Category: World

In a decision with potential ramifications across European museums, France is displaying 26 looted colonial-era artifacts for one last time before returning them home to Benin.  The wooden anthropomorphic statues, royal thrones and sacred altars were pilfered by the French army in the 19th century from Western Africa.  President Emmanuel Macron suggested that France now …

Read more “129-Year Journey Nears End as France Returns Benin Treasures “

British finance minister Rishi Sunak’s budget this week will include an extra $8.1 billion of spending for the health service over the next few years to drive down waiting lists, the finance ministry said on Sunday.    The sum comes on top of an $11 billion package announced in September to tackle backlogs built up over the COVID-19 pandemic, …

Read more “UK Plans $8 Billion Package to Boost Health Service Capacity”

Russians hoping to apply for an immigrant visa to the United States are now required to travel to the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, the State Department confirmed Sunday, while blaming restrictions imposed by Moscow. That development came amid unresolved U.S.-Russian tensions, and tit-for-tat expulsions that earlier led Moscow to limit the number of U.S. diplomatic …

Read more “Russians now Must Travel to Warsaw for US Immigrant Visas”

The spiritual leader of the world’s 200 million Eastern Orthodox Christians was hospitalized Sunday in Washington on the first full day of a planned 12-day U.S. visit and will stay overnight, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said. The archdiocese said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was preparing to leave for a service at the Cathedral of …

Read more “Orthodox Patriarch Hospitalized at Start of 12-day US Visit”

Turkey is facing diplomatic pushback after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the expulsion of 10 ambassadors, including U.S. Ambassador David M. Satterfield, after they called for the release of a jailed civil society leader. The Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway all issued statements saying they remained committed to defending human rights in Turkey, while the …

Read more “Turkey Diplomatic Crisis Deepens as Ankara Faces Pushback over Ambassador Expulsion Threat “

Pope Francis on Sunday made an impassioned plea to end the practice of returning migrants rescued at sea to Libya and other unsafe countries where they suffer “inhumane violence.” Francis also waded into a highly contentious political debate in Europe, calling on the international community to find concrete ways to manage the “migratory flows” in …

Read more “Pope: Don’t Send Migrants Back to Libya and ‘Inhumane’ Camps “

One rape victim was asked by Paris police what she wore that day, and why she didn’t struggle more. Another woman was forced to fondle herself to demonstrate a sexual assault to a skeptical police officer.  They are among thousands of French women who have denounced in a new online campaign the shocking response of …

Read more “French Sexual Abuse Victims Denounce Police Mistreatment “

Germany’s interior minister said Sunday it was “legitimate” to protect borders, after several EU states asked Brussels to pay for barriers to prevent illegal migrants from entering the bloc. The call came earlier this month, as Poland proposed building a 350 million-euro ($410 million-) wall on its border with Belarus to keep migrants out. The …

Read more “Germany Says Border Protection Is ‘Legitimate’”

Uzbekistan votes in a presidential election on Sunday in which incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev faces no genuine opposition and is almost certain to win a second term. Mirziyoyev’s predicted victory will allow him to deepen his largely successful reform campaign and likely lead to Uzbekistan opening up further to foreign trade and investment – while …

Read more “Uzbek Leader Expected to Secure Second Term in Office”

Italy’s right-wing former interior minister, Matteo Salvini, went on trial Saturday charged with kidnapping for refusing in 2019 to allow a Spanish migrant rescue ship to dock in Sicily, keeping the people onboard at sea for days.   It is the first trial to go ahead against Salvini for his actions preventing migrant landings while …

Read more “Salvini on Trial in Italy Over 2019 Migrant Ship”

Exhausted and trapped in a cold, “cruel” forest, Lebanese barber Ali Abd Alwareth said he regretted his weeklong bid to enter the European Union via the Belarus-Poland border.  “It’s miserable. Something that you don’t wish for your worst enemy. … A nightmare,” the soft-spoken 24-year-old with Crohn’s disease told AFP. Sitting cross-legged on a bed …

