Category: Світ

Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian superstar who was expected to deliver her nation its third straight Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating, practiced as usual on Thursday, hours after reports surfaced that she had tested positive for a banned substance.    Valieva tested positive for the heart medication before the Beijing Games, the Russian newspaper …

France will build at least six new nuclear reactors in the decades to come, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, placing nuclear power at the heart of his country’s drive for carbon neutrality by 2050. Macron said the new plants would be built and operated by state-controlled energy provider EDF and that tens of billions …

Turkey’s media regulator on Wednesday gave three international broadcasters, including Voice of America’s Turkish Service, short notice to obtain broadcast licenses or have their content blocked. The order from the Radio and Television Supreme Council, known as RTUK, also affects German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and Euronews, the regulator’s opposition board member said. “A decision was …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is meeting Thursday with leaders of Poland and NATO as he urges what his office called “solidarity with NATO allies who bear the brunt of Russian aggression.” Johnson has ordered 1,000 British troops be ready to respond to a potential humanitarian crisis resulting from a Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine. …

Britain ordered 1,000 troops to be on a state of readiness to provide support in the event of a humanitarian crisis caused by any Russian aggression, ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the leaders of NATO and Poland on Thursday.  Johnson will go to Brussels and Warsaw to stress the need …

The so-called Minsk accords of 2014 and 2015 attempted to end the war in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine between Ukraine and Russian-speaking separatists in the disputed areas of Donetsk and Luhansk. In 2014, representatives of Ukraine and Russian separatists agreed to a 12-part cease-fire deal in the Belarus capital of Minsk. The deal …

Ukrainian communities in some large California cities are taking to the streets in peaceful demonstrations to express support for their homeland as Russia seems to be preparing to invade Ukraine. Khrystyna Shevchenko has this report from California. …

French President Emmanuel Macron is pursuing a poisoned peace plan, say critics in Europe, who fear the outcome of his talks this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin could be to strengthen Moscow’s hand in the crisis over Ukraine.    A backlash is building to Macron’s visits this week to Moscow and Kyiv among fellow …

An international humanitarian official warns a war in Ukraine would be cataclysmic, potentially engulfing neighboring countries and turning into a regional conflict. Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland just spent a week along the government side of the frontline that separates Ukrainian armed forces from the Russian-backed rebel-held regions of eastern Ukraine. He …

After years of deteriorating relations, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is inviting his Israeli counterpart to visit. The invitation signals a rapprochement that observers say is driven by powerful mutual interests, including concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and the future of oil and gas imports from Russia and Iran. For VOA, Dorian Jones reports from …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the optimal resolution to the Russia-Ukraine crisis is a diplomatic one and that he expects to consult with his counterparts from France, Germany and Britain in the coming days. “As you all know, we have been engaged in a two-track strategy where we have, on the one hand, …

CANBERRA — The foreign ministers of Australia and Lithuania agreed Wednesday to step up cooperation on strategic challenges, in particular pressures from China. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and his Australian counterpart Marise Payne met Wednesday at Parliament House.  Australian exporters have lost tens of billions of dollars to official and unofficial Chinese trade barriers …

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday there is an opportunity to de-escalate the crisis on the Ukraine-Russian border, after meetings with the Ukrainian and Russian presidents. Henry Ridgwell looks at whether the French leader can broker an agreement. Camera: Henry Ridgwell    …

Ambassadors from six Latin American countries on Tuesday denounced an upcoming auction of pre-Hispanic artifacts in France, reviving a longstanding grievance of the region.  The joint statement came a day after Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador denounced the practice as immoral after a recent major auction.  The Paris ambassadors of Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, …

U.S. President Joe Biden has threatened to block the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine.   The undersea pipeline directly links Russian gas to Europe via Germany and is complete but not yet operating. It has become a major target as Western governments try to deter a Russian attack on its …

The former communist countries of eastern Europe are growing increasingly nervous about what they see as a revanchist Russia, with their governments carefully watching the Ukraine crisis for clues to where else Russian leader Vladimir Putin could stir trouble. Britain announced Monday that 350 Royal Marine Commandos who were on exercises in Norway will be …

Retired Pope Benedict on Tuesday asked for forgiveness in what he called “errors” on how allegations of sexual abuse were handled while he was archbishop of Munich. While he admitted to errors, his lawyers have argued he bears no direct responsibility. He did not apologize. Then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict, now 94, was …

Paris — Plastic has infiltrated all parts of the ocean and is now found “in the smallest plankton up to the largest whale” wildlife group WWF said on Tuesday, calling for urgent efforts to create an international treaty on plastics. Tiny fragments of plastic have reached even the most remote and seemingly pristine regions of …

President Joe Biden says he and Germany’s new chancellor are in lockstep over the perilous situation in Ukraine, where the specter of an imminent Russian invasion haunts all of Europe. The two leaders held their first in-person meeting on Monday. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House. …

Millions of people around the world enjoy a daily cup of coffee; however, their daily caffeine fix could be under threat because climate change is killing coffee plants, putting farmers’ livelihoods at risk. Inside the vast, steamy greenhouses at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in the leafy suburbs of west London, Aaron Davis leads …

In eastern Ukraine, tensions over threat of a Russian invasion continue to rise, although in the eastern town of Avdiivka, along the frontlines facing Kremlin-backed separatists, the war has never ceased since 2014. For VOA, Ricardo Marquina traveled there and has this report narrated by Elizabeth Cherneff. …

At their first meeting in four years, officials of the U.S.-European Union Energy Council confronted an urgent, short-term priority – bolstering natural gas supplies amid a Russian threat to invade Ukraine – and a longer-term concern: mitigating climate change. “We’re coordinating with our allies and partners, with the energy sector stakeholders, including on how best …

Vladimir Putin has done much to rehabilitate Russia’s Soviet past, a rehabilitation that has grown apace with memorials once again erected to Joseph Stalin, and officials no longer embarrassed to hang portraits of the late Soviet dictator in their offices. And the Russian president appears also to be copying the coercive diplomacy — with its …

Russia’s geopolitical ambitions in Africa have in recent years been backed by private military contractors, often described as belonging to the “Wagner group” — an entity with no known legal status.    Most recently, Western nations have condemned the alleged arrival of Russian mercenaries in Mali’s capital Bamako, a claim denied by the junta that seized power …

Britain’s health secretary says he wants the people who have delayed their non-COVID medical appointments to come back to the National Health Service. Sajid Javid told Sky News, “I want them all to come back because I want them to know the NHS is there, it’s open for them.” Javid said the NHS estimates between …

U.S. President Joe Biden hosts German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for a White House meeting Monday that is likely to be dominated by efforts to deter a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. The two NATO members have expressed support for bolstering NATO troop positions in the eastern part of the alliance, with the United States ordering …