U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed American teacher Marc Fogel to the White House late Tuesday after Fogel was freed from Russia where he had been detained since August 2021 for bringing medically prescribed marijuana into the country. “I feel like the luckiest man on Earth right now,” Fogel said as he stood next to Trump. …
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Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained in Russia since August 2021 for bringing medically prescribed marijuana into the country, was freed by Moscow on Tuesday and headed back to the United States, the White House announced. The 63-year-old history teacher, who had been serving a 14-year sentence, was expected to be reunited with his family …
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The U.S. State Department has determined that dual U.S.-Russian national Ksenia Karelina, also known as Ksenia Khavana, was wrongfully detained in Russia. Karelina was jailed by a Russian court for 12 years for donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity. The new determination will enable U.S. authorities to operate more actively in securing her release. Karelina’s …
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The 27-nation European Union and Canada quickly vowed Tuesday to stand firm against U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to impose 25% tariffs on their steel and aluminum exports, verbal sparring that could lead to a full-blown trade war between the traditionally allied nations. “The EU will act to safeguard its economic interests,” European Commission President …
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Russia has hit a record low in the newly released 2024 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International. It occupies the 154th place out of the 180, the lowest placement for the nation in the history of the index. VOA Russian spoke to the head of Transparency International in Russia, Alyona Vandysheva, who said the collapse …
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WASHINGTON — World leaders are making a mistake if they conclude that an effort by U.S. President Donald Trump to review America’s global military posture means Washington is pulling back, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth Tuesday spoke to reporters in Stuttgart, Germany, home to the headquarters for U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command, …
Read more “US military not ‘abandoning’ allies, defense chief says”
Europe says it will ease regulations on artificial intelligence at a key AI summit in Paris on Feb. 11, 2025, that brought together the U.S. and other global tech giants and politicians. But some experts see bigger challenges stalling the bloc’s ambitions to be an AI heavyweight, from the need to pool resources to attracting …
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London — As Washington debates the future of the U.S. Agency for International Development or USAID amid reports that it may be put under the control of the State Department, analysts say Britain could offer lessons for America on merging diplomacy and aid. The Trump administration last month paused funding for USAID, citing a need to …
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The Trump administration last month paused funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development amid reports that it may be put under State Department control as the president seeks to align it with his “America First” policy. Britain’s recent similar move to restructure its foreign aid could offer lessons for Washington. Henry Ridgwell reports from …
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At least 16 Pakistanis have died in a migrant boat accident off the coast of Libya, Pakistani officials said Tuesday. Survivors of a migrant boat rescued in the Atlantic Ocean near Morocco in January have come home in recent days with harrowing stories to tell. VOA Pakistan bureau chief Sarah Zaman met with a survivor …
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WASHINGTON — The U.S., U.K. and Australia on Tuesday sanctioned a Russian web-hosting services provider and two Russian men who administer the service in support of Russian ransomware syndicate LockBit. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and its U.K. and Australian counterparts sanctioned Zservers, a Russia-based bulletproof hosting services provider — which is a …
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MAYVILLE, N.Y. — Salman Rushdie described in graphic detail Tuesday the frenzied moments in 2022 when a masked man rushed at him on a stage in western New York and repeatedly slashed him with a knife, leaving him with life-threatening injuries. The 77-year-old author addressed jurors on the second day of testimony at the trial of …
Paris — U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Europeans on Tuesday their “massive” regulations on artificial intelligence could strangle the technology, and rejected content moderation as “authoritarian censorship.” The mood on AI has shifted as the technology takes root, from one of concerns around safety to geopolitical competition, as countries jockey to nurture the next big …
Read more “Vance tells Europeans that heavy regulation could kill AI “
Russia and Ukraine attacked each other’s energy infrastructure overnight, just days before U.S. and Ukrainian officials were set to discuss steps toward ending the nearly three-year war sparked by Russia’s 2022 invasion. Russian strikes damaged natural gas production facilities in Ukraine’s Poltava region overnight, using a combined attack of 19 cruise, ballistic and guided missiles, …
PARIS — Europe will invest an additional $51.5 billion to bolster the bloc’s artificial intelligence ambition, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday. It will come on top of the European AI Champions Initiative, that has already pledged 150 billion euros from providers, investors and industry, von der Leyen told the Paris AI Summit. …
Read more “EU’s AI push to get $50 billion boost, EU’s von der Leyen says”
Senior advisers in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump are preparing to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, according to an Associated Press interview with retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg. Kellogg, a special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said planning continues for talks with Zelenskyy at …
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French President Emmanuel Macron wants Europe to become a leader in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector, he told a global summit of AI and political leaders in Paris Monday where he announced that France’s private sector has invested nearly $113 billion in French AI. Financial investment is key to achieving the goal of Europe as …
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PARIS — In front of political and tech leaders gathered at a summit in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a strategy on Monday to make up for the delay in France and Europe in investing in artificial intelligence (AI) but was faced with a “counter-summit” that pointed out the risks of the technology. The …
Read more “On sidelines of AI Summit in Paris, unions denounce its harmful effects”
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS — Judges at the International Criminal Court have officially asked Italy on Monday to explain why the country released a Libyan man suspected of torture, murder and rape rather than sending him to The Hague. Italian police arrested Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama al-Masri, last month but rather than extraditing him to …
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VOA Russian speaks to Yevgeniya Chirikova, a coordinator of the Activatica initiative that tracked down the Kremlin’s system of mass torture and violence on Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian army. Using the blueprint that Moscow previously used in Chechnya, Activatica says Russian forces kidnap civilians they deem dangerous and put them in illegal detention …
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — Europe’s Euclid space telescope has detected a rare halo of bright light around a nearby galaxy, astronomers reported Monday. The halo, known as an Einstein ring, encircles a galaxy 590 million light-years away, considered close by cosmic standards. A light-year is 5.8 trillion miles. Astronomers have known about this galaxy for more …
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Bucharest, Romania — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announced his resignation on Monday following mounting pressure from populist opposition groups, two months after a top court annulled a presidential election in the European Union country. “To spare Romania from this crisis, I am resigning as president of Romania,” he said in an emotional address, adding that he …
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PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s leftwing party won most seats in the weekend parliamentary election but was left without a majority in the house, forcing it to look for an ally to form the next government, according to preliminary results released Monday. The vote on Sunday was key in determining who will lead …
Russian drone attacks caused a fire in Kyiv, injured a woman in Sumy and damaged several homes, according to Ukrainian officials. Meanwhile, the Russian military reported downing 15 Ukrainian drones overnight, including seven in the Krasnodar region. Nobody was hurt as a result of the fire in Kyiv, which was sparked in a non-residential building, …