Read more “Trapped in ‘Cruel’ Forest, Migrant Regrets Belarus-EU Crossing “

Tens of thousands of supporters of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his right-wing government marched in Budapest on Saturday in a demonstration of unity behind the populist leader’s contentious policies that have led to challenges to his power both in Hungary and the European Union.  The rally was dubbed a “Peace March” and participants …

Read more “Tens of Thousands Rally for Orban in Budapest”

Forty-six countries and the European Union have adopted a legally binding mechanism under the so-called Aarhus Convention to protect environmental defenders who risk abuse and harm because of their activism. The Aarhus Convention was adopted in 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. It …

Read more “UN Adopts Legal Mechanism to Protect Environmental Defenders”

Russia reported a record number of COVID-19 deaths Saturday for the fifth straight day as the country prepares for a week-long workplace shutdown and the reimposition of a partial lockdown in next week. A record high 1,075 coronavirus deaths were reported by Russia’s national coronavirus task force over the past 24 hours, the highest daily …

Read more “Russia Reports Record Number of COVID Deaths for 5th Straight Day”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday he had ordered the foreign ministry to declare 10 ambassadors from Western countries “persona non grata” for calling for the release of philanthropist Osman Kavala. Kavala has been in prison for four years, charged with financing nationwide protests in 2013 and with involvement in a failed coup in …

Read more “Turkey to Banish 10 Western Ambassadors, Erdogan Says”

Russian and Chinese warships held their first joint patrols in the Western part of the Pacific Ocean on October 17-23, Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Moscow and Beijing, which staged naval cooperation drills in the Sea of Japan earlier in October, have cultivated closer military and diplomatic ties in recent years …

Read more “Russian, Chinese Warships Hold First Joint Patrols in the Pacific”

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin wrapped his trip to Europe Friday at the conclusion of the NATO defense ministerial in Brussels, with a focus on China and Afghanistan. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb reports. …

China wasn’t on the agenda at this week’s NATO defense ministers meeting, but by the time the gathering concluded, the secretary-general had said the military alliance needs to respond to the challenges presented by China’s rise. “We see the whole global balance of power is shifting because of the rise of China,” Jens Stoltenberg told …

Read more “NATO’s New Focus Reflects China’s Rise”

The Lithuanian people along with democracy leaders from Belarus, Cuba and Myanmar have been awarded this year’s John McCain Freedom Award. The award ceremony was held in Washington, D.C., on October 19, as Alexey Gorbachev reports in this story narrated by Anna Rice.  Camera: Sergii Dogotar, Elena Matusovsky …

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth returned to work Friday following her first overnight stay at a hospital in years for what Buckingham Palace called “preliminary investigations.” According to the palace, the 95-year-old monarch spent Wednesday night in the private King Edward VII’s Hospital, undergoing tests after canceling an official trip to Northern Ireland to mark the 100th anniversary of its …

Read more “Queen Elizabeth Returns to Work After Hospital Stay”

A visit by a group of French senators to Taiwan earlier this month is just the latest sign that European countries are willing to engage with the East Asian democracy even at the risk of angering China, according to regional experts. The lawmakers from the Taiwan Friendship Group, led by Senator Alain Richard, arrived in …

Read more “French Lawmakers Reach Out to Taiwan Despite Risk of Angering Beijing”

Presidential ill health, police raids and corruption allegations, some involving caretaker Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, have thrown the Czech Republic into a surreal political crisis.  The jarring turn of events could not have come at a worse time — the unnerved country is already in the grip of an acute energy crunch, like its European …

Read more “Czech Republic Trapped in Surreal Game of Thrones”

Queen Elizabeth II spent a night in the hospital for tests after being forced to cancel a visit to Northern Ireland this week, Buckingham Palace said Thursday.  “Following medical advice to rest for a few days, The Queen attended hospital on Wednesday afternoon for some preliminary investigations, returning to Windsor Castle at lunchtime today, and remains …

Read more “Britain’s Queen Elizabeth Spends Night in Hospital for Tests”

Deep divisions over the European Union’s legal order and energy took an EU summit into late Thursday, with eastern member states Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic standing in defiance against Brussels.  The rule of law issue was especially thorny, with the potential to shake the very foundations of the 27-nation bloc.  The east-west divide …

Read more “EU Summit Leaves Legal Squabble with Poland Unresolved”