Category: World

During Donald Trump’s first presidential term, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan enjoyed a close relationship with the U.S. leader, benefiting from policies such as the withdrawal of U.S. troops from northern Syria. With Trump returning to the White House, Erdogan hopes to revive ties to secure the final U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria and lift …

Read more “VOA Kurdish: Erdogan will renegotiate relationship with Trump administration”

RANST, Belgium — Belgium’s once pastoral pastime of pigeon racing has come to this: Drones swoop over lofts where valuable birds are housed to look for security weaknesses, laser sensors set off alarms at night and cameras linked live to mobile apps keep potential thieves at bay — 24/7. That’s what happens when the fast-flying fowl …

Read more “Belgium’s pastoral pastime of pigeon racing faces high anxiety over crime wave”

WASHINGTON — Russia’s Justice Ministry on Friday added more journalists to its list of so-called foreign agents, including reporters for Voice of America, Current Time and the BBC. Six journalists were named to the registry, including Ksenia Turkova, who works for VOA’s Russian language service in Washington, and Iryna Romaliiska, who works for Current Time, a …

Read more “Russia adds VOA, Current Time, BBC journalists to register of ‘foreign agents’”

WASHINGTON — An Azerbaijani court on Friday denied petitions by two jailed journalists to be released from house arrest, their lawyers said. The journalists, Aynur Elgunesh and Natig Javadli, work for Meydan TV, an independent outlet based in Germany. They were among six journalists arrested in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, in early December. Azerbaijan is among …

Read more “Journalists in Azerbaijan face trials, jailings, travel bans”

WARSAW, POLAND — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday condemned what he called “the poison of antisemitism rising around the world” after a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former German Nazi concentration camp. His visit came as many international delegations are expected to attend the Jan. 27 ceremony commemorating 80 years since the Soviet Red Army …

Read more “UK leader condemns ‘poison of antisemitism’ on Auschwitz visit”

For nearly three years, a combat medic from California named Jennifer Mullee has been saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines. Mullee decided to join the Ukrainian war effort following the death of a close friend. Anna Kosstutschenko has her story. Camera: Pavel Suhodolskiy   …

PETUSHKI, RUSSIA — Russia on Friday sentenced three lawyers who had defended Alexey Navalny to several years in prison for bringing messages from the late opposition leader from prison to the outside world. The sentences come as Russia — in the midst of a massive crackdown during its Ukraine offensive — seeks to punish Navalny’s associates …

Read more “Russia sentences Navalny lawyers to years behind bars”

MOSCOW — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Moscow on Friday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the signing of a strategic partnership treaty involving closer defense cooperation that is likely to worry the West. Pezeshkian, on his first Kremlin visit since winning the presidency last July, will hold talks with Putin focusing on …

Read more “Iranian president in Moscow for treaty signing with Putin”

MOSCOW — A Russian court on Friday upheld the jail term of Robert Shonov, a former U.S. Consulate worker sentenced to almost five years for “secret collaboration with a foreign state.” Shonov, a Russian citizen, worked for more than 25 years at the U.S. Consulate in the far eastern city of Vladivostok until 2021, when Moscow …

Read more “Russia upholds jail term for ex-US Consulate worker”

Sasha Selipanov, a well-known car designer, was born in the Soviet Union but at 17 moved to the U.S. In California, he mastered the skill of designing high-end cars, creating vehicles for Lamborghini and Bugatti among others. He showed VOA Russian the concept of his first hypercar, which he is building in Los Angeles. Click …

Read more “VOA Russian: Soviet-born designer builds his first hypercar in California”

As the U.S. and Armenia signed a strategic partnership agreement in Washington this week, experts say the Kremlin is slowly losing one of its few remaining allies. While Moscow says that Armenia’s distancing itself from Russia will bear consequences, the Armenian government is trying to steadily chart a pro-Western path.  Click here for the full …

Read more “VOA Russian: Moscow unhappy about Armenia’s partnership with US”

