When the U.S. Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on three companies belonging to Denis Postovoy on Wednesday, it was yet another move to break up what U.S. authorities say was an international scheme to violate sanctions. A month earlier, on September 16, law enforcement officials arrested the 44-year-old Russian national in Sarasota, Florida. He was charged with conspiring to violate sanctions on Russia, commit smuggling, …
US envoy sees some ‘concerning signals’ in Russia-China military cooperation in Arctic
The United States is watching growing cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic closely and some of their recent military collaboration in the region sends “concerning signals”, the U.S. Arctic ambassador said. Russia and China have stepped up military cooperation in the Arctic while deepening overall ties in recent years that include China supplying Moscow with dual-use goods despite Western sanctions on Russia over …
Japan, EU announce new defense pact
TOKYO — Japan and the European Union announced a sweeping new security and defense partnership in Tokyo on Friday. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell hailed it as a historic and “very timely” step. Borrell and his Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Iwaya, unveiled the pact to develop cooperation on joint military drills, the exchange of information related to the defense industry and space security, among other matters. …
Kurdish immigrants running for local office in Minnesota
Moorhead, Minnesota, is home to more than 3,000 Kurds, some of whom have been there since the mid-1970s. They are the town’s largest minority group and hope this election might bring them representation in local government. Dakhil Shammo of VOA’s Kurdish service went to Minnesota and met with two local candidates in this story narrated by Amy Katz. …
Moscow says it destroyed 83 Ukrainian drones
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its defenses shot down 83 Ukrainian drones over six regions early on November 1. “36 drones were shot down over the Kursk region, 20 over the Bryansk region, 12 over Crimea, eight over the Voronezh region, four over the Oryol region, and three over the Belgorod region,” the ministry said in a statement on its Telegram channel. Separately, Aleksandr Bogomaz, the …
North Korean foreign minister arrives in Moscow for talks
moscow — North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui has arrived in Moscow and will hold strategic consultations with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the ministry, in a post on her official Telegram channel, published photographs of Lavrov meeting Choe at a Moscow train station. “Today, talks between the heads of Russia and the …
Israeli strikes kill 47 Palestinians in central Gaza, Palestinian news agency says
Gaza, Gaza Strip — Forty-seven Palestinians were killed and dozens injured, most of them children and women, in overnight Israeli bombardment of the the central Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported Friday. The attacks occurred in the city of Deir Al-Balah, the Nuseirat camp and the town of Al-Zawayda, it said. The Israeli military said its troops had identified and eliminated “several armed terrorists” …
Iraq gets new parliament speaker after yearlong deadlock
After nearly a year’s deadlock, Iraq’s parliament elected a new speaker Thursday. Prominent Sunni lawmaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, who served as parliament’s speaker from 2006 to 2009, was elected by 182 of the 269 politicians in attendance. Iraq’s parliament has been without a speaker since last November, following a ruling of the Federal Supreme Court in a case that involved then-speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, the country’s most …
Ukraine doubles down on psychological campaign against North Korean troops
Washington — As North Korean troops prepare to join Russian forces in the war on Ukraine, Kyiv is stepping up a psychological warfare campaign to target the North Korean soldiers, a high-ranking Ukraine official said. The effort is liable to get a boost from a team of South Korean military observers that Seoul’s defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, said this week will be going to Ukraine to …
Mystery surrounds detention of Wagner Group operative in Chad
A shadowy Russian political operator with close ties to the notorious Wagner Group and its late founder Yevgeny Prigozhin is detained in Chad on unexplained charges, adding a fresh chapter to his long career of mystery and intrigue. Russian officials and state-controlled media maintain that Maxim Shugaley, who was detained on September 19 along with two other Russians, is an innocent sociologist who was …
N. Korea boasts about new long-range missile, calls it ‘world’s strongest’
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Friday bragged about its recently tested new intercontinental ballistic missile, calling it “the world’s strongest.” Outside experts saw the claim as propaganda, though the test did show advancement in the North’s quest to build a more reliable weapons arsenal. A missile that North Korea launched Thursday flew higher and stayed in the air longer than any other weapon the …
Junta airstrikes lay waste to civilian lives in Myanmar’s Karenni State
Paekon Township, Myanmar / WASHINGTON — In a crowded church filled with mourners on September 6, a young high school teacher sat among friends, her face streaked with tears as she gazed at the makeshift shrouds covering the small bodies laid out before her. Among them were her students — children she had taught, known and cared for deeply. “I couldn’t recognize some of them,” she …
Germany closes 3 Iranian consulates following Iran’s execution of German Iranian national
