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STATE DEPARTMENT — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to depart Thursday for Munich and later this week will visit the Middle East amid an intensive diplomatic push to end Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, as well as efforts to follow up on U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for the post-war Gaza Strip. Preparations are …
Read more “Rubio heads to Munich amid diplomatic push for Ukraine peace deal”
Ukrainian forces are trying to slow down an ongoing Russian advance toward the city of Pokrovsk in Eastern Ukraine’s Dontesk region. The Ukrainian government has been evacuating civilians from the region, but constant shelling is making it dangerous. Kateryna Besedina has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. (Camera: Artyom Kokhan, Anna Rice) …
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said allies gathering Wednesday in Brussels would discuss the supply of military aid for Ukraine, including accelerating deliveries of key weapons such as air defense systems. Umerov’s comments came ahead of the latest meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a collection of 50 nations that has coordinated supplies for …
Ukrainian officials said Wednesday Russian forces launched overnight attacks involving ballistic missiles and more than 120 drones, killing at least one person in Kyiv. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that three other people also were injured as a result of the attacks. Kyiv emergency services reported fires and other damage at buildings in …
Russia’s emergency services said on Wednesday that it had rescued all 139 fishermen stranded on an ice floe drifting in the Sea of Okhotsk in the Western Pacific. Earlier, the ministry said that about 300 were stranded and that some of them refused “to leave without a catch, under any circumstances.” The ministry posted several …
Read more “Russia says it rescues all 139 fishermen stranded on ice floe in Western Pacific sea”
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed American teacher Marc Fogel to the White House late Tuesday after Fogel was freed from Russia where he had been detained since August 2021 for bringing medically prescribed marijuana into the country. “I feel like the luckiest man on Earth right now,” Fogel said as he stood next to Trump. …
Read more “US teacher returns home after being freed by Russia”
Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained in Russia since August 2021 for bringing medically prescribed marijuana into the country, was freed by Moscow on Tuesday and headed back to the United States, the White House announced. The 63-year-old history teacher, who had been serving a 14-year sentence, was expected to be reunited with his family …
Read more “Russia frees American serving 14-year marijuana sentence”
The U.S. State Department has determined that dual U.S.-Russian national Ksenia Karelina, also known as Ksenia Khavana, was wrongfully detained in Russia. Karelina was jailed by a Russian court for 12 years for donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity. The new determination will enable U.S. authorities to operate more actively in securing her release. Karelina’s …
Read more “VOA Russian: Washington deems US woman wrongfully detained in Russia”
The 27-nation European Union and Canada quickly vowed Tuesday to stand firm against U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to impose 25% tariffs on their steel and aluminum exports, verbal sparring that could lead to a full-blown trade war between the traditionally allied nations. “The EU will act to safeguard its economic interests,” European Commission President …
Read more “EU, Canada vow to stand firm against Trump’s tariffs on metals”
Russia has hit a record low in the newly released 2024 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International. It occupies the 154th place out of the 180, the lowest placement for the nation in the history of the index. VOA Russian spoke to the head of Transparency International in Russia, Alyona Vandysheva, who said the collapse …
Read more “VOA Russian: Russia hits record low in fighting corruption, global report says”
WASHINGTON — World leaders are making a mistake if they conclude that an effort by U.S. President Donald Trump to review America’s global military posture means Washington is pulling back, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth Tuesday spoke to reporters in Stuttgart, Germany, home to the headquarters for U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command, …
Read more “US military not ‘abandoning’ allies, defense chief says”
Europe says it will ease regulations on artificial intelligence at a key AI summit in Paris on Feb. 11, 2025, that brought together the U.S. and other global tech giants and politicians. But some experts see bigger challenges stalling the bloc’s ambitions to be an AI heavyweight, from the need to pool resources to attracting …
Read more “Europe announces plans to ease AI regulations in bid to become heavyweight”
London — As Washington debates the future of the U.S. Agency for International Development or USAID amid reports that it may be put under the control of the State Department, analysts say Britain could offer lessons for America on merging diplomacy and aid. The Trump administration last month paused funding for USAID, citing a need to …
Read more “Amid USAID debate, Britain offers model for merging aid, diplomacy”
The Trump administration last month paused funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development amid reports that it may be put under State Department control as the president seeks to align it with his “America First” policy. Britain’s recent similar move to restructure its foreign aid could offer lessons for Washington. Henry Ridgwell reports from …
Read more “Amid USAID debate, Britain offers model for merging aid, diplomacy”
At least 16 Pakistanis have died in a migrant boat accident off the coast of Libya, Pakistani officials said Tuesday. Survivors of a migrant boat rescued in the Atlantic Ocean near Morocco in January have come home in recent days with harrowing stories to tell. VOA Pakistan bureau chief Sarah Zaman met with a survivor …
Read more “Why are Pakistanis risking their lives to get to Europe?”
