China has asked Germany to support efforts to resolve a dispute between the European Union and Beijing over electric vehicle tariffs. Last month, the EU decided to raise tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China to as much as 45.3%. Beijing has been negotiating with the EU to repeal the tariffs and sees Germany – the bloc’s biggest economy and Beijing’s largest trading partner in …
Iran slams new EU, UK sanctions as unjustified
TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday slammed as unjustified the new sanctions by the European Union and United Kingdom against Tehran over its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine. “While the president of Ukraine has admitted that no Iranian ballistic missiles have been exported to Russia, the measures of the European Union and United Kingdom in applying sanctions against Iran cannot be justified,” ministry …
China, Pakistan to hold first anti-terror drills in 5 years amid rising attacks
Islamabad — China said Tuesday it will send troops to Pakistan later this month for the countries first joint counterterrorism military exercise in five years to enhance security cooperation with its South Asian neighbor and close ally. The announcement follows reports that Beijing is pushing Islamabad to permit its security personnel to safeguard thousands of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan from deadly terrorist attacks. It also …
Students hurt in China primary school crash as nerves fray over recent attacks
BEIJING — A driver in an SUV plowed into students and pedestrians outside a primary school in southern China on Tuesday, leaving several people injured, state media said, as worries spread over a spate of violent attacks in the country over the past week. CCTV and other state media reported the SUV hit people outside a primary school in Changde city in Hunan province as students …
Lebanon reviewing Hezbollah-Israel cease-fire agreement
A U.S. diplomat arrived Tuesday in Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials about a possible cease-fire agreement – reportedly approved by Hezbollah – that would end fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed group. Amos Hochstein was meeting with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who is mediating for the militants. Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have agreed to a proposal that was …
Russia broadens conditions for using nuclear weapons
As the war in Ukraine entered its 1,000th day Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine stating that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation supported by a nuclear power is considered a joint attack and could trigger a nuclear response. The proclamation came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use long-range weapons from the U.S. to …
Lithuania steps up surveillance at sea following damage to undersea cable
VILNIUS, Lithuania — Lithuania’s Navy said on Tuesday it had increased monitoring of its waters after an undersea communications cable connecting the country with Sweden had been damaged. An assessment is now being carried out along with allies, a spokesperson for the Lithuanian armed forces told Reuters. The cable was one of two fiber-optic cables in the Baltic Sea which were severed in recent days, raising …
Mass rally opposes proposed New Zealand treaty reform
SYDNEY — A nine-day march to protest race relations laws in New Zealand ended Tuesday with a rally of more than 40,000 perople in the capital, Wellington. Introduced last week by New Zealand’s center-right government, the Treaty Principles Bill, would enshrine a narrower legal interpretation of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. The right-leaning government says a bill – or a proposed law reform – …
Numerous children injured by a vehicle at a school gate in central China
Taipei, Taiwan — Numerous children were injured by a vehicle at the gate of an elementary school in central China’s Hunan province on Tuesday morning, reports said. Students were arriving for classes around 8 a.m. at Yong’an Elementary School in the city of Changde when the incident occurred. Few details were immediately available, and it wasn’t clear whether the vehicle had lost control or whether it …
Russia vetoes UN cease-fire resolution for Sudan
Russia vetoed a United Nation resolution Monday calling for an immediate cease-fire between Sudan’s warring parties and the delivery of humanitarian aid to millions of Sudanese. Russia was the only Security Council member that voted against the cease-fire resolution. China, Russia’s ally, supported the resolution, drafted by the United Kingdom and Sierra Leone. Russian Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told the council that Moscow vetoed …
Bolstered by Trump’s election, Israeli settlers hope to annex West Bank
Jewish settlers in the West Bank welcome the election of Donald Trump and his selection of Mike Huckabee as U.S. Ambassador to Israel. They say they hope to annex the West Bank and even build settlements in Gaza. For VOA, Linda Gradstein reports from the Kedumim settlement in the West Bank. Camera: Ricki Rosen. …
Youths at UN climate talks push through anger to fight for hope
BAKU, Azerbaijan — Young people who attend the U.N. climate talks have a lot to be angry about. They’ve lost loved ones and months of school. They’ve lost homes and family farms and connections to their families’ native lands. They haven’t lost hope, though. Not yet. “It has become so tiring for me to be just a poster child,” said Marinel Ubaldo, who by age 16 …
UN Security Council calls for urgent aid to Gaza
