DAMASCUS, SYRIA — Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday. Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that led the campaign that ousted Assad …
Quake strikes near battered Vanuatu; no major damage reported
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — A magnitude 6.1 earthquake rattled buildings on Vanuatu’s main island early Sunday but did not appear to have caused major damage, just days after a massive, deadly quake wreaked havoc on the Pacific archipelago. The nation’s most populous island, Efate, is still reeling from the 7.3-magnitude quake that struck Tuesday. It killed 12 people as it toppled concrete buildings in the capital, Port …
Albania to shut down TikTok for 1 year, says platform promotes violence among children
TIRANA, ALBANIA — Albania’s prime minister said Saturday the government will shut down the video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children. Albanian authorities held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents following the stabbing death of a teenager in mid-November by another teen after a quarrel that started on TikTok. Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a meeting …
Pope describes Israeli airstrikes of Gaza as ‘cruelty’
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Saturday again condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, a day after an Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff for suggesting the global community should study whether the military offensive there constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people. Francis opened his annual Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals who lead the Vatican’s various departments with what appeared to be a reference …
Airports reopen following Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Kazan
MOSCOW — The airport in the Russian city of Kazan reopened on Saturday after temporarily closing earlier in the day following a Ukrainian drone attack, Russia’s aviation watchdog said. Russian state news agencies reported the drone attack on a residential complex and other areas in Kazan, some 800 kilometers east of Moscow. The Defense Ministry said the city had been attacked by three waves of drones …
Lack of shelter, food increases Gazans’ misery as winter sets in
GENEVA — As temperatures drop and seasonal rains flood fragile settlements in the Gaza Strip this winter, aid agencies fear many Palestinians will die while others become critically ill and some permanently disabled. “It is very cold. It has been raining overnight. … We are anticipating very heavy rain here today, and this is while 1.9 million people are displaced,” Louise Wateridge, senior emergency officer for …
France adds first nuclear reactor in 25 years to grid
PARIS — France connected the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor to its grid on Saturday morning, state-run operator EDF said, in the first addition to the country’s nuclear power network in 25 years. The reactor, which began operating in September ahead of the grid connection, is going online 12 years later than originally planned and at a cost of about $13 billion — four times the original …
Syria’s new rulers name foreign minister in push for international relations
Syria’s new rulers have appointed a foreign minister, the official Syrian news agency, or SANA, said on Saturday, as they seek to build international relations two weeks after Bashar al-Assad was ousted. The ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian …
Myanmar ethnic rebels say they’ve captured junta western command
BANGKOK — A Myanmar ethnic rebel group has captured a military regional command in Rakhine state, it said, in what would be a major blow to the junta. The Arakan Army had “completely captured” the western regional command at Ann on Friday after weeks of fighting, the group said in a statement on its Telegram channel. Ann would be the second regional military command to …
Germans mourn attack on Christmas market with no answers about why
MAGDEBURG, GERMANY — Germans on Saturday mourned a violent attack and their shaken sense of security after a Saudi doctor intentionally drove a black BMW into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers, killing at least two people, including a small child, and injuring at least 60 others. Authorities arrested a 50-year-old man at the site of the attack Friday evening and took him into custody …
Missile fired from Yemen hits Israel, wounding 16
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people slightly injured by shattered glass from nearby windows, the Israeli military said Saturday. A further 14 people sustained minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded before the projectile hit just before 4 a.m. Saturday, the military said. The Houthis later issued a …
VOA Kurdish: Leader of Islamic Union of Kurdistan visits Turkey for talks
Salahaddin Bahadin, the secretary-general of the Islamic Union of Kurdistan (IU), visited Turkey this week, following an official invitation from the Turkish Foreign Ministry. While the party has not shared details about the visit’s purpose, Bahadin announced the trip on his Facebook and X accounts. Click here to see the full story in Kurdish. …
