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The United States will send $725 million in military assistance to Ukraine, the White House said Friday, the latest U.S. security package to help Kyiv and the first since Russia’s widespread missile attacks on Ukraine’s civilian population. U.S. officials said the aid package does not include significant new capabilities or counterair defenses. Instead, it focuses …
Read more “US Announces $725M More in Military Aid for Ukraine”
At a bookshop in Kyiv, 33-year-old Yulia Sydorenko was dumping an entire collection of old books — some gifts from childhood friends — that have recently lost their appeal. Why? They were written in Russian. “Since February 24, Russian books have no place in my house,” Sydorenko said, referring to the day Russian President Vladimir …
Read more “Appetite For ‘De-Russification’ Builds in Ukraine”
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. UNGA declares Russian ‘annexation’ of Ukrainian territories invalid In its strongest show of support for Ukraine since Moscow’s February 24 invasion, the U.N. General Assembly voted 143-5 on a …
Elon Musk said Friday his rocket company SpaceX cannot indefinitely fund its Starlink internet service in Ukraine, which has helped the country’s civilians and military stay online during the war with Russia. Musk’s comment on Twitter came after a media report that SpaceX had asked the Pentagon to pay for the donations of Starlink. The …
Read more “Musk Says SpaceX Cannot Fund Ukraine’s Starlink Internet Indefinitely”
Turkey’s parliament has adopted a new law that carries prison terms of up to three years for spreading “disinformation” online. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its coalition partner, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), voted the law in Thursday, despite objections by opposition parties, European countries and rights advocates. Ankara said the bill …
Robbie Coltrane, the baby-faced comedian and character actor whose hundreds of roles included a crime-solving psychologist on the TV series “Cracker” and the gentle half-giant Hagrid in the “Harry Potter” movies, has died. He was 72. Coltrane’s agent, Belinda Wright, said he died Friday at a hospital in his native Scotland, and but did not …
Read more “Actor Robbie Coltrane, Harry Potter’s Hagrid, Dies at 72”
The town of Secaucus in the eastern U.S. state of New Jersey is stepping up to help the people of Ukraine. For VOA, Iryna Solomko spoke with the town’s mayor, Michael Gonelli, about the effort. Anna Rice narrates her story. …
Jeremy Hunt was named Britain’s new finance minister on Friday, the latest senior ministerial role for the self-proclaimed entrepreneur regarded by many in his Conservative Party as a safe pair of hands but whose days in top jobs had seemed over. After being the longest-serving health secretary in British history and stints running the foreign …
Read more “Jeremy Hunt Brought in From the Cold as UK’s New Finance Minister”
The International Committee of the Red Cross is calling on both Russia and Ukraine to grant it unimpeded access to all prisoners of war being held by each side. The ICRC has been working since late February, when Russia invaded Ukraine, to obtain access to all prisoners of war. The Swiss-based aid agency says its …
Read more “ICRC Calls for Access to All Russian, Ukrainian POWs”
Ukraine’s military has recaptured more than 600 settlements from Russian forces over the past month, according to the country’s Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, as Russian forces continued to strike dozens of Ukraine’s cities, killing a number of civilians. Some 502 settlements have been liberated in the northeast Kharkiv region, where Ukrainian …
Read more “Ukraine Says Hundreds of Settlements Freed as Russian Airstrikes Continue”
Two men went on trial Friday for the murder of Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia almost five years ago to the day she died in a car bomb attack. Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio are accused of setting off the device, which killed the 53-year-old journalist outside her home on Oct. 16, 2017. They …
Read more “Brothers on Trial for Murder of Maltese Anti-Corruption Journalist”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Thursday for the fourth time in as many months. The frequent meetings and close ties are fueling concerns among Turkey’s Western allies that Ankara is circumventing sanctions against Russia. The latest encounter was in Astana on the sidelines of the summit of the Conference …
Read more “Russian, Turkish Leaders Meet Again as West Voices Concern”
