paris — France’s prime minister said Friday that firefighters and other rescuers have been involved in about 2,300 operations, some of them lifesaving, in what appears to be the biggest flooding in 40 years in central France. Michel Barnier visited French authorities’ crisis center in Paris and said there hadn’t been such violent rain in many people’s memory. Over 1,000 people were evacuated. Most of them …
New York Times opens Vietnam bureau amid claims of media repression
bangkok — Vietnam is anxious for international media to tell its story, but a restrictive environment makes accurate and impactful coverage difficult, say media analysts. That conflict of interests will be tested by the decision of The New York Times to open a bureau in the Southeast Asian country, where limited options exist for local independent journalism. The announcement of the newspaper’s return to the country …
Israel denies UN accusations that it’s targeting peacekeepers in Lebanon
geneva — A U.N. official Friday accused the Israel Defense Forces of repeatedly targeting U.N. peacekeepers along the blue line, the U.N.-drawn provisional border between Israel and Lebanon. “We have been targeted several times and deliberately attacked once inside the borders in Naqoura, injuring two peacekeepers,” Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for UNIFIL, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, told journalists in Geneva from Beirut. “They hit the …
Ukraine media outlets, businesses targeted with false bomb threats
Emails threatening terror attacks led to the evacuation of hundreds of businesses, media outlets and foreign embassies in Ukraine this week. Ukrainian national police searched dozens of properties targeted by the threat, including the Kyiv office of VOA sister network Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, according to reports. Police said the searches did not find evidence of explosives. The country’s Foreign Ministry said that about 60 …
Acik Radyo falls silent as Turkish media regulator revokes license
ISTANBUL — With a farewell song of “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys, a Turkish radio station fell silent this week after nearly 30 years of broadcasts. The final Acik Radyo broadcast on Wednesday came as a court upheld the Turkish media regulator’s order to revoke the Istanbul-based station’s license over the mention of “Armenian genocide” on air. Following the court ruling on October 8, the …
Western allies give qualified support to Zelenskyy’s victory plan
A day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented a “victory plan” to European Union leaders and NATO defense ministers, the nation’s allies are giving it qualified support, with one leader saying it will be reconsidered after the U.S. election next month. Zelenskyy’s plan, which he unveiled to Ukraine’s parliament Wednesday, calls first for an unconditional invitation to join NATO, along with the deployment of a …
Israel trying to sow divisions in Lebanon to isolate Hezbollah, analyst says
Some observers say Israel is attempting to promote internal divisions in Lebanon as part of its campaign against Hezbollah. But even amid a devastating war, some Lebanese see an opportunity to unify the country. Jacob Russell reports from Aitou, in the north of Lebanon. …
Indonesian President-elect Prabowo touted as foreign policy president
JAKARTA, INDONESIA — Analysts expect a departure in style and substance from Prabowo Subianto, set to be inaugurated Sunday as Indonesia’s eighth president, compared to predecessor Joko Widodo. “Prabowo will be a foreign policy president and have a hands-on approach in dealing with foreign policy matters,” said Fadli Zon, his longtime political party confidant and the chairperson of the House Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation. “Just look …
Prosecutors in Iran target a newspaper over its cartoon mocking internet restrictions
An Iranian newspaper implying that the public needed to have the patience of the Biblical figure Job in waiting for President Masoud Pezeshkian to lift restrictions on the internet now faces potential criminal charges. The reported case against the pro-reform newspaper Ham Mihan represents one of the first media freedom issues to be faced under Pezeshkian, himself a reformist who has promised to ease a …
Britain, China strike conciliatory note during top diplomat’s visit
BEIJING/LONDON — China and Britain took steps toward further reconciliation on Friday, with Beijing heralding the new Labour government’s plan to develop “pragmatic” bilateral ties as a “new starting point.” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is only the second top U.K. diplomat to visit China in six years, and his trip seeks to demonstrate that Britain is taking a strategic approach to building ties with Beijing, …
Biden hits Germany with lightning-quick visit focused on Middle East, Ukraine
Berlin — President Joe Biden made a lightning-fast, pomp-filled visit to Germany Friday, making an in-person push for transatlantic unity and scooping up Germany’s highest civilian honor. Biden also met in Berlin with Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom to discuss a range of issues behind closed doors – including how to continue …
Ukranian fighter finds US-made M224 mortar effective on front lines
When it comes to military equipment being sent to Ukraine, big-ticket items like Patriot missiles and F-16 fighter jets come to mind. But for many Ukrainian soldiers, the U.S.-made 60-millimeter M224 mortars, also used by the U.S. Marine Corps, have been highly effective against Russian forces. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. Video: Pavel Suhodolskiy …