Trump adds EU to list of trade partners he threatens with tariffs
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday added the 27 countries that make up the European Union to the list of trade partners he’s threatening with tariffs — unless the group takes steps to import more U.S. goods. “I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil …
Indonesians mark 2 decades since the tsunami that killed 230,000
BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA — Two decades after a catastrophic tsunami destroyed her village, Tria Asnani still cries when she recalls how she lost her mother while trying to escape the giant waves. Asnani, now a schoolteacher, was 17 at the time. Her father, who was a fisherman, never returned home from sea. She doesn’t know how she survived. “I cannot swim. I could only rely on …
Ukraine strike kills 6 in Russia’s Kursk region
Ukraine attacked a town in Russia’s Kursk region Friday, killing six people, including a child, a senior local official said. Ten others were hospitalized in the town of Rylsk after the attack with U.S.-supplied HIMARS rockets, Kursk acting Governor Alexander Khinshtein said. The attack, Ukrainian officials said, followed an earlier Russian missile attack on Kyiv. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said an early Friday morning Russian ballistic …
Musk backs German far-right party in social media post
Elon Musk, the billionaire ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, has praised the far-right Alterative for Germany party ahead of the election due in Germany early next year. The party wants to end Western support for Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders. Henry Ridgwell reports. …
VOA Kurdish: Kurdistan Regional Government working to ease tensions in northeast Syria
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is actively working behind the scenes to address escalating tensions in northeast Syria, an area under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces. According to Sardar Abdullah, a political observer and former Iraqi parliament member, the KRG is leveraging its relationships with the United States, Europe and Turkey to prevent a humanitarian and political disaster for the Kurdish people in …
VOA Mandarin: China’s influence campaign targets local US officials
A new Foundation for the Defense of Democracies report warns about Beijing’s years-long efforts in establishing connections and exerting influence on state officials in the United States, an area that’s been overlooked by national security authorities on the federal level. Click here for the full story in Mandarin. …
VOA Persian: Report reveals hundreds of transnational murders, abductions by Islamic Republic
The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, in a comprehensive report, Iran: State Violence Without Borders, has meticulously documented hundreds of extrajudicial killings attributed to the Islamic Republic. These incidents include the abduction and assassination of dissidents in various countries worldwide. Click here for the full story in Persian. …
VOA Mandarin: Xi’s Macau visit celebrates 25 years since city returned to China
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is in Macau for events marking 25 years since the city was returned to China from Portugal. Xi hailed Macau’s development since 1999, saying the city’s development potential is being unleashed and the special administrative region has a bright future. Click here for the full story in Mandarin. …
US charges Russian Israeli dual national tied to Lockbit ransomware group
washington — The United States has charged a Russian Israeli dual citizen over alleged involvement with the Lockbit ransomware group, the Justice Department said Friday. Rostislav Panev, 51, was arrested in Israel in August and is awaiting extradition to the United States, the department said. Panev was a developer at Lockbit from its inception in 2019 until at least February 2024, during which time the group …
Moscow leverages killing of Russian general to spread conspiracy theories
Igor Kirillov had overseen the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine and regularly spread disinformation about the West developing bioweapons prior to being killed on Dec. 17. …
Thailand calls regional talks on war-torn Myanmar frank but short on agreement
BANGKOK — Thailand says regional talks it hosted Friday on a stalled peace plan for Myanmar were “frank” but reached no consensus on a path forward. Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, gathered in Bangkok to discuss the Five-Point Consensus the bloc agreed to in April 2021, two months after Myanmar’s military seized power from the democratically elected government of Aung San …
Erdogan says Turkey expects allies to pull support from Kurds in post-Assad Syria
ANKARA, TURKEY — Turkey expects foreign countries will withdraw support for Kurdish fighters in Syria following the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, as Ankara seeks to isolate Kurds who have long fought alongside U.S. troops. Germany’s foreign minister later said Kurdish forces should disarm and integrate into Syria’s national security structure, and Washington’s top diplomat for the Middle East said the U.S. …