WASHINGTON — The U.S., U.K. and Australia on Tuesday sanctioned a Russian web-hosting services provider and two Russian men who administer the service in support of Russian ransomware syndicate LockBit. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and its U.K. and Australian counterparts sanctioned Zservers, a Russia-based bulletproof hosting services provider — which is a …
Read more “US, UK and Australia target Russian cybercrime network with sanctions”
Paris — U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Europeans on Tuesday their “massive” regulations on artificial intelligence could strangle the technology, and rejected content moderation as “authoritarian censorship.” The mood on AI has shifted as the technology takes root, from one of concerns around safety to geopolitical competition, as countries jockey to nurture the next big …
Read more “Vance tells Europeans that heavy regulation could kill AI “
Russia and Ukraine attacked each other’s energy infrastructure overnight, just days before U.S. and Ukrainian officials were set to discuss steps toward ending the nearly three-year war sparked by Russia’s 2022 invasion. Russian strikes damaged natural gas production facilities in Ukraine’s Poltava region overnight, using a combined attack of 19 cruise, ballistic and guided missiles, …
PARIS — Europe will invest an additional $51.5 billion to bolster the bloc’s artificial intelligence ambition, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday. It will come on top of the European AI Champions Initiative, that has already pledged 150 billion euros from providers, investors and industry, von der Leyen told the Paris AI Summit. …
Read more “EU’s AI push to get $50 billion boost, EU’s von der Leyen says”
Senior advisers in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump are preparing to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, according to an Associated Press interview with retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg. Kellogg, a special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said planning continues for talks with Zelenskyy at …
Read more “US senior advisers to talk with Zelenskyy on Munich sidelines”
French President Emmanuel Macron wants Europe to become a leader in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector, he told a global summit of AI and political leaders in Paris Monday where he announced that France’s private sector has invested nearly $113 billion in French AI. Financial investment is key to achieving the goal of Europe as …
Read more “France seeks AI boom, urges EU investment in the sector”
PARIS — In front of political and tech leaders gathered at a summit in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a strategy on Monday to make up for the delay in France and Europe in investing in artificial intelligence (AI) but was faced with a “counter-summit” that pointed out the risks of the technology. The …
Read more “On sidelines of AI Summit in Paris, unions denounce its harmful effects”
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS — Judges at the International Criminal Court have officially asked Italy on Monday to explain why the country released a Libyan man suspected of torture, murder and rape rather than sending him to The Hague. Italian police arrested Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama al-Masri, last month but rather than extraditing him to …
Read more “ICC opens inquiry into Italy over release of Libyan warlord”
VOA Russian speaks to Yevgeniya Chirikova, a coordinator of the Activatica initiative that tracked down the Kremlin’s system of mass torture and violence on Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian army. Using the blueprint that Moscow previously used in Chechnya, Activatica says Russian forces kidnap civilians they deem dangerous and put them in illegal detention …