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U.S. prosecutors on Monday said they had charged a Ukrainian man with launching a July ransomware attack on an American firm that had infected 1,500 businesses throughout the world. Authorities also announced they had seized $6 million in ransom payments made to a Russian national accused of launching more than 3,000 other attacks targeting American …
Read more “Ukrainian, Russian Charged in US Ransomware Attacks”
A European human rights group alleged Monday that Israeli-made Pegasus spyware was used to hack the phones of staff members of six Palestinian civil society groups that Israel’s defense ministry has designated as terrorist organizations. Dublin-based Front Line Defenders said its allegation was confirmed independently by researchers for Amnesty International and the University of Toronto’s …
Read more “European Rights Group: Palestinian Civil Society Workers’ Phones Hacked”
The eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma entered its eighth week Monday, powerful as ever and showing no signs of stopping. From its official Twitter account, INVOLCAN, the Canary Islands Volcanology Center, reported lava and huge plumes of smoke and ash have been spouting from the crater all …
Read more “Spain’s La Palma Island Volcano Eruption Enters Eighth Week”
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed regional conflicts and a crisis in ties with the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency who paid a rare trip to Moscow last week, the Kremlin said Monday. CIA chief William Burns was in Russia for two days of meetings with top officials at the request of President Joe …
Read more “Kremlin: Putin, CIA Chief Discuss ‘Regional Conflicts’”
Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, convicted by Russia of spying, will continue to fight for his transfer to the United States despite losing a court appeal on Monday, Interfax news agency quoted his lawyer as saying. Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was sentenced last year to 16 years in jail. He denies …
Read more “Jailed ex-US Marine Whelan to Keep Fighting for Transfer from Russia”
A German humanitarian ship with more than 800 rescued migrants, including 15 very young children, steamed into a Sicilian port on Sunday after being granted permission by Italian authorities following days of waiting in the Mediterranean Sea. The charity group Sea-Eye said the vessel Sea-Eye 4 was assigned to the port of Trapani, in western …
Read more “German Rescue Boat with 800 Migrants Reaches Sicilian Port”
Poland’s Health Ministry issued instructions Sunday to doctors confirming that it is legal to terminate a pregnancy when the woman’s health or life is in danger, a directive that comes amid apparent confusion over a new restriction to the country’s abortion law. The document addressed to obstetricians comes in reaction to the hospital death of …
Read more “Poland’s Health Ministry Clarifies Abortion Law After Woman’s Death “
John Kerry is everywhere and on the move at a fateful U.N. climate summit. President Joe Biden’s envoy at the talks in Glasgow, Kerry steams from side talks with U.S. rivals China and Russia that painstakingly probe for common ground on climate to news conferences extolling progress. Kerry pops into project launches, rewarding CEOs and …
Read more “Kerry Rallies Global Climate Push as Uncertainty Grows in US”
Three people were wounded in a knife attack on a high-speed train in southern Germany on Saturday, local police said, adding a suspect had been arrested. Officers said the danger was over and a 27-year-old man was in custody, with unconfirmed media reports saying the suspect was of Syrian origin and suffered from psychiatric issues. …
As this year’s U.N. climate talks go into their second week, negotiations on key topics are inching forward. Boosted by a few high-profile announcements at the start of the meeting, delegates are upbeat about the prospects for tangible progress in the fight against global warming. Laurent Fabius, the former French foreign minister who helped forge …
Read more “Glasgow Climate Negotiators Seek to Resolve 4 Key Challenges”
Tens of thousands of climate activists marched Saturday through the Scottish city hosting the U.N. climate summit, physically close to the global negotiators inside but separated by a vast gulf in expectations, with frustrated marchers increasingly dismissive of the talks and demanding immediate action instead to slow global warming. The mood at the protest in …
Read more “Frustrations Grow as Marchers Demand Faster Climate Action”
The death of a pregnant Polish woman has reignited debate over abortion in one of Europe’s most devoutly Catholic countries, with activists saying she could still be alive if it were not for a near total ban on terminating pregnancies. Tens of thousands of Poles took to the streets to protest in January this year …
