Month: February 2024

Moscow — Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko said he would run for president again in 2025, Belarusian state news agency BelTA reported Sunday. Lukashenko made his comments after voting in parliamentary and local council elections, denounced by the United States as a sham. The ex-Soviet state’s top election official dismissed the criticism and told Washington to look …

London — Europe’s automakers and their already-stretched suppliers face a tough year as they race to cut costs for electric models to counter leaner Chinese rivals which are bringing cheaper vehicles to challenge them on their home turf. A big question is how much more Europe’s automakers can squeeze out of suppliers that have already started …

The urgency of providing Ukraine with the weapons it needs to stop Russian military advances was again underscored Sunday both in Europe and the United States. At the same time, calls for stopping the human suffering and efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to the conflict were also brought to the forefront. Veronica Balderas Iglesias …

LISBON, Portugal — The official two-week campaign period before Portugal’s early general election began Sunday, with the country’s two moderate mainstream parties once again expected to collect the most votes but with the expected rise of a populist party potentially adding momentum to Europe’s drift to the right. The center-left Socialist Party and center-right Social Democratic …

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TALLINN, Estonia — Polls opened Sunday in Belarus’ tightly controlled parliamentary and local elections that are set to cement the steely rule of the country’s authoritarian leader, despite calls for a boycott from the opposition, which dismissed the balloting as a “senseless farce.” President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for nearly …

VALENCIA, Spain — The death toll from a dramatic fire that left two residential buildings charred in the Spanish city of Valencia rose to 10 Saturday after authorities announced they had located the remains of what they believed was the last missing person. Forensic police found the 10th victim inside the scorched building, national government delegate …

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london — The U.K.’s governing Conservative Party has suspended ties with one if its lawmakers after he accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of being controlled by Islamists, as tensions over the Israel-Hamas war roil British politics.  The party said Saturday that Lee Anderson was suspended after he refused to apologize for remarks made about Khan in …

PARIS — A strike by staff at the Eiffel Tower has ended, the company that runs one of the most visited tourist sites in the world said in a statement Saturday.  The tower will reopen Sunday, the Societe d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, or SETE, which is owned by Paris City Hall, said.  Workers at the …

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Anna Chernikova reports from Kyiv on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. …

GENEVA — The two-year-old Ukraine war is causing widespread suffering, anxiety and distress among affected children, many of whom have been separated from their families and friends, had schooling disrupted and lived for months in cold underground bunkers, a UNICEF spokesman told VOA Wednesday. “Two years of this war is wreaking havoc on children’s mental health …

KYIV, Ukraine — The future looks bleak for war-weary Ukraine: It is beset by shortages in soldiers and ammunition, as well as doubts about the supply of Western aid. Ukrainian forces also face a Russian enemy that has recently seized the initiative on the battlefield. Two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion captured nearly a quarter of …

TALLINN, Estonia — Earlier this month, when Tucker Carlson asked Vladimir Putin about his reasons for invading Ukraine two years ago, Putin gave him a lecture on Russian history. The 71-year-old Russian leader spent more than 20 minutes showering a baffled Carlson with dates and names going back to the ninth century. Putin even gave him …