Category: World

A Belarusian blogger has been sentenced to three years in prison on charge of “insulting” Alexander Lukashenko by writing in a post that the country’s authoritarian ruler was “illegitimate” amid a wave of protests against the results of a presidential election last year that opposition figures say was rigged. A court in the western town …

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As China’s crackdown on democratic freedoms in Hong Kong intensifies under Beijing’s so-called “National Security Law,” tens of thousands of citizens are fleeing the territory. In the first six months of the year, over 65,000 Hong Kong citizens applied to move to Britain, which controlled the territory until 1997, under a special new visa scheme. …

Read more “Fleeing Hong Kong, Families Make New Life in Britain”

In Turkey, Uyghur refugees who fled Chinese detention centers and other alleged rights abuses say they fear the Turkish government is under increased pressure to prosecute or deport activists. But as VOA’s Heather Murdock finds at one school in Istanbul, some Uyghur children say their parents sent them here to find safety, when there was …

Read more “Children of Detained Uyghurs Find Refuge in Istanbul School”

A Russian businessman has been extradited from Switzerland to the United States to face charges of insider trading, the Swiss justice ministry said.    Vladislav Klyushin, who reportedly owns a media and cybersecurity business called M13 that is linked to the Kremlin, is accused of “involvement in a global scheme to trade on non-public information …

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Russia expelled two German diplomats on Monday in response to Germany’s expulsion of two Russian diplomats last week.  The dispute between the two nations started when a German court said last week that Russia had ordered the assassination of a former Chechen militant Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili in Berlin in 2019.  A German court convicted Russian …

Read more “Russia Expels 2 German Diplomats in Retaliatory Move”

The White House said Monday the United States is ready to start diplomatic talks with Russia through multiple channels, but it made clear that Moscow must address Western concerns about its military buildup along the Ukrainian border. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with his counterpart, Yuri Ushakov, foreign policy adviser to Russian …

Read more “US Says It Is Ready to Start Talks With Russia”

Russia has not let up with a military build-up along the border with Ukraine since U.S. President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a two-hour video conference earlier this month, say Western security sources. Despite Biden warning in his talks with Putin that Russia would pay a “terrible price” in the event …

Read more “No Signs of Russia Deescalating on Ukraine Border”

Pope Francis has denounced domestic violence against women as “nearly satanic” and said parents should never slap their children.  Francis made the comments in a televised encounter with an abused woman who recently fled her home with her four children. Their meeting was broadcast late Sunday on the private Mediaset network’s TG5 program and also …

Read more “Pope Tells Abused Mother Domestic Violence ‘Nearly Satanic’ “

Azerbaijan said Sunday it had freed 10 more Armenian soldiers captured last month during fighting between the Caucasus arch foes. “Azerbaijan, with mediation of the European Union, handed over 10 soldiers of Armenian origin” who had been captured on November 16, the Azeri committee in charge of prisoners of war said in a statement.  Baku …

Read more “Azerbaijan Frees 10 More Armenian Prisoners of War”

Authorities in Russia evacuated 128 coal miners Sunday from a mine in Siberia amid reports of a fire in one of its sections. The news comes weeks after a devastating blast in another Siberian coal mine killed 51 people. Emergency officials told Russia’s Interfax news agency that a fire occurred in an abandoned mine gallery …

Read more “Russia Evacuates 128 Coal Miners Amid Reports of Fire”

Poles flocked to city centers across the country Sunday to defend a U.S.-owned television network that is being targeted by the country’s right-wing government and to protect media freedom in a European Union nation where democratic norms are eroding. Among the protesters were older Poles who decades ago resisted the country’s communist regime and who …

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The political crisis engulfing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has deepened with the resignation of a close ally, Brexit minister David Frost, who cited pandemic restrictions and the government’s “direction of travel.” Frost has been handling Britain’s post-Brexit negotiations with the European Union. Frost voiced his dissatisfaction with the government’s policies in a speech last …

