Author: Fworld

Over 1.2 million people are dying every year from bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics, according to a new study. That makes multi-resistant bacteria far deadlier than HIV/AIDS or malaria. Henry Ridgwell reports. …

Now-retired Pope Benedict XVI neglected to act against clerics who allegedly committed four acts of sexual abuse in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising while he was serving as archbishop between 1977 and 1982, according to a report released Thursday. The Munich law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl produced the report after the archdiocese asked it …

The U.S. government says it is sanctioning four Ukrainians “engaged in Russian government-directed influence activities to destabilize Ukraine.” “The individuals we are targeting, two of whom are members of Ukraine’s parliament, act at the direction of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and support Russia’s destabilizing and dangerous influence operations, which undermine not just Ukraine but …

Online companies would have to ramp up efforts to keep harmful content off their platforms and take other steps to protect users under rules that European Union lawmakers are set to vote on Thursday. The 27-nation bloc has gained a reputation as a trendsetter in the growing global push to rein in big tech companies …

President Joe Biden is not planning to answer a further Russian invasion of Ukraine by sending combat troops. But he could pursue a range of less dramatic yet still risky military options, including supporting a post-invasion Ukrainian resistance. The rationale for not directly joining a Russia-Ukraine war is simple. The United States has no treaty …

President Joe Biden ends his first year in office as tensions with Russia hit a fever pitch. He warned his Russian counterpart to choose a diplomatic resolution and to not invade neighboring Ukraine — a message his secretary of state also is pushing in Kyiv this week. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from …

Frustrations are growing in and around Mali, where regional and international efforts to speed up the interim government’s transition to democratic elections appear to be at a dead end. Still, key players from Europe and the United States are refusing to give up, warning what is at stake goes much beyond Mali itself. More from …

On a visit to Kyiv, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reassured the people of Ukraine that the United States stands with them in the face of a potentially imminent Russian invasion. After meeting with Ukraine’s foreign minister Wednesday, Blinken spoke with VOA in Kyiv about the U.S. diplomatic effort to calm the situation. VOA’s …

A 19-year-old British-Belgian pilot landed her plane on Wednesday at an airstrip near Frankfurt, Germany, one stop away from becoming the youngest woman to fly around the world solo. Zara Rutherford told reporters she wanted to “sleep for a week” after she climbed out of the single-seat Shark ultralight aircraft at Egelsbach airfield a few …

On a visit to Kyiv, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reassured the people of Ukraine that the United States stands with them in the face of a potentially imminent Russian invasion. After meeting with Ukraine’s foreign minister Wednesday, Blinken spoke with VOA in Kyiv about the U.S. diplomatic effort to calm the situation. VOA’s Senior …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke in Kyiv Wednesday with VOA’s Eastern Europe bureau chief Myroslava Gongadze about his talks with Ukrainian leaders and the prospects for heading off a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. The following is a transcript of that interview. It has been edited for clarity.  Watch the video here.   …

Britain is ending COVID-19 restrictions, including mask mandates, working from home and vaccine passports, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Wednesday. The measures had been introduced to slow the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant of the virus. “Many nations across Europe have endured further winter lockdowns … but this government took a different path,” …

Fire officials in Spain say six nursing home residents died and at least 17 were injured in a fire at a retirement home in a suburb of Valencia early Wednesday. The Valencia regional fire department said the fire started late Tuesday at a publicly-owned senior residence in the town of Moncada, about 12 kilometers north …

Russia’s buildup of an estimated 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine, along with military exercises in Belarus, has raised concern that Russia could be planning an invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s positions include troops, tanks and artillery to Ukraine’s north, south and east. Until 1991, Ukraine was part of the Russia-led Soviet Union. Current tensions …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Kyiv for talks Wednesday with Ukrainian leaders as part of what he called a “diplomatic effort to de-escalate tensions surrounding unprovoked Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s borders.”  The stop in Kyiv includes meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, as well as visiting …

To quell widespread protests, Kazakhstan sought military help from Russia. Why did it turn to Moscow? …

Russia is a sending an unspecified number of troops from the country’s far east to Belarus for major war games, officials said Tuesday, a deployment that will further beef up Russian military assets near Ukraine amid Western fears of a planned invasion.  Amid the soaring tensions, the White House warned that Russia could attack its …

A Turkish court on Monday acquitted German journalist Mesale Tolu of terrorism charges, she said on Twitter, in a case that lasted nearly five years and added to strains between Ankara and Berlin at the time of her detention. Tolu was detained in April 2017 as part of a crackdown following a coup attempt in …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov Tuesday as Blinken headed to Ukraine for talks with the country’s president, amid continued fears Russia is planning to invade its neighbor. “The secretary stressed the importance of continuing a diplomatic path to de-escalate tensions surrounding the deeply troubling Russian military build-up in …

As winter bites, Europe is facing a gas shortage – with lower volumes of gas exports from Russia forcing a big spike in prices. But the volatility of Russia’s gas supply could be about to get worse – as Moscow plans to build a new pipeline to China, which could give Russia the power to …

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is due back in a Kyiv court Wednesday as a judge considers whether to grant him bail or order his arrest in a treason case he says is politically motivated. Poroshenko, who led Ukraine from 2014-19, returned to the country Monday to face the charges, and told supporters at the …

Novak Djokovic risks being frozen out of tennis as he chases a record 21st Grand Slam title, with rules on travelers who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 tightening in the third year of the pandemic and some tournaments reconsidering exemptions.  The Serbian, who has not been vaccinated, was deported from Australia on Sunday ahead of the …

A French court found far-right French presidential candidate and political commentator Éric Zemmour guilty Monday of inciting racial hatred and ordered him to pay more than $11,000 in fines. Zemmour told a group of foreign correspondents that he stood by his controversial words, insisting he could not have been inciting racial hatred “insofar as unaccompanied …

Britain’s rebellious Prime Minister Boris Johnson has seldom come across a rule he hasn’t wanted to break — and in many ways his political ascendancy has been because of his flouting of ordinances with voters thrilling to his audacity and readiness to defy conventions and norms. His rule-breaking, though, is turning into a liability rather …

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged international business leaders and economists on Monday to do their part to make post-COVID19 economic recovery equitable across the globe.  “At this critical moment, we are setting in stone a lopsided recovery,” he told the World Economic Forum, which normally meets in Davos, Switzerland, but is virtual this year due …

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday returned to Ukraine to face court on treason charges he believes are politically motivated.  At the Kyiv airport, where he arrived on a flight from Warsaw on Monday morning, Poroshenko was greeted by several thousand cheering supporters. Some carried banners reading “We need democracy,” and “Stop repressions.”  From …