Month: January 2024

Johannesburg, South Africa — In a carefully worded response this week, China voiced its support of the U.N.’s International Court of Justice, or ICJ, ruling that orders Israel to desist from the killing of Palestinians in Gaza. Experts tell VOA that privately China has reservations about the use of such courts to deal with allegations of …

Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Container shipping through the Red Sea has dropped by nearly one-third this year as attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels continue, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday. “Container shipping … has declined by almost 30%,” said Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department, adding that “the drop …

BERLIN — Chancellor Olaf Scholz reminded Germans of their Nazi past on Wednesday as he called on citizens to reject the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) which is second in most national polls. Hundreds of thousands of people have joined demonstrations across Germany against the AfD after a report that two senior party members had discussed …

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LONDON — Beijing’s revelation that it sentenced an elderly and well-connected British businessman who has lived in China for decades to five years in prison for espionage will further discourage business and trade, say analysts and a friend of the man. Last week, China’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that in August 2022 a Beijing court found Ian …

Stockholm — French President Emmanuel Macron was welcomed Tuesday with pomp and ceremony at the start of a two-day state visit to Sweden during which he will meet Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and the Scandinavian country’s monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf. Macron and his wife, Brigitte, were greeted by the king in the inner courtyard of …

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BALLYNAHINCH, Northern Ireland — The leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said it had reached a deal with the British government on the operation of post-Brexit trade rules that would allow it to return to the region’s power-sharing government.  Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government for almost two years after the DUP …

The Voronkov family lives in Donbas, some 20 kilometers from the front lines. In May 2023, a Russian missile destroyed their home, almost killing their teenage son who was hiding in the basement. But despite it all, the couple did not give up – instead, they started a business by opening a cafe. Anna Kosstutschenko met with them. VOA footage and video editing by …

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The debate over funding Ukraine in its war with Russia has wide-reaching implications, even far away from the front lines. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more on the impact to refugee resettlement in Chicago, the second-largest home in the U.S. to Ukrainians who have fled the war. …