Category: World

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Beijing — China confirmed on Friday that it had sentenced a British national in 2022 to five years in jail for spying. It was its first official comment of a case that had gone unreported until this week. A Beijing court in 2022 “sentenced in the first instance the British defendant … to five years in …

Read more “China Says Brit Who Disappeared There in 2018 Was Sentenced as Spy in 2022”

LONDON — An American scientist has sparked a trans-Atlantic tempest in a teapot by offering Britain advice on its favorite hot beverage. Bryn Mawr College chemistry professor Michelle Francl says one of the keys to a perfect cup of tea is a pinch of salt. The tip is included in Francl’s book Steeped: The Chemistry of …

Read more “US Scientist Offers Britain Advice on Making Tea; Brits Aren’t Having It”

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Israel is set to hear Friday whether the United Nations’ top court will order it to end its military offensive in Gaza in a provisional ruling while the panel hears a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide. The International Court of Justice’s president, Joan E. Donoghue, will read out …

Read more “Top UN Court Set to Issue Preliminary Ruling in Genocide Case Against Israel”

SYDNEY — Thousands of Australians protested the anniversary of British colonization of their country with large crowds Friday urging for Australia Day to be moved and for a day of mourning on the holiday some call “Invasion Day.” The holiday marks the arrival of 11 British ships carrying convicts at Port Jackson in present-day Sydney on …

Read more “Australians Protest British Colonization on National Holiday Some Call ‘Invasion Day’”

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washington — Alsu Kurmasheva, an American journalist jailed in Russia on charges that press freedom groups say are politically motivated and baseless, marked 100 days in detention on Thursday, as her employer and family renewed calls for her immediate release. “To be honest, it’s all becoming slowly but surely less bearable,” Kurmasheva wrote in a January …

Read more “American RFE/RL Journalist Marks 100 Days Jailed in Russia”

paris — Youssouf Doucoure handed out flyers against tough French migration legislation under slate grey skies, as thousands of people poured into Paris’ elegant Trocadero Square on January 21 for a last-shot protest against the newly passed bill. “I would say it’s more politicians,” said 25-year-old Doucoure, who hails from Mali, of an uptick of anti-migrant …

Read more “In France and Elsewhere in Europe, Far Right Feeds on Anti-Migrant Sentiments”

The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are fueling Turkey’s interest in a new China-Europe trade route known as the Middle Corridor. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, Turkey’s support for the corridor is growing as Ankara makes a big turnaround in its previously frosty relations with Beijing. Dorian Jones reports. …

Baku, Azerbaijan — Efforts to free investigative journalist Hafiz Babali from prison in Azerbaijan failed last week when the Baku Court of Appeal denied a motion to release him to house arrest.   Babali, an editor at the independent Turan News Agency, was detained on December 13 on charges of “smuggling foreign currency” and ordered to …

Read more “Azeri Journalists Believe Media Arrests Are Retaliatory”

LONDON/WASHINGTON — Britain and the United States on Thursday said they had sanctioned four senior Houthi officials for their roles in supporting or directing attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthi attacks have disrupted global shipping and stoked fears of global inflation. They have also deepened concern that fallout from the Israel-Hamas war …

Read more “UK and US Sanction Senior Houthis Over Red Sea Shipping Attacks”

Tallinn, Estonia — A Russian court on Thursday sentenced a woman to 27 years in prison for a cafe blast that killed a prominent pro-war blogger after he was given a bust of himself that later exploded. In a separate proceeding, a Moscow court convicted a former leader of separatist rebels in Ukraine who called President …

Read more “Russian Court Jails Woman Convicted of Blast That Killed Pro-War Blogger”

Ukraine has resorted to a variety of methods to fend off invading Russian forces. One of the latest ones involves training dogs to accompany Ukrainian soldiers on their missions. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. VOA footage and video editing by Pavel Suhodolskiy. …

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal has asked Russia to send back hundreds of Nepali nationals who were recruited to fight against Ukraine and repatriate the bodies of those who died in the conflict, Nepal’s top diplomat said Thursday.  The Russian army is estimated to have recruited more than 200 Nepali nationals to fight in Ukraine and at …

Read more “Nepal Asks Russia to Return Nepalis Fighting in Ukraine “

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BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — Hungary’s parliamentary speaker said on Thursday there was no urgency in approving Sweden’s NATO membership bid after ratification by Turkey left only Budapest holding up the lengthy accession process. Turkey’s general assembly, where President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling alliance holds a majority, voted 287-55 to approve the application that Sweden first made in 2022 …

Read more “No Urgency’ to OK Sweden’s NATO Bid, Speaker of Hungary’s Parliament Says”

Montreal — A 10-year global study of positive doping tests by children and young teenagers showed most were tied to Russia, India and China, and in sports like weightlifting, athletics and cycling, the World Anti-Doping Agency said Wednesday. Diuretics, stimulants and anabolic steroids were the most commonly found substances in more than 1,500 positive tests involving …

Read more “Global Study of Doping Cases Involving Minors Points to Russia, India, China”

washington — Depending on what kinds of weapons technology Moscow transfers to Pyongyang, the United States and South Korea may need to update their measures for dealing with North Korean threats, said analysts.   John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesman, said the U.S. is watching “very closely” as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un …

Read more “Analysts: US, South Korea Should Be Ready for Russia-North Korea Alliance”

kyiv, ukraine — The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Wednesday that he’s worried that the war in Ukraine has been forgotten as the country prepares to mark two years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.  In an interview, UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi also told The Associated Press it was important to remind the …

Read more “UN Refugee Chief Worries War in Ukraine Is Being Forgotten”

Brussels, Belgium — NATO on Wednesday began its biggest military exercise since the Cold War, with a U.S. warship leaving the United States for transit across the Atlantic to alliance territory in Europe.  The Western military alliance has said some 90,000 troops will take part in the months-long Steadfast Defender 24 exercise designed to test its …

Read more “NATO Kicks Off Largest Military Exercise in Decades”

washington — As Ukrainian forces struggle to fend off Russia’s invasion with dwindling supplies of rockets and other munitions, some supporters are arguing that there is more the Biden administration could do to re-arm them without waiting for long-delayed congressional approval. The administration’s request for $61.4 billion in new military assistance is tied up in a …

Read more “Can the US Do More to Help Ukraine?”

Ankara — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi agreed at a meeting on Wednesday on the need to avoid steps that could further threaten Middle East stability three months into the Gaza war.  Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has harshly criticized Israel for its …

Read more “Erdogan: Turkey, Iran Agree on Need to Avoid Escalating Mideast Tensions”

Washington — The United States on Wednesday welcomed the Turkish parliament’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership bid this week and urged Ankara to formally finalize the process. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told a briefing that Washington was looking forward to Hungary, which has yet to approve Sweden’s NATO bid, moving along in the process.  …

Read more “US Says It Is Looking Forward to Turkey Finalizing Sweden’s NATO Process”