Author: Fworld

Thousands of demonstrators are rallying in Kyiv against President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s plan to hold local elections in eastern Ukrainian territory that is under the control of Russia-backed separatists.Protesters at the rally are denouncing the plan as capitulation to Russia.On October 1, Ukraine, Russia, and mediators Germany and France signed a tentative agreement with the separatists …

Voting has begun in Kosovo’s snap parliamentary elections after a campaign dominated by the issues of corruption, high unemployment, and a possible peace deal with Serbia that would clear the way for Kosovo’s membership in the United Nations.Valdete Daka, head of the Central Election Commission, was among the first to vote in Pristina on Sunday …

Masood Farivar and Steve Herman contributed to this report.A second U.S. intelligence official has approached the intelligence community’s watchdog with “first-hand information” that backs the original whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, a lawyer representing the two said on Sunday.Mark Zaid, who represents both whistleblowers, said the second whistleblower came forward after …

Caviar, a food associated with luxury, is being produced for the first time in Madagascar. The product makes consumers in faraway France happy, and provides hundreds of jobs in this African country.  VOA’s Jim Randle has our story.   …

Kosovo is electing a new parliament amid calls for leaders to resume dialogue with Serbia over normalizing ties.About 1.9 million eligible voters Sunday started to cast their ballots to elect 120 lawmakers.The vote comes after the outgoing prime minister resigned in July following a request from a Hague-based court to question him over crimes against …

Hundreds of climate activists barricaded themselves into a Paris shopping center Saturday as security forces tried to remove them, ahead of a planned series of protests around the world by the Extinction Rebellion movement.Campaigners faced off against police and some inconvenienced shoppers as they occupied part of the Italie 2 mall in southeast Paris.They unfurled …

Thousands marched in Edinburgh Saturday calling for Scottish independence, with a possible British exit from the European Union just weeks away and calls growing for a fresh vote in Scotland on breaking from Britain.The demonstrators, many carrying Scottish flags, some wearing kilts and a few playing musical instruments – including bagpipes – set off from …

U.S. and North Korean officials are set to resume working-level nuclear talks in Stockholm.They will be the first formal negotiations since U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed in June to restart them after they collapsed in February at a summit in Vietnam.The talks broke down over how to pace …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday defended the Trump administration’s approach to Ukraine that is at the center of an impeachment inquiry. He rejected allegations it was at best inappropriate or at worst an illegal abuse of power for which Congress should remove President Donald Trump from office.Pompeo maintained that the investigation the …

The European Union has rejected a British request to hold Brexit talks this weekend, British media reported, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated his commitment to leaving the bloc Oct. 31 despite the possibility of a not reaching an exit deal.The European Commission said that Johnson’s new Brexit proposals do not provide any basis for …

Senior German and European Union officials have finished a two-day visit to Turkey to save a migrant deal in an effort to avert a humanitarian crisis.The number of migrants entering Greece from Turkey continues to surge, following a threat by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to open the borders to Europe.German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, …

As many as 35 Russian mercenaries are reported to have been killed in Libya while they were fighting for Khalifa Haftar, the military general most associated with the rule of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi, who launched an offensive earlier this year on the Libyan capital of Tripoli, home to the country’s internationally-recognized government, according …

The Defense Department’s office of the General Counsel has ordered Pentagon officials to turn over all documents and communications concerning U.S. military aid to Ukraine for cataloguing and preservation.The documents could play a role in the House of Representative’s impeachment inquiry involving President Donald Trump and Ukraine.In a memo released Friday, General Counsel of the …

With Washington in tumult over the escalating impeachment inquiry, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo toured southeast Europe on Friday, trying to ignore the furor back home that has engulfed his department.Pompeo did not respond to shouted questions from journalists with him as he traveled to Montenegro and North Macedonia to show support for a current …

The three Moscow mothers whose children are suffering from cancer were united in two things, their reluctance to allow their names to be published, and their mounting anger at the deterioration in Russia’s public health services, which they say threatens their children’s lives.  They had wanted to attend a midweek press conference to demonstrate their …

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General said on Friday that his office is reviewing all the cases that were closed by his predecessors, including several related to the owner of a gas company where former Vice President Joe Biden’s son sat on the board.                     Ruslan Ryaboshapka’s comments came amid an impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald …

The United States and the U.K. have signed an agreement, under a controversial new U.S. law, that will allow law enforcement agencies to force tech companies to turn over electronic communications for use in criminal investigations regardless of which country the data is stored in.The accord is the first of its kind signed under the …

This story originated in U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin take questions during a briefing on terrorism financing at the White House, Sept. 10, 2019, in Washington.In the letter, the FILE – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, walks with Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab for a press availability at …

European cheese makers complained Thursday of being held “hostage” in a transatlantic trade battle that had nothing to do with them after the United States slapped 25% tariffs on the sector in retaliation for state aid to aerospace group Airbus.The dismayed reaction came a day after the World Trade Organization gave Washington the green light …

Donald Trump is openly urging foreign governments to investigate his political foes — doubling down on an action that is already the subject of an impeachment inquiry.Answering questions Thursday morning from reporters on the White House South Lawn, Trump was asked what favor exactly he desired from Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskiy during a July 25 …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will face an uphill battle selling a peace deal he approved midweek with Russia and pro-Moscow separatists in Donbas, which would see two breakaway republics become self-governing, although still part of Ukraine, say analysts.The landmark deal aimed at ending a five-year conflict that has left more than 13,000 people dead has …

A Russian court has ruled that two popular LGBT networking sites be blocked for disseminating “anti-family values,” including a major online group with nearly 200,000 members.The court in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday announced the decision against the groups on VK, a Russian platform similar to Facebook.”An inspection showed they contain information available to the public, …

The International Organization for Migration says migrant fatalities on the Mediterranean Sea separating Africa from Europe will top 1,000 this year.  The numbers indicate the Mediterranean Sea crossing remains the deadliest known migration route worldwide.   International Organization for Migration figures show 994 men, women and children making the perilous journey have died this year.