Britain and Ukraine signed a 100-year agreement Thursday, with Britain pledging to provide Ukraine with $3.6 billion in military aid this year. The deal was announced during a joint news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, at the presidential palace where British Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Starmer is on his first trip …

Read more “Britain, Ukraine sign 100-year agreement”

With Donald Trump returning to the White House, analysts say Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sees an opportunity to rekindle what he calls his close working relationship with the president-elect. However, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the incoming Trump presidency poses risks as well as opportunities. …

As Russia’s war with Ukraine approaches the three-year mark in February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is emphasizing his country’s hope for continued U.S. support under the incoming Trump administration.  “We are waiting for the inauguration of the U.S. president. I think the whole world is waiting because the United States is a strategic partner in …

Read more “Ukraine’s Zelenskyy seeking continued US support under Trump”

ROME — Pope Francis fell Thursday and hurt his right arm, the Vatican said, just weeks after another apparent fall resulted in a bad bruise on his chin.  Francis didn’t break his arm, but a sling was put on as a precaution, the Vatican spokesman said in a statement  On Dec. 7, the pope whacked his …

Read more “Pope Francis hurts right arm after falling for 2nd time in just over a month”

GENEVA — The United Nations is appealing for $3.2 billion to provide humanitarian assistance for 8.2 million Ukrainians whose lives have been upended by Russia’s invasion of their country nearly three years ago. “This has been a period of huge tragedy and despair, destruction and disruption,” Tom Fletcher, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief …

Read more “UN appeals for $3.2 billion to support 8.2 million Ukrainian war victims”

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — China initiated a new round of diplomatic outreach to Japan and the European Union this week as Washington prepares for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. A delegation of Japanese lawmakers traveled to Beijing and a Chinese military delegation went to Japan for the first time in five years. Meanwhile, the European Council’s new president …

Read more “China reaches out to US allies ahead of Trump’s inauguration”

Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have died fighting since Russia invaded the country in February 2022, and some of them have been women. Tetiana Kukurika met with two families who lost loved ones in the war. Anna Rice narrates her story. VOA footage by Sergiy Rybchynski. Video editing by Vitaliy Hrychanyuk and Anna Rice.  …

In California, qualifying inmates volunteer as firefighters to assist in combating wildfires in Los Angeles. China uses forced labor involving arbitrarily detained Muslims in Xinjiang. …

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus on Thursday hailed a U.S. memorandum allowing military sales, including arms, to the island as a milestone affirming recognition of the island as a pillar of stability in the east Mediterranean region which has been fraught with conflict. U.S. President Joe Biden boosted security ties with Cyprus on Wednesday by issuing a …

Read more “Cyprus says US decree on security affirms island’s stabilizing role in region”

Britain announced Thursday a treaty with Ukraine that includes military collaboration, science and technology partnerships, and an effort to track stolen Ukrainian grain. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is visiting Kyiv to sign the pact with Ukrainian leaders. Starmer is also announcing a new round of lethal military aid for Ukrainian forces, his office said. …

Read more “Britain announces Ukraine pact with military collaboration”

Ukrainians formerly imprisoned by Russia testified at the United Nations this week about the torture they were subjected to in captivity. Ukrainian journalist and activist Maxym Butkevych, who spent more than two years in a Russian prison in an occupied Ukrainian town, described how he was deprived of fresh air and sunlight, subjected to beatings …

Read more “VOA Russian: Victims of Russian torture in Ukraine speak at UN “

While U.S. President Joe Biden views his response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a cornerstone of his foreign policy legacy, critics argue he missed a historic opportunity to help Ukraine win the war.  Michael Carpenter, director for Europe at the National Security Council, spoke with VOA, defending the administration’s policies on Ukraine, stating they …

Read more “White House says Biden leaving Ukraine in strongest position possible”

GENEVA — More than 3,000 global leaders from upwards of 130 countries will make their annual pilgrimage next week to the World Economic Forum, meeting in the plush Swiss Alpine resort of Davos. Nearly 5,000 Swiss army personnel will be on hand to ensure security for thousands of the world’s top movers and shakers in government, …

Read more “World Economic Forum will highlight conflict, AI, climate change”