BRUSSELS — s the war in Ukraine enters a critical period, the European Union has decided that it must take responsibility for what it sees as an existential threat to security in its own neighborhood and is preparing to tackle some of the financial burden, perhaps even without the United States. EU envoys have been working in Brussels this week on a proposal to provide Ukraine …
Blinken to meet Chinese counterpart amid concerns over China’s drone supply to Russia
New York — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This meeting between the countries’ top diplomats comes amid growing U.S. concerns over Chinese firms supplying chips and drones to Moscow, which have significantly bolstered Russia’s battlefield capabilities in its war against Ukraine. …
Push for renewable energy sparks new environmental worries
According to the International Energy Agency, the world now invests almost twice as much in clean energy as it does in fossil fuels. But with that shift comes environmental risks related to the mining of critical minerals. VOA’s Jessica Stone looks at how nations are navigating the environmental challenges of creating a renewable future. …
Cryptocurrency exchange network accused of helping Russia hit with sanctions
WASHINGTON — A network of people and virtual currency exchanges associated with harboring Russian cybercrime were hit with sanctions on Thursday, in a government-wide crackdown on cybercrime that could assist Russia ahead of President Joe Biden’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. U.S. Treasury sanctioned alleged Russian hacker Sergey Ivanov and Cryptex — a St. Vincent and Grenadines registered virtual currency exchange operating in Russia. Virtual …
Zelenskyy meets with Biden, Harris amid Republican allegation of election interference
White House — U.S. President Joe Biden is hosting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House Thursday, where the Ukrainian leader is set to discuss his plans for winning the war against Russia, as Republicans accuse him of “election interference.” Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet separately with Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris following his meeting with Biden. However, no plans have been announced …
Pope Francis heads for Luxembourg and Belgium on a trip to a dwindling flock
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is traveling to once-strong bastions of Christianity in the heart of Europe to try to reinvigorate a Catholic flock that is dwindling in the face of secular trends and abuse scandals that have largely emptied the continent’s magnificent cathedrals and village churches. Francis stops first Thursday in Luxembourg, the European Union’s second-smallest country, with a population of some 650,000 people, and …
UK foreign secretary: ‘We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Ukrainians’
NEW YORK — Among the issues on the agenda for world leaders who gathered this week for the United Nations General Assembly is Russia’s war against Ukraine. In an interview in New York with VOA’s Ukrainian Service, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said his nation stands “shoulder-to-shoulder with the Ukrainians” and will provide Ukraine with military aid for “as long as it takes” to help it …
Mexico excludes Spanish king from president’s swearing-in
Madrid — Mexican president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum angered Spain on Wednesday by barring its King Felipe VI from her swearing-in ceremony, accusing him of failing to acknowledge harm caused by his country’s conquest of Mexico five centuries ago. The decision prompted Spain to boycott the event altogether, with its Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calling the Mexican decision “inexplicable” and “totally unacceptable.” Mexico’s outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez …
Norway arrests Cameroonian ‘separatist leader’ for crimes against humanity
Oslo, Norway — Norwegian police on Wednesday said they had arrested a man on suspicion of incitement to commit crimes against humanity in Cameroon, where a radio station identified him as “separatist leader” Lucas Cho Ayaba. The Kripos police unit that deals with war crimes and crimes against humanity said in a statement that it had arrested “a man in his 50s” on Tuesday, but did …
Pope expels bishop, 9 others from Peru movement over ‘sadistic’ abuses
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis took the unusual decision Wednesday to expel 10 people — a bishop, priests and laypeople — from a troubled Catholic movement in Peru after a Vatican investigation uncovered “sadistic” abuses of power, authority and spirituality. The move against the leadership of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, or Sodalitium of Christian Life, followed Francis’ decision last month to expel the group’s founder, Luis …
UN: Russia muzzling dissent amid climate of fear, repression
Geneva — As Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine grinds on for a third year, a United Nations report says all dissenting voices in the Russian Federation have been muzzled, civic and political rights have been shut down, and the human rights situation in the country “has significantly worsened.” “The country is now governed by a state-sponsored system of fear and punishment including the use of torture, …
Volunteer group locates some 2,000 bodies in Ukraine’s Donetsk
A volunteer group is searching for the remains of people killed in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. The group Platsdarm says it has recovered around 2,000 bodies since 2014. Yaroslava Movchan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer: Dmytro Hlushko …
Finland zoo returns giant pandas to China over cost
HELSINKI — Finland will return two giant pandas to China in November, more than eight years ahead of time, as the zoo where they live can no longer afford their upkeep, the chair of the zoo’s board told Reuters on Tuesday. The pandas, named Lumi and Pyry, were brought to Finland in January 2018, months after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Nordic country and signed …
Climate change doubles chance of floods like those in Central Europe, report says
WARSAW, Poland — Climate change has made downpours like the one that caused devastating floods in central Europe this month twice as likely to occur, a report said on Wednesday, as its scientific authors urged policymakers to act to stop global warming. The worst flooding to hit central Europe in at least two decades has left 24 people dead, with towns strewn with mud and debris, …
Critics say Russia is militarizing classrooms
A new school year begins in Russia, the third that is starting with Moscow’s war in Ukraine as a backdrop. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina on what critics say are Russia’s moves to militarize education by introducing new subjects that explain and justify its full-scale assault on Ukraine. …
Swiss police detain several people in connection with ‘suicide capsule’
GENEVA — Police in northern Switzerland said Tuesday that several people have been detained and a criminal case opened in connection with the suspected death of a person in a “suicide capsule.” The “Sarco” capsule is presumably designed to allow a person sitting in a reclining seat inside to push a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber. The person is then supposed to …
German economy expected to contract again in 2024, say sources
Berlin — Germany’s leading economic institutes have downgraded their forecast for 2024 and now see Europe’s largest economy shrinking by 0.1%, people familiar with the figures from the autumn joint economic forecast told Reuters on Tuesday. Germany’s economy was the weakest among its large euro zone peers last year with a 0.3% contraction. Even with inflation on a downward trend, consumption remains weak and high …
Pope asks for liberation of Myanmar’s detained ex-leader Suu Kyi
ROME — Pope Francis has called for the liberation of Myanmar’s detained former leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and offered the Vatican as a safe haven, the pontiff said in a recent conversation with Jesuits in Asia. “I asked for the Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s release and received her son in Rome. I offered the Vatican to receive her in our territory,” …