Read more “Brexit Minister Resigns, Deepening Crisis Engulfing British Prime Minister”

Spain’s Catholic Church is to open an investigation into alleged sex abuse of hundreds of children by members of the clergy dating back 80 years that the newspaper El Pais has uncovered, the daily said on Sunday. The investigation will look into allegations of abuse against 251 priests and some lay people from religious institutions …

Read more “El Pais Newspaper: Catholic Church in Spain Faces Major Abuse Investigation”

“The Netherlands is shutting down again,” Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Saturday in a televised address. The new measures, beginning Sunday, Rutte said, are because of a “fifth wave” of COVID-19, due to the highly contagious omicron variant. Under the new rules, all non-essential shops will be closed to at least mid-January. Only two guests …

Read more “Omicron Variant Spurs New Lockdown in Netherlands”

A senior member of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Cabinet resigned Saturday night, adding to a sense of disarray within a government that has faced rebellion from his own lawmakers and voters this week. Brexit Minister David Frost said in a letter to Johnson that he was stepping down immediately after a newspaper reported that he …

Read more “UK Brexit Minister Quits as New COVID Rules Spark Anger”

Pope Francis doubled down Saturday on his efforts to quash the old Latin Mass, forbidding the celebration of some sacraments according to the ancient rite in his latest salvo against conservatives and traditionalists. The Vatican’s liturgy office issued a document that clarified some questions that arose after Francis in July reimposed restrictions on celebrating the …

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Marking International Migrants Day, the United Nations reports hostility and xenophobia are growing against migrants.  It warns the stigmatization and marginalization of migrants amid a raging pandemic is putting many lives at risk.   U.N. agencies report one seventh of the global population, or one billion people, are on the move. This number includes a record …

Read more “Pandemic Spawns New Wave of Anti-Migrant Sentiment”

Deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said Saturday that security proposals Russia has presented to the United States are an attempt to turn a potential military scenario into a political process.   Russia, which has built up troops near the border with Ukraine, said Friday it wanted a legally binding guarantee that NATO would give up …

Read more “Russia: Security Proposals Are Aimed at Avoiding Military Scenario”

The Dutch government is holding an emergency meeting Saturday with health advisers about the fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus before an expected announcement of more lockdown measures to stem its spread. The government proposed new measures Friday to curb the alarming spread of the new variant, as other European countries are moving to reimpose …

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The U.S. says its indirect talks with Iran on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal made modest progress in the latest round that ended Friday, but it also says much work remains to be done to prevent what is left of the agreement between Tehran and world powers from quickly falling apart. In a phone briefing …

Read more “US Cites ‘Progress’ but Warns Nuclear Deal Could Die Without Urgent Iranian Action “

The women-only farmers market in Diyarbakir, Turkey, is a unique place. Here, women, many of them divorced or survivors of abuse, can create new lives. But Turkey’s economic troubles are making their lives even more difficult. VOA’s Mahmut Bozarslan has filed this report, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. Producer and camera: Mahmut Bozarslan. …

Russia should not expect the United States and its allies to go along with its recent demand for an expansive set of “security guarantees,” including a ban on the further expansion of NATO and a cessation of all military activity by the alliance in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, experts and U.S. officials …

Read more “Experts: US, Allies Not Likely to Agree to Russian ‘Security Guarantees’”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping presented a united front after a video summit this week amid heightened tensions with the United States and the West. With Henry Ridgwell contributing, VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …

Police in Spain, France and Belgium have broken up a drug trafficking ring believed to be smuggling tons of cocaine and hashish by speedboat from Morocco to Europe, the European Union crime agency said Friday. Spanish police arrested 17 people, including 11 Spaniards and six Moroccans, earlier in the week, Europol said in a statement. …

Read more “EU Police Break Suspected Morocco-to-Europe Drug Trafficking Ring”