SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Russia gave North Korea anti-air missiles in exchange for deploying troops to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Seoul’s top security adviser said Friday. The United States and South Korea have accused the nuclear-armed North of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine, with experts saying Kim Jong Un was …

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VIENNA — The United Nations atomic watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution on Thursday again ordering Iran to urgently improve cooperation with the agency and requesting a “comprehensive” report aimed at pressuring Iran into fresh nuclear talks.  Britain, France, Germany and the United States, which proposed the resolution, dismissed as insufficient and insincere a …

Read more “IAEA board orders Iran to cooperate more; West pushes Tehran toward talks”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Russia’s use of a fast, powerful new missile to attack the city of Dnipro on Thursday, calling it a “nuclear adventure” and a stark escalation in the war. The attack has ignited fears of a dangerous new phase in the war. In a nationwide address, Russian President Vladimir Putin later …

Read more “Russia’s use of advanced missile sends signal to West, analysts say”

VIENNA, AUSTRIA — Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s next foreign policy chief, is already sending signals that she will take a tough stance on Russia and China and be an advocate for a strong alliance between Europe and America. Kallas spoke to the European Parliament for the first time in her new role at a hearing …

Read more “New EU diplomat vows tough stance on China, strong alliance with US”

Washington — Several of Beijing’s leading trading partners are urging Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to pressure North Korea to stop or reverse its deployment of troops to Russia, where more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have joined the front lines in the war against Ukraine.  The appeals at the past week’s twin summits …

Read more “North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia jeopardizes China’s balancing act”

Twelve people have been arrested in connection with a roof collapse at a railway station earlier this month that killed at least 15 people in the city of Novi Sad, Serbian prosecutors said Thursday. Novi Sad’s Higher Prosecutor’s Office said the suspects, who were not identified, were arrested on suspicion of committing criminal acts against …

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The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday a new set of sanctions targeting Russia’s financial sector and its ability to fund its war with Ukraine, hitting Gazprombank as well as many other internationally connected financial institutions, entities and individuals. In a statement posted to its website, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the …

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HELSINKI — Police in Finland said Thursday they had detained five suspects in connection with deadly violence in southeastern Nigeria and were seeking a court extension of the detentions. The police did not identify the suspects, only saying that a dual Finnish-Nigerian citizen, born in the 1980s, was under criminal investigation. However, Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian …

Read more “Finnish police arrest 5 suspects over separatist violence in Nigeria”

Washington — A new survey of public opinion in Ukraine indicates that for the first time a slight majority of Ukrainians say they are ready to concede their lands for peace; however, other recent polls indicate opinions may be more complicated. The Gallup polls released Tuesday, conducted in August and October, found that 52 percent of …

Read more “Ukrainian opinion survey tracks fluctuating opinion on quick end to war”

London — British Defense Secretary John Healey is expected to face lawmakers’ questions Thursday on media reports Ukraine used British-donated Storm Shadow missiles on targets deep inside Russia for the first time Wednesday. Healey is to appear before the parliamentary Defense Committee Thursday morning. The hearing was scheduled before Wednesday’s reported attack. Both the British and …

Read more “UK defense secretary to be quizzed on Ukraine’s firing of British missiles into Russia”

GRINDAVIK, Iceland — A volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland has erupted for the seventh time since December. The eruption started with little warning at 11:14 p.m. Wednesday and created a fissure around 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) long. The activity is estimated to be considerably smaller than the previous eruption in August, Iceland’s meteorological …

Read more “Volcano on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula erupts for the 7th time in a year”

Ukrainian officials reported damage Thursday to an industrial site in the Dnipropetrovsk region after a series of Russian attacks. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said the attacks hit the city of Dnipro and also caused several fires. Volodymyr Artiukh, governor of Ukraine’s Sumy region, said on Telegram that Russian forces shelled areas along the border between …

Read more “Russian attack causes damage in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region”

HELSINKI, Finland — Finnish authorities said Wednesday they have opened an investigation into the rupture of a data cable under the Baltic Sea, adding to a Swedish probe into the possible sabotage of that link and another cable. The C-Lion1 cable, which runs between Finland and Germany was damaged on Monday, the day after similar damage …

Read more “Finnish authorities open probe into ruptured undersea cable between Finland, Germany”

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named Matt Whitaker, a former acting attorney general from his first presidency, as the U.S. ambassador to NATO, the cornerstone Western military alliance whose member countries Trump has criticized for not spending enough money on defense. In a statement, Trump described Whitaker, 55, as “a strong warrior and loyal …

Read more “Trump picks former acting attorney general as US envoy to NATO”

It’s reported that Ukraine has fired British-supplied Storm Shadow long-range missiles into Russia for the first time. It follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s reported decision earlier this week to approve the use of American longer-range missiles on targets deep inside Russia. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …

Some U.S. weapons deliveries to Ukraine may take place after President Joe Biden’s term ends in January, Pentagon officials tell VOA, noting it will take time for certain capabilities to arrive in Ukraine. “As you know, some equipment and some systems can get to Ukraine very quickly, and you’ve seen that happen within days or …

Read more “Some US weapons may be delivered to Ukraine after Biden’s term ends, Pentagon says”

Many Ukrainians welcome the U.S. decision to let Ukraine use U.S.-supplied missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. But on the streets of Ukraine’s capital, many also say they feel the decision, coming 1,000 days into the war, is too little too late. For VOA, Anna Chernikova reports from Kyiv. VOA footage by Vladyslav Smilianets. …

Read more “Too little too late? Ukrainians react to US permission to strike deep into Russia”

belgrade, serbia — Scuffles erupted for a second day Wednesday in a northern Serbian city between police and opposition protesters demanding arrests over a deadly roof collapse at the city’s railway station earlier this month. Anti-government protesters sought to block a courthouse in Novi Sad, where the roof collapse at the station on Nov. 1 killed …

Read more “Protesters scuffle with police in Serbia as they demand arrests over a deadly roof collapse”

STOCKHOLM — The Danish military said on Wednesday that it was staying close to a Chinese ship currently sitting idle in Danish waters, days after two fiber-optic data telecommunication cables in the Baltic Sea were severed. Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 was anchored in the Kattegat strait between Denmark and Sweden on Wednesday, with a …

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MADRID — Spain will legalize about 300,000 undocumented migrants a year, starting next May and through 2027, the country’s migration minister said Wednesday. The policy aims to expand the aging country’s workforce and allow foreigners living in Spain without proper documentation to obtain work permits and residency. Spain has largely remained open to receiving migrants even …

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BERLIN — China has overtaken Germany in the use of robots in industry, an annual report published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) showed on Wednesday, underscoring the challenges facing Europe’s biggest economy from Beijing. In terms of robot density, an important indicator for international comparisons of the automation of the manufacturing industry, South Korea …

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MOSCOW/IRTYSH VILLAGE, RUSSIA — Russian farmers say they will sow less wheat after heavy losses this year, switching to more profitable crops such as peas, lentils, or sunflowers. Such decisions will have direct implications for global wheat prices and inflation in major buyers like Egypt, as Russia is the world’s top exporter of the grain. The …

Read more “Russian farmers ditch wheat for other crops after heavy losses”