Category: World

Russia-appointed officials in Moscow-occupied Crimea announced a regional emergency Saturday, as oil was detected on the shores of Sevastopol, the peninsula’s largest city. Fuel oil spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers nearly three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, close to eastern Crimea — about 250 kilometers from Sevastopol, which lies on the southwest of …

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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis warned that bullying in schools prepares students for war rather than peace, in a speech to Catholic educators gathered at the Vatican on Saturday.  Speaking to about 2,000 Italian educators and parents, Francis stressed his message against bullying, asking the audience to pledge to fight against it both at school and …

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LONDON — Prince William expressed his shock and sadness Saturday at the news of the death of his former nanny’s stepson in the New Year’s truck attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people. London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed Saturday that they are supporting the family of 31-year-old Edward Pettifer, including helping them through the process of …

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BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he’s staying “cool” against critical personal comments made by Elon Musk but finds it worrying that the U.S. billionaire makes the effort to get involved in a general election by endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD. Scholz was reacting after Musk, a close ally to U.S. …

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Russia’s defense ministry said on Saturday that Russian forces had taken control of the village of Nadiya in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region and had shot down eight U.S.-made ATACMS missiles. Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports. The ministry said its air defense systems had shot down 10 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory on …

Read more “Russia shoots down 8 missiles, captures Ukraine settlement, says defense ministry”

Kyiv, ukraine — Moldova faces a security crisis, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said Friday, after its separatist pro-Moscow Transdniestria region, cut off from supplies of Russian gas, closed factories, restricted central heating and imposed rolling power blackouts.  Flows of Russian gas via Ukraine to central and eastern Europe were halted on New Year’s Day after a …

Read more “Moldovan PM warns of security crisis after cutoff of Russian gas “

VIENNA — Talks on forming a new three-party government in Austria collapsed Friday as the smallest of the prospective coalition partners pulled the plug on the negotiations. The talks had dragged on since Austria’s president tasked conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer in October with putting together a new government. That decision came after all other parties refused …

Read more “Talks on new 3-party Austrian government collapse as one party leaves”

PODGORICA, Montenegro — A top-level meeting in Montenegro on Friday looked for ways to curb illegal weapons after a gunman fatally shot 12 people in a second such tragedy in less than three years in the small Balkan country. An emergency session of Montenegro’s National Security Council is expected to call for a new gun law …

Read more “Montenegro to tackle gun control after mass killing left 12 dead “

DUBAI — Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the Italian ambassador on Friday over the detention of an Iranian national wanted by the United States for his alleged role in a deadly drone strike against U.S. forces, Iranian state media reported. The summons came a day after a similar move by Italy over Iran’s arrest of Italian reporter …

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KYIV, UKRAINE — A Russian drone attack towards the Ukrainian capital on Friday killed one person and wounded four in the Kyiv suburbs, local officials said. Moscow’s forces have escalated their aerial strikes across Ukraine through the first weeks of winter, including a New Year’s Day drone attack targeting central Kyiv that killed two. “One person …

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DAMASCUS, SYRIA — The foreign ministers of France and Germany are headed to Damascus on the first official visit to Syria by top diplomats from European Union countries after the fall of former President Bashar Assad, in what the German minister said is a clear signal that a “new beginning” between Europe and Syria is possible. …

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could be “decisive” in the outcome of the yearslong war between Ukraine and Russia. “Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukrainian television. Zelenskyy said Trump had told him he would be one …

Read more “Zelenskyy says Trump could be decisive in stopping war in Ukraine  “

The Human Rights Association in Turkey announced that three female prisoners had been tortured in Patnos Prison in Agri, and despite some complaints, no investigation has been initiated. The prison administration neither denied nor confirmed the torture to VOA.   Click here for the full story in Kurdish.     …

The Haitian government on Wednesday celebrated the 221st anniversary of the country’s independence. In his speech, Leslie Voltaire, president of the Presidential Transition Council, called for peace in the country and took the opportunity to ask France to repay the debt of independence and reparations for slavery. Click here for the full story in Creole. …

Read more “VOA Creole: Voltaire asks France to repay Haiti’s independence debt “

London — European gas prices reached a 15-month high on Thursday after Ukraine blocked the transit of Russian gas across its territory into the European Union. The Russian state-run firm Gazprom is set to lose more than $5 billion a year following the route’s closure, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called “one of Moscow’s biggest defeats.” …

Read more “Ukraine blocks transit of Russian gas to Europe, prompting price hike “

Natural gas prices in Europe have risen since Ukraine ended the flow of Russian gas across its territory into the EU. Moscow once supplied more than a third of Europe’s needs, but the continent has weaned itself off Russian gas following the Kremlin’s ’22 invasion of Ukraine. Henry Ridgwell reports. …

The Kremlin is using uncertainty following the ouster of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, and the potential loss of Russia’s military toehold in Syria, to accuse the United States of sowing instability in the country.  On Dec. 29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signaled that the end of the Assad regime would push Russia to “make …

Read more “Russia ramps up disinformation efforts as its grip weakens over post-Assad Syria”

LONDON — A worker digging up clay in a southern England limestone quarry noticed unusual bumps that led to the discovery of a “dinosaur highway” and nearly 200 tracks that date back 166 million years, researchers said Thursday.  The extraordinary find made after a team of more than 100 people excavated the Dewars Farm Quarry, in …

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CETINJE, Montenegro — Shock and dismay prevailed in Montenegro on Thursday after a gunman fatally shot 12 people, including two children, in a western town before killing himself.  At least four others were wounded in the shooting rampage in Cetinje on Wednesday that followed a bar brawl, officials said. This was the second such incident in …

Read more “Montenegro mourns after gunman kills at least 12 people before shooting himself”

Rome — Italy’s foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador on Thursday to demand the immediate release of reporter Cecilia Sala, who was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19 while working under a regular journalistic visa. The ministry said in a statement it had relayed “serious concern” over Sala’s detention and stressed the need for humane treatment …

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Ukraine’s military said Thursday it shot down 47 drones Russian forces launched overnight at areas in central and eastern Ukraine. Russia used a total of 72 drones in its attacks, the military said. Ukrainian air defenses shot down drones over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Odessa and Sumy regions. Officials …

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LONDON — Parts of the United Kingdom were flooded Wednesday as heavy rains and powerful winds continued to disrupt New Year’s celebrations. Several communities in the Manchester area were flooded, with several homes evacuated and cars submerged up to their roofs on roads and in parking lots after nearly a month’s worth of rain fell in …

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PODGORICA, MONTENEGRO — At least 10 people, including two children, were killed and four others were wounded in a shooting on Wednesday that followed a bar brawl in a western Montenegrin city, officials said. The shooter was on the run. Police identified the attacker as Aco Martinovic, 45. He killed the owner of the bar in …

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WASHINGTON — Press freedom groups and media organizations are calling for Iran to release an Italian journalist who was arrested last month.   Cecilia Sala, who works for the daily Italian newspaper Il Foglio, was arrested on Dec. 19 and is being held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. The 29-year-old was reporting in Iran on a journalist …

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