State Department — Members of the United Nations Security Council, including the United States and the United Kingdom, urged an immediate increase in aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, warning that the humanitarian situation there is worsening. Meanwhile, the United States warned Turkey on Monday against hosting Hamas leadership, saying there can be “no more business as usual” with what the U.S. designates as a terrorist …
Protesters in Georgia’s capital set up tent camp, demand new elections
tbilisi, georgia — Demonstrators in Georgia’s capital have set up tents on a central thoroughfare and vowed Monday to stay around the clock to demand new parliamentary elections in the country. The October 26 election kept the governing Georgian Dream party in power, but opponents say the vote was rigged with Russia’s assistance. Many Georgians viewed the election as a referendum on the country’s effort to …
Greece to repay chunk of bailout debt early
Athens, Greece — Greece will make an early repayment of 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in bailout-era debt in 2025, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told a banking conference in Athens on Monday, describing the move as a signal of the country’s fiscal recovery. “This … underscores our confidence in public finances and reflects our commitment to fiscal discipline,” Mitsotakis said. Finance Ministry officials say they plan …
China’s Xi highlights ‘Global South’ measures at G20
Washington — Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a range of measures to boost global development in his remarks Monday at G20 Summit meetings in Rio de Janeiro — highlighting Beijing’s support for its global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road, and a joint technology initiative to support so-called “Global South” nations. Xi said the “Open Science International Cooperation Initiative” would be spearheaded by China, Brazil, South …
As China cracks down on bookstores at home, Chinese-language booksellers flourish overseas
Washington — Yu Miao smiles as he stands among the 10,000 books crowded on rows of bamboo shelves in his newly reopened bookstore. It’s in Washington’s vibrant Dupont Circle neighborhood, far from its last location in Shanghai, where the Chinese government forced him out of business six years ago. “There is no pressure from the authorities here,” said Yu, the owner of JF Books, Washington’s only …
US sanctions group that builds illegal West Bank settlements, with close ties to Israeli government
Washington — The U.S. on Monday imposed sanctions on organizations and firms involved in illegal settlement development in the occupied West Bank, including a well-established decades-old group that has close ties with Israeli leadership. Treasury sanctioned Amana, the largest organization involved in illegal settlement development in the West Bank, and its subsidiary Binyanei Bar Amana Ltd. Already sanctioned by Britain and Canada, Amana is one of …
Russian opposition activists speak freely against Putin, but in Germany
Russian opposition members in exile took to the streets of Berlin Sunday to demand a pullout of Russian troops from Ukraine and the resignation of President Vladimir Putin in a protest that would have been impossible in Russia due to police and judicial pressure on opposition movements. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in Berlin. …
Poland urges polio vaccinations for children after virus detected in sewage in Warsaw
warsaw, poland — Poland’s health authorities on Monday urged polio vaccinations for children after the virus was detected in Warsaw’s sewage during regular tests this month. The state Main Sanitary Inspectorate in a statement said the presence of the virus does not necessarily mean people have been sick, but those who have not been vaccinated against polio could be at risk. The vaccinations are free in …
Pro-democracy publisher Lai’s trial to resume this week in Hong Kong
Washington — After a monthslong delay, the national security trial of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai is due to resume Wednesday in Hong Kong amid continued calls for his immediate release. Founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, Lai has been held in solitary confinement since late 2020. His trial began in December 2023 and was initially estimated to last about 80 days. Lai, 76, is expected …
UK sanctions Iran Air and IRISL over military transfers to Russia
London — Britain on Monday imposed sanctions against Iran’s national airline and shipping carrier, measures it said were taken in response to Iran’s transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia. The state-owned Iran Air and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) will face an asset freeze for their role in supplying weapons to Russia for use on the battlefield against Ukraine, Britain said. “Iran’s attempts to …
Syrian refugees flee Israeli bombs in Lebanon
In the past two months, more than half a million people have fled into Syria from Lebanon, many of them refugees who initially fled the Syrian war. Those returning to Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in Syria, say they are escaping to a place that is only a little safer than Lebanon, without homes, jobs or humanitarian aid waiting for them. Heather Murdock reports from …
Dutch minister: Chinese trade with Russia ‘directly affecting’ EU security
AMSTERDAM — The Netherlands’ foreign minister, whose ministry oversees export restrictions on top computer chip equipment maker ASML, said on Monday that China-Russia trade was “directly affecting” European security. NATO views China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia in its war against Ukraine, given that Chinese firms are selling goods that end up as components in Russian weapons, including drones, Caspar Veldkamp said before a meeting …