Germany will close three Iranian consulates in response to Iran’s announcement of the execution of Jamshid Sharmahd, a German Iranian national and a U.S. resident, earlier this week. “We have repeatedly and unequivocally made it clear to Tehran that the execution of a German citizen will have serious consequences,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Thursday in announcing the closure of the consulates in Frankfurt, …
Turkish winemaking booms in face of Islamist policies
Turkey is seeing a boom in winemaking, with hundreds of new producers emerging over the last few years. The trend runs counter the Islamist, conservative policies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that have included restrictions and taxes on alcohol. Dorian Jones reports from Manisa, Turkey. …
Russia fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Russia has fined Google an amount larger than the entire world’s gross domestic product over restricting Russian propaganda channels on YouTube. Russian business newspaper RBC reported this week that legal claims brought by 17 Russian TV channels against Google in Russian courts, which have imposed compound fines on Google, had reached $20 decillion — an incomprehensible sum with 34 zeros. By comparison, the International Monetary …
Anti-China sentiment said to be growing in Myanmar
bangkok — A recent attack on a Chinese consulate in Myanmar reflects growing anti-Chinese sentiment in the country fed by Beijing’s support of the ruling junta, experts say. On October 18, the Chinese consulate in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, was struck by a small explosive device. Reports say the building was damaged but there were no casualties. It was the first attack was on a Chinese …
Hundreds in Turkey protest arrest, ouster of opposition mayor
ISTANBUL — Hundreds gathered Thursday in Istanbul to protest the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey’s main opposition party for his alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group. Ahmet Ozer, mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district and a member of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was detained on Wednesday by anti-terrorist police over his alleged connection to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, …
Hungary’s Orban finds key ally in Georgia amid Western concerns
TBILISI, GEORGIA — Standing side by side with Georgia’s prime minister, Hungary’s Viktor Orban was among the first to congratulate the ruling Georgian Dream party on its recent electoral victory. This endorsement came as much of the Western world raised questions about the legitimacy of the election and tens of thousands of Georgians were in the streets to protest it. Orban’s swift acknowledgment underscored his bond …
Analysts see Iran’s deterrence vis-a-vis Israel weakened
Recent attempts by Iran to establish deterrence through direct strikes on Israel have mainly failed, according to analysts, leaving the Islamic Republic more vulnerable to its prime foe. Israel’s recent retaliatory airstrikes on Iran are said to have dismantled all of Iran’s S-300 defense missile system. The strikes came in response to Iran’s October 1 ballistic missile attacks against Israel. Iran says it is still …
Chinese online retailer Temu faces EU probe into rogue traders, illegal goods
LONDON — The European Union is investigating Chinese online retailer Temu over suspicions it’s failing to prevent the sale of illegal products, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm said on Thursday. The European Commission opened its investigation five months after adding Temu to the list of “very large online platforms” needing the strictest level of scrutiny under the bloc’s Digital Services Act. It’s a wide-ranging rulebook designed …
Pakistan says China’s remarks on safety of its citizens ‘perplexing’
Islamabad — Pakistan pushed back Thursday against China’s criticism of the safety of Chinese personnel in the country, calling the comments “perplexing” and contrary to established diplomatic traditions between the neighbors. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch said at a weekly news conference in Islamabad that the government is dedicated to ensuring the security of Chinese nationals, projects, and institutions in Pakistan. Baloch was responding to a …
IMF: Mideast conflicts to leave ‘lasting scars’
Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan will take decades to recover from the conflicts raging on their soil, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday after downgrading the region’s growth forecast. Israel’s military actions against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Sudan’s civil war would have enduring impacts, the IMF said. “The damage caused by these conflicts will leave lasting scars …
Papua New Guinea to boycott ‘waste of time’ UN climate summit
Papua New Guinea on Thursday declared a boycott of next month’s UN climate summit, branding the global warming negotiations a “waste of time” full of empty promises from big polluters. While plenty have criticized the annual COP summit in the past, it is rare for any government to so totally dismiss the UN’s premier climate talks. “There’s no point going if we are falling asleep …
Vatican tribunal explains conviction of cardinal and others in ‘trial of the century’
The Vatican tribunal said Wednesday it convicted a cardinal of aggravated fraud and other charges because of his “objectively inexplicable behavior” in paying a self-styled intelligence analyst over a half-million euros in Vatican money that she then spent on luxury items and vacations. The city-state’s tribunal issued 816 pages of written motivations from its Dec. 16 verdicts in the Vatican’s “trial of the century.” The …