RSF director general calls China’s repression of journalists ‘totally insane’
Taipei, Taiwan — It has been seven years since the Paris-based press freedom advocacy organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) established an Asia-Pacific office in Taipei. The organization’s new Director General Thibaut Bruttin led a delegation to Taiwan this week and met with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on Wednesday. Taiwan ranked first in Asia this year in the “World Press Freedom Index” released by Reporters Without Borders, …
US, allies take lead on North Korea sanctions, with less outside help
The United States and its allies are pressing ahead with efforts to enforce UN sanctions on North Korea, despite what they describe as a lack of cooperation from Russia and China. VOA’s Bill Gallo joined a Canadian military flight on the front lines of those efforts, and reports from the East China Sea. …
Ukraine evacuates thousands from embattled Kharkiv town
Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine on Friday said it was evacuating thousands of people from an embattled northeastern town that Kyiv retook from Russia about six months after Moscow launched its invasion in 2022. Kupiansk, a key rail hub in the northeastern Kharkiv region, has suffered deadly shelling attacks in recent months as Moscow’s forces get within a few kilometers of the town. The region’s governor had …
South Korea says North troop dispatch to Russia is ‘grave security threat’
seoul, south korea — South Korea said on Friday that it believes North Korea has sent troops to Russia, marking a grave security threat to the international community that Seoul will respond to with all available means, the presidential office said in a statement. Separately, the country’s spy agency said North Korea was participating in the war in Ukraine and had decided to send 12,000 troops, …
Israel conducts raids on Gaza after killing Hamas chief Sinwar
Jerusalem — Israel conducted raids on Gaza on Friday, pressing its yearlong war to crush Hamas after dealing it a massive blow with the killing of its leader, Yahya Sinwar. Hailing the killing of Sinwar, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war sparked by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack was not over but added that it was “the beginning of the end.” He called the …
American reportedly kidnapped from southern Philippine town
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine police said Friday it has launched a search after gunmen reportedly abducted an American national, who was shot in the leg as he tried to resist before being spirited away from a southern Philippine coastal town by speedboat. If confirmed to be a case of kidnapping for ransom, it would be the latest reminder of the long-running security problems that have …
New body to monitor North Korea sanctions enforcement faces doubts about legitimacy
Washington — A question of legitimacy surrounds a new body created to monitor the enforcement of sanctions on North Korea in the absence of a U.N. experts panel with authority to track Pyongyang’s expanding illegal military transfers to Moscow. The United States, South Korea and Japan announced the formation of a Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) on North Korea as an alternative to the dissolved U.N. …
Death of Hamas leader brings hope, peril
Washington — The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar after what appears to have been a chance encounter with Israeli forces has sparked renewed hope in Washington that the conflict that has ravaged Gaza and set the Middle East on the brink of a regional war could give way to a potentially peaceful resolution. In the hours following Israeli confirmation of Sinwar’s death Thursday, in fighting …
US extends immigration protections to Lebanese nationals
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Thursday new guidelines offering temporary immigration protection to some Lebanese nationals in the United States, allowing them to remain and work in the country. These protections include Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and a new Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Lebanon, following months of escalating conflict and instability in the region. Eligible Lebanese nationals who have been …
New debate ignited over Seoul’s right to nuclear reprocessing
washington — As North Korea escalates tensions on the Korean Peninsula, a new debate has ignited in Seoul over whether South Korea should have the right to reprocess spent nuclear fuel — a step that would allow for the extraction of a fissile material that can be used to build nuclear weapons. According to the South Korean Embassy in Washington, Ambassador to the U.S. Cho …
Turkey’s ruling party uses misinformation to downplay scope of femicide
The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing mounting criticism over the rise of gender-based violence in Turkey, which ranks among the world’s worst countries for violence against women. Just last week in Istanbul, a 19-year-old Turkish man killed two young women — first, his 19-year-old girlfriend at his home, and then a woman, also 19, whom he met in the city. He beheaded …
Georgia’s civil society teams up to monitor crucial election, defying ‘foreign agent’ law
As the Republic of Georgia prepares to hold crucial elections on October 26, there are fears that the ruling Georgian Dream party may not easily give up power. As Henry Ridgwell reports from the capital, many civil society groups are mobilizing to ensure the election is free and fair. …