Europe faces a higher-than-usual chance of a cold blast of weather before the end of the year, but the winter overall is likely to be warmer than average, the continent’s long-range weather forecaster said Thursday. Temperatures this winter will be crucial for homeowners worried about the record cost of heating their homes, and for European …
Read more “Warmer-Than-Average Winter Ahead for Europe, Forecaster Says”
NATO pledges more weapons for Ukraine …
A failed engine and high waves were to blame for the fatal shipwreck that killed at least 18 Europe-bound migrants off the coast of Greece last week, one survivor tells VOA. Speaking to VOA Somali by phone, Mustafa Farah, a survivor from Somalia in his 20s, said about 50 migrants were traveling on an overloaded …
Read more “Somali Survivor Tells Tale of Greek Migrant Shipwreck”
Anti-government protests are continuing across Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last month. She had been arrested by Iran’s morality police for ‘unsuitable attire’. Where might the protests lead – and how should the West respond? Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …
A new report finds half of all countries globally lack early warning systems that could save lives by alerting communities of impending disasters, including typhoons, droughts, and heatwaves. The joint report by the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, or UNDRR, and the World Meteorological Organization is being released to mark the International Day for …
Read more “UN: Early Warning of Impending Disasters Saves Lives”
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, the other small ex-Soviet republics watch the advancing Ukrainian army with hope, but also with concern. The fear that Russia could one day fall on them is palpable and has led to the mobilization of civil society, such as – in Estonia – with volunteer groups like the …
Read more “Estonian Volunteers Train for a Day They Hope Will Never Come”
The international community sent a clear message to Moscow on Wednesday, declaring the country’s so-called referendums and attempted annexation of parts of Ukraine illegal and invalid under international law. In its strongest show of support for Ukraine since Moscow’s February 24 invasion, the U.N. General Assembly voted 143-5, adopting a resolution condemning and rejecting Russia’s …
Read more “UN General Assembly Rejects Russia’s
‘Referendums,’ ‘Annexation’ in Ukraine “
Ekaterina Fomina lived her whole life in Moscow. And although the investigative journalist studied for a year abroad, leaving Russia was never her plan. But when Moscow invaded Ukraine, the pressure on Fomina and her news outlet, iStories, ratcheted up. IStories, which is registered outside Russia, was designated a foreign agent in 2021. But in …
Read more “‘Bucha Became the Turning Point,’ Says Russian Journalist”
Turkey’s government recently proposed legislation that would criminalize the spreading of misinformation on social media. The move is drawing national and international criticism. Turkey’s so-called disinformation bill drew condemnation from a European legal watchdog that warned the law would threaten freedom of expression and independent journalism ahead of next year’s elections. The warning is …
Read more “Turkey Slammed over Proposed Social Media Controls”
The White House rolled out a long-delayed national security strategy on Wednesday that seeks to contain China’s rise while reemphasizing the importance of working with allies to tackle challenges confronting democratic nations. The 48-page document, which was delayed by the Ukraine crisis, includes no major shifts in thinking and introduces no major new doctrines for …
Read more “Biden’s National Security Plan Aims at China, Russia”
Bosnia-Herzegovina moved a small step closer to the European Union on Wednesday with the EU’s executive advising member states to grant it candidate member status despite continuing criticism of the way the Balkan nation is run. The advice had been hotly anticipated in ethnically-divided Bosnia, which is lagging several other Balkan nations in being granted …
Read more “EU Executive Recommends Bosnia Become Candidate Member”
China is looking at the experience of the war in Ukraine to develop “hybrid warfare” strategies against Taiwan including using drones and psychological pressure, a senior Taiwanese security official said on Wednesday. Taiwan has been carefully studying the lessons of the Ukraine war to inform how it may react should China, which views the democratically …
Read more “Taiwan Says China Looking at Ukraine War to Develop ‘Hybrid’ Strategies”