.S. warning over their increasing military and economic cooperation in the Arctic, where climate change is opening up greater competition. Russia has in recent years beefed up its military presence in the Arctic by reopening and modernizing several bases and airfields abandoned since the end …

Read more “China, Russia push back over Washington’s Arctic warning “