EU sanctions Chinese firms, North Korean minister over Ukraine war
BRUSSELS — The EU on Monday for the first time imposed fully fledged sanctions, including asset freezes and visa bans, on Chinese firms for supplying Russia’sчитати
North Korea involvement in Ukraine marks ‘dangerous expansion’ of conflict, US and allies say
Washington — Ten countries and the EU called North Korea’s growing involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine a “dangerous expansion” on Monday, in a joint statementчитати
Germany’s Scholz loses confidence vote, setting up early election in February
BERLIN — Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the German parliament on Monday, putting the European Union’s most populous member and biggest economy onчитати
Norway announces $242 million in Ukraine aid
Norway announced Monday $242 million in new military aid for Ukraine, including help securing access to the country’s vital Black Sea ports. “It is essentialчитати
Race against time for rescuers as hundreds feared dead in Mayotte
Saint-Denis de la Reunion, France — Rescuers raced against time Monday to reach survivors after a devastating cyclone ripped through the French Indian Ocean territory ofчитати
Five years on from the pandemic, long COVID keeps lives on hold
VIENNA — Three years ago, Andrea Vanek was studying to be an arts and crafts teacher when spells of dizziness and heart palpitations suddenly started toчитати
Zelenskyy offers Syria humanitarian grain deliveries
Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday that he would provide Syria with grain and other agricultural products on a humanitarian basis, a weekчитати
Erdogan to visit Ethiopia, Somalia in early 2025 after brokering deal
Istanbul — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Ethiopia and Somalia early next year after brokering a deal to end tensions between the two Hornчитати
Israel will close its Ireland embassy over Gaza tensions
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel said Sunday it will close its embassy in Ireland as relations deteriorated over the war in Gaza, where Palestinian medicalчитати
Pope Francis makes 1st papal visit to France’s Corsica
AJACCIO, Corsica — Pope Francis on the first papal visit ever to the French island of Corsica on Sunday called for a dynamic form of laicism,читати
Ukrainian drones strike Russia as Kyiv reels from consecutive massive air attacks
KYIV — Ukrainian drone strikes on southern Russia killed a 9-year-old boy and set fire to a major oil terminal, officials said Saturday, the day afterчитати
German far-right leader questions NATO membership
Berlin — The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on Sunday said Germany should reconsider its membership of NATO if the U.S.-led militaryчитати
Greece’s only miniature therapy horses bring joy to many, but the charity is struggling
ATHENS, GREECE — Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, a smile spreads across the little girl’s face. Blinking behind her glasses, she inches her wheelchair forward andчитати
Britain joins trans-Pacific pact in biggest post-Brexit trade deal
LONDON — Britain officially became the 12th member of a trans-Pacific trade pact that includes Japan, Australia and Canada on Sunday as it seeks to deepenчитати
Zelenskyy: Russia ‘using Korean soldiers in Kursk’
KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russia has begun deploying North Korean soldiers to storm Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region. Zelenskyyчитати
Ex-soccer player becomes Georgia’s president in blow to EU aspirations
TBILISI, GEORGIA — Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili became president of Georgia on Saturday, as the ruling party tightened its grip in what the opposition callsчитати
New Zealander who doesn’t speak Spanish wins Spanish world Scrabble title
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND — A New Zealand man playing his first-ever competitive Scrabble game in Spanish, a language he doesn’t speak, has won the board game’sчитати
Moody’s hands France surprise downgrade over deteriorating finances
PARIS — Credit ratings agency Moody’s unexpectedly downgraded France’s rating on Friday, adding pressure on the country’s new prime minister to corral divided lawmakers into backingчитати
Landmark climate change legal hearing wraps up in The Hague
LONDON — A landmark hearing into nation-states’ legal obligations over climate change wrapped up at the United Nations’ top court in The Hague on Friday. Theчитати
VOA Russian: Sister of American jailed in Russia says she doesn’t know where he is
Patricia Hubbard Fox, the sister of the 72-year-old U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard sentenced to jail in Russia for almost seven years on charges of “beingчитати
Russia’s influence in Syria faces uncertain future
With a naval base in Tartus and an airbase near Latakia, Russia was the main source of military support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.читати
Moldova declares a state of emergency over energy as fears of Russian gas shortage loom
CHISINAU — Moldova’s parliament on Friday voted in favor of imposing a state of emergency in the energy sector over fears that Russia could leave theчитати
Ukraine’s reformed military procurement agency drives country’s NATO ambitions
KYIV — Ukraine’s Defense Ministry unveiled a new state agency for its armed forces last year. It was the government’s answer to the rampant corruption withinчитати
Russia launches massive aerial attack on Ukrainian infrastructure
KYIV, UKRAINE — Russia on Friday launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine, involving dozens of cruise missiles and drones, the latest such strike aimed atчитати
US announces new arms aid package for Ukraine worth $500 million
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced another package of weapons aid for Ukraine on Thursday, valued at $500 million, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said inчитати
Far-right support rose in Europe in 2024
LONDON — Support for far-right parties in Europe continued to grow in 2024 amid voter concerns over immigration, inflation and the war in Ukraine. Far-right partiesчитати
ETA terrorists jailed in Spain for attempted murder of journalists
Four former members of Basque separatist organization ETA were each sentenced Thursday in Spain to nearly 75 years in prison, more than 20 years afterчитати
Ukrainian drones hit Russia’s Chechnya region
The head of Russia’s Chechnya region said Thursday a Ukrainian drone attack hit a police barracks, injuring at least four people. Ramzan Kadyrov said onчитати
Rights group accuses Russian mercenaries of abuses against civilians in Mali
DAKAR, SENEGAL — Mali’s armed forces, supported by Russian mercenaries, committed abuses against civilians since the withdrawal of a U.N. peacekeeping mission late last year, Humanчитати
Serbia’s president says he won’t flee his country like Syria’s Assad did despite growing protests
BELGRADE, SERBIA — Serbia’s president accused Tuesday foreign intelligence services of trying to unseat him in the wake of spreading protests in the Balkan state andчитати
EU imposes new sanctions on Russia
European Union ambassadors have agreed to a new raft of sanctions against Russia because of its war on Ukraine, mainly targeting Russia’s massive shadow fleetчитати
Democracy tested in Eastern Europe amid accusations of Russian meddling
LONDON — This year saw a battle for influence in eastern Europe between the West and Russia as elections were held in several states that wereчитати
US: Russia could target Ukraine again with new missile
A U.S. intelligence assessment has concluded that Russia could launch another of its experimental hypersonic ballistic missiles against Ukraine in the coming days, although Washingtonчитати
VOA Russian: How Moscow’s propaganda narrative on Syria changed after Assad’s fall
VOA Russian speaks with Ksenia Kirillova, an analyst with Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) and The Jamestown Foundation, on how Syria is being portrayedчитати
Ukraine wins its first FIFA Futsal World Cup medal
Futsal was invented in Uruguay almost a century ago to play indoor soccer or football on a basketball court. It’s become hugely popular and thisчитати
Hundreds of arrests and mysterious beatings as Georgia cracks down on pro-EU protests
TBILISI, Georgia — Seventy-five-year-old Marina Terishvili’s teenage son Mamuka was shot dead at a nationalist rally in Georgia in 1992. Now her other son, Giorgi, hasчитати