Read more “Pregnant Woman’s Death Ignites Debate About Poland’s Abortion Law”
The coup in Sudan puts into doubt the process that would have seen France cancel some $5 billion debt it was owed by the African country, France’s foreign ministry said on Friday, the latest power to pressure military leaders who seized power. France, Sudan’s second-largest creditor, has been a main actor in backing the interim …
Read more “Coup Puts Into Question Sudan’s Debt Cancellation, France Says”
Cybersecurity experts say Microsoft’s recent disclosure that alleged Russian hackers successfully attacked several IT service providers this year is a sign that many U.S. IT companies have underinvested in security measures needed to protect themselves and their customers from intrusions. But a U.S.-based association of IT professionals says the industry’s efforts to combat foreign hacking …
The United States is keeping a close watch on Russian troop movements near the country’s border with Ukraine, describing the activity as “unusual.” “We continue to monitor this closely,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Friday, while calling on Moscow to publicly explain its intentions. “Without getting into greater detail right now, I think …
Read more “Russian Military Maneuvers Near Ukraine ‘Unusual,’ US Warns”
In a tit-for-tat round of recriminations, Belarus summoned Poland’s top diplomat in Minsk on Thursday to protest claims made earlier this week by Warsaw that Belarusian border guards had threatened to open fire on a Polish patrol. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said Polish allegations were unfounded and it accused Poland of engaging in “megaphone diplomacy” and issuing …
Read more “Tensions Soar on Poland-Belarus Border as Warsaw Protests Incursion”
Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch. Leaders talk global warming in Glasgow — World leaders met in Glasgow, Scotland, this week to try to halt global warming. But with some of the world’s biggest emitters …
Activists will take over the UN climate summit in Scotland on Friday, capping off a week of dizzying government speeches and pledges with a student march, youth-led presentations, and a giant iceberg shipped from Greenland to Glasgow’s River Clyde to dramatize the plight of the Arctic. UK organizers decided to hand the day over to …
Read more “Young Activists to Take Spotlight for a Day at UN Climate Talks”
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has reported its Food Price Index, which tracks the international prices of a basket of food, found that in October, the cost of a basket of food was up 3% from September. The FAO Cereal Price Index increased 3.2% in October from the previous month, while the price of wheat rose by 5% amid reduced harvests from major exporters of wheat …
The “end of coal” is in sight, according to Britain, host of the COP26 climate summit, after dozens of countries pledged to stop using coal and end the financing of fossil fuels. Burning coal is the single biggest contributor to climate change, accounting for about 40% of global carbon dioxide emissions, Britain said. At the …
Read more “COP26: Britain Hails Global Deals to ‘End Coal’ but Plans New Mine”
An Earth-flight giant contributes to NASA’s upcoming moon missions. Plus, words from the next crew to visit the International Space Station and grim news from NASA about the future of food on Earth. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. …
In the fight to curb climate change, several major coal-using nations announced steps Thursday to wean themselves — at times slowly — off of the heavily polluting fossil fuel. The pledges to phase out coal come on top of other promises made at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, that the head of an …
Read more “Countries Pledge to Cut Heavily Polluting Coal, With Caveats”
Russia has ordered the expulsion of a Dutch journalist — the second deportation of a resident foreign correspondent in the past two months — and has reduced natural gas supplies to energy-starved Europe. News of the abrupt moves came as American intelligence chief William Burns was concluding a rare two-day visit to Moscow, part of …
Read more “Russia Expels Dutch Journalist, Reduces Gas Supplies to Europe”
A Russian analyst who provided information for a dossier of research used during the Trump-Russia investigation has been arrested by U.S. authorities as part of an ongoing special counsel investigation, the Justice Department said Thursday. Igor Danchenko is the third person, and second in a two-month span, to face charges in special counsel John Durham’s …
Read more “Russian Analyst Who Helped Compile Trump-Russia Dossier Arrested by US Authorities”