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In early December, Ukrainian officials said they estimated 10,000 to 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. We visited Lviv to meet with some of the families that have lost loved ones in the war. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Camera: Yuriy Dankevych …
Germany will supply Ukraine with around 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles within weeks as part of a new phase of support coordinated with the US, a government spokesman said on Friday. U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Thursday that both their countries will send powerfully armed infantry fighting vehicles to …
Read more “Germany to Send Ukraine 40 Armored Vehicles by Spring”
“Militias from the Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) and Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) were formally integrated into the Russian armed forces on 31 December 2022,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said Friday in its update on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, posted on Twitter. Luhansk and Donetsk are both internationally recognized as being part of Ukraine. However, Russia …
Read more “UK: Luhansk and Donetsk Formally Integrated into Russian Armed Forces”
Britain’s Prince Harry says his older brother and heir to the throne Prince William knocked him to the floor during a 2019 argument over Harry’s American wife, Meghan, in his much-awaited memoir, which went on sale days early in Spain on Thursday. In his book Spare, Harry also discloses how the brothers, the sons of …
Read more “Prince Harry’s Memoir Sheds Light on Bust-ups Among British Royals”
France announced it will send light tanks to Ukraine, a French official said on Wednesday after a phone call between the two countries’ leaders. French President Emmanuel Macron told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that France would send light AMX-10 RC armored combat vehicles — a light tank model the French military has used since the …
Read more “France to Deliver Light Armored Vehicles to Ukraine”
The deadliest Ukrainian strike on Russian troops reported so far has reignited criticism of Moscow’s mobilization drive and laid bare a lack of trust in officials almost a year into the offensive. The Russian army announced 89 soldiers were killed when Kyiv struck a temporary base in the Russian-occupied town of Makiivka with U.S.-supplied rockets …
Read more “Unease, Questions and Some Apathy in Russia After Ukraine Strike”
The corruption scandal at the European Parliament deepened this week as officials said they would seek to lift immunity on two more lawmakers accused of taking bribes from Qatar. The Gulf state has warned that the investigation could impact economic ties between Europe and Qatar, a key emerging supplier of energy to the EU as …
Read more “European Gas Deals at Risk as Qatar Corruption Scandal Deepens “
The corruption scandal at the European Parliament deepened this week as officials said they would seek to lift the immunity of two more lawmakers accused of taking bribes from the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the investigation could impact economic ties between Europe and Qatar, a key supplier of energy. …
The U.S. Treasury Department said Thursday it was taking joint action with Turkey against a network it said played a key role in money management, transfer and distribution for the Islamic State group operating in Iraq and Syria. Turkey has frozen the assets of members to the network, who also were added to the U.S. …
Read more “US, Turkey Target Financial Network Linked to Islamic State, US Treasury Says”
Mourners pour into St. Peter’s Square for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to pay their final respects to the German theologian who made history by retiring and to participate in a rare requiem Mass for a dead pontiff presided over by a living one, The Associated Press reports. …
Pope Francis presided at the funeral of former Pope Benedict on Thursday, delivering a homily comparing his predecessor to Jesus before tens of thousands of mourners in St. Peter’s Square. To the sound of tolling bells, 12 pallbearers had carried the wooden coffin holding Benedict’s remains out of St. Peter’s Basilica and placed it on …
Read more “Pope Benedict to be Buried Under St. Peter’s Basilica”
Mourners poured into St. Peter’s Square early Thursday for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to pay their final respects to the German theologian who made history by retiring and to participate in a rare requiem Mass for a dead pontiff presided over by a living one. Thick fog shrouded the Vatican before dawn …
Read more “Thousands Gather in St. Peter’s Square for the Funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI”
Pope Francis will preside at a funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday for his predecessor, former Pope Benedict, who died Saturday at 95. More than 60,000 people are expected to attend. There will be official delegations from Italy and Benedict’s native Germany. Other leaders, including the king and queen of Belgium and the …
Read more “The Funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict: What to Expect”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sent a frigate armed with the country’s latest Zircon hypersonic missile on a trans-ocean cruise in a show of force as tensions with the West escalate over the war in Ukraine. Russia says the Zircon missile can evade any Western air defenses by flying at an astounding 11,265 kilometer …
Read more “Russia’s Hypersonic Missile-Armed Ship to Patrol Global Seas”
Iran warned France on Wednesday of consequences after satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons depicting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Tehran deemed to be insulting. The weekly magazine had published dozens of cartoons ridiculing the highest religious and political figure in the Islamic republic as part of a competition it launched in December in …
Read more “Iran Warns France About ‘Insulting’ Khamenei Cartoons”
With Russian rockets targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and electrical grid, scientists in the northern city of Sumy, some 330 kilometers east of Kyiv, are hoping to start mass producing solar technology that could help keep the lights on. Olena Adamenko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera and video editing by Mykhailo Zaika. …
Journalists and their audiences in Belarus remain at risk of arrest, media analysts say, as authorities continue to persecute opposition voices. Even with a large number of journalists now living and working in exile, “repression against journalists in Belarus has not significantly decreased,” said Barys Haretsky, deputy chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists. In …
The first high-level talks between Turkey and Syria in over a decade held in Moscow last week reflect the common interests of the two nations in limiting the autonomy of Syrian Kurds, experts say. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said more talks are planned for later this month. Analysts speaking to VOA believe that if …
Read more “Is Assad-Erdogan Reconciliation Likely Before Turkey’s Elections?”
European Union regulators on Wednesday hit Facebook parent Meta with hundreds of millions in fines for privacy violations and banned the company from forcing users in the 27-nation bloc to agree to personalized ads based on their online activity. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission imposed two fines totaling 390 million euros ($414 million) in its decision …
Read more “Meta Fined 390 Million Euros in Latest European Privacy Crackdown”
A son of Equatorial Guinea’s long-ruling president is under investigation in connection with kidnapping and torture allegations that observers say will damage the president’s attempts to improve his international reputation. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 80, has ruled the oil-rich former Spanish colony since 1979, and after winning a sixth term in office in November, observers …
Read more “Spanish Court Investigates Equatorial Guinea Leader’s Son for Kidnapping”
Pope Francis praised Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s “acute and gentle thought” as he presided over a packed Wednesday general audience in the Vatican, while thousands of people paid tribute to the former pope on the final day of public viewing in St. Peter’s Basilica. Francis was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd in the Paul VI …
Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland got a formal welcome into the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, taking the two-year seats they won unopposed in June. In a tradition that Kazakhstan started in 2018, the five countries’ ambassadors installed their national flags Tuesday alongside those of other members outside the council chambers. Mozambican Ambassador Pedro …
Read more “UN Security Council Welcomes New Members; 2 are First-Timers”
Turkey on Tuesday hosted the leaders of Syria’s opposition in a bid to assuage their concern following its overtures to Damascus. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted images of his meeting in Ankara with the opposition Syrian National Council chief Mahmut al-Maslat and other leaders. The talks came less than a week after the defense chiefs …
Read more “Turkey Hosts Syria Opposition After Outreach to Assad”
Drone advances in Ukraine have accelerated a long-anticipated technology trend that could soon bring the world’s first fully autonomous fighting robots to the battlefield, inaugurating a new age of warfare. The longer the war lasts, the more likely it becomes that drones will be used to identify, select and attack targets without help from humans, …
Read more “Drone Advances in Ukraine Could Bring Dawn of Killer Robots”