worldwide news
Turkey is stepping up a border security barrier with Iran, primarily to thwart a possible large influx of refugees from entering Afghanistan. Yet for many refugees, the wall, trenches and barbed wire are just more obstacles they say they have no choice but to overcome. VOA’s Heather Murdock has this report from Van, Tatvan and …
Read more “Turkey Steps Up Border Security to Thwart Afghan Refugees”
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has issued a report saying that based on current evidence, there is no urgent need for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots and the public health focus should remain on getting initial vaccinations to eligible European citizens.The report added additional doses should be considered for those individuals with compromised …
Read more “Europe’s Infectious Disease Agency Says No Pressing Need for Boosters”
European Union defense ministers discussed Thursday how to better respond to future crises following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, including the creation of a rapid response force.As they met in Slovenia to discuss lessons learned from the chaotic evacuation of Afghanistan, Germany proposed that willing coalition members be enabled to create a rapid deployment military …
Read more “EU Defense Ministers Mull Rapid Response Force after Afghanistan’s Fall”
he clandestine sea route from the coasts of Senegal to Spain is a dangerous voyage for thousands of migrants. For those who make it, what awaits them is a life outside the law and the stigma of being called an illegal immigrant. Jonathan Spier narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona.Camera: Alfonso Beato …
Albania is temporarily hosting some 600 Afghan refugees who have fled the violence and chaos in their country. The last of several flights – with 150 people on board – arrived in Albania August 30. Ilirian Agolli spoke with some of them. Keida Kostreci narrates his story. …
Ireland on Thursday slapped Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service with a record fine for breaching EU data privacy laws after European regulators demanded the penalty be increased.Ireland’s Data Protection Commission was entrusted with the case because Facebook’s European headquarters are situated in the country.”And following this reassessment the DPC has imposed a fine of 225 million …
Read more “Ireland Fines WhatsApp for Breaching EU Privacy Laws”
Plans by anti-COVID vaccine activists to shut down rail travel in Italy fell apart Wednesday as police outnumbered protesters at railway stations across the country. The Italian government has gone ahead with its plan to require Green Passes for long-distance travel, and the pass became mandatory Wednesday.Italian authorities have said they are adamant that everything …
Read more “Anti-COVID Vaccine Protests Fail to Materialize in Italy”
Among the growing numbers of Afghans arriving in Turkey after fleeing the Taliban are those who fought alongside NATO forces. As Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Istanbul, they are now looking for help from countries with whose soldiers they served.Video editor: Rob Raffaele …
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Wednesday officially opened the international Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin — a center designed to pool the world’s resources to fight future global health emergencies. The hub, originally announced in May, will be a collection agency for health data …
Read more “WHO Chief, Germany’s Merkel Open Global Pandemic Hub in Berlin”
As the evacuation of tens of thousands from the airport in Kabul was underway, the attempted rescue of dozens of veterinary staff and hundreds of animals from a British animal rescue charity in Afghanistan caught the attention of the media. Their plight led to a heated dispute between the charity and the British government, as …
Read more “Afghanistan Animal Rescue Triggers Dispute Between Charity and British Government”
As thousands of people were evacuated from Kabul ahead of the final withdrawal of Western troops, the attempted rescue of dozens of veterinary staff and hundreds of animals from a British animal rescue charity in Afghanistan caught the attention of the media and led to a heated dispute between the charity and the British government. Pen …
Read more “Afghanistan Animal Rescue Triggers Dispute Between Charity and British Government “
France and Germany on Wednesday urged Iran to return rapidly to nuclear negotiations, after a break in talks following Iranian elections in June, with Paris demanding an “immediate” restart amid Western concerns over Tehran’s expanding atomic work.France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told his newly-appointed Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian in a telephone call it was …
Read more “France, Germany Urge Iran to Return Speedily to Nuclear Deal Talks”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits the White House for talks Wednesday with U.S. President Joe Biden, a trip that has been in the works for two years and delayed one day due to consultations about events in Afghanistan. Senior U.S. administration officials said the message behind the visit is “the United States’ commitment to Ukraine sovereignty, territorial integrity, and Euro-Atlantic aspirations.” The …
Read more “Ukrainian President Zelenskiy Visiting White House for Talks on Security, Energy”
The Polish government has asked President Andrzej Duda to declare a state of emergency along the Poland-Belarus border. Poland accuses Belarus of using migrants as political pawns by pushing them into the European Union in retaliation over EU sanctions. According to a recent BBC report, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko accused Poland of starting a “border conflict” …
Read more “Poland Could Declare State of Emergency at Belarus Border”
Under a small bridge more than 100 kilometers from the Turkish border with Iran, a small group of boys and young men waits quietly for a smuggler. They are unwashed, exhausted and hungry. Most of them are under 18, and they are all from Afghanistan. When the Taliban began taking over their towns and villages, …
Read more “Turkish Officials Say Deportation Centers Packed With Afghan Refugees”
Dozens of Russian independent media have been labeled “foreign agents” in the run-up to parliamentary elections, which are now only three weeks away.As of August 31, the Ministry of Justice website lists 43 media outlets and journalists and 76 civil society groups as “foreign agents.” Another 46 groups have been given the label of “undesirable …
Read more “Marked by the State: Russia Ramps Up ‘Foreign Agent’ Law Ahead of Election”
Deportation centers in Turkey are filled to capacity as refugees from Afghanistan continue to cross the border from Iran by night, hoping to evade police and resettle. As VOA tours a deportation center in Van, officials say they are not sending people back to Afghanistan, but they also have no plans to release detainees. VOA’s …
Read more “Deportation Centers in Turkey Packed With Afghan Refugees”
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said Tuesday 70% of all adults in the European Union are now fully vaccinated — more than 250 million people.In a video message from EU headquarters in Brussels, Von der Leyen called the milestone a “great achievement, which really shows what we can do when we work together.”But …
Read more “EU Chief Says 70% of Bloc’s Adult Population Now Vaccinated”
European Union ministers will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss preventing uncontrolled migration from Afghanistan after the Taliban’s seizure of the country, according to a statement drafted for the meeting.EU member states hope to prevent a refugee crisis like the one fueled by Syria’s civil war in 2015. The EU was unprepared for the …
Read more “EU to Meet to Discuss Preventing Uncontrolled Migration From Afghanistan”
BBC journalist Sarah Rainsford left Russia Tuesday after Moscow abruptly refused to extend her permission to work in a tit-for-tat disagreement with Britain over the treatment of foreign media.Russian authorities earlier this month told Rainsford, one of the British broadcaster’s two English-language Moscow correspondents, to leave the country in retaliation for what it called London’s …
Read more “BBC Reporter Leaves Russia After Credentials Withdrawn in Row With Britain”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered law enforcement officers and army staff receive $200, as he seeks support for his unpopular United Russia party ahead of parliamentary elections next month.The cash handouts follow earlier one-time payments for pensioners of $135 ahead of lower house State Duma polls in September, with United Russia’s ratings hit …
Read more “Putin Gives Cash to Police, Soldiers Ahead of Polls”
The European Union removed the United States from a safe travel list Monday and recommended the reinstatement of COVID-19 restrictions on visitors from the U.S., where new cases and hospitalizations have risen sharply in recent weeks. The non-binding recommendation regarding non-essential travel comes two months after the EU lifted most of the restrictions for U.S. tourists, …
Read more “EU Recommends Return of COVID Travel Restrictions on US Tourists”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is scheduled to visit the White House on Wednesday, a trip that has been in the works for two years and delayed one day by events in Afghanistan. During the administration of former President Donald Trump, surrogates for the U.S. president pressed Ukraine to open an investigation into activities involving the son …
Read more “Ukraine, US Leaders May Address Sensitive Issues at Next Meeting”
The mayor of Italy’s financial capital Milan demanded answers on Monday over why a fire was able to rip through an apartment block and melt its cladding, comparing it to the Grenfell Tower fire in London that killed 71 people four years ago. Firefighters said everyone managed to escape the 18 story building in the south of …
Read more “Milan Mayor Says Cladding Melted in Tower Block Blaze, as in London’s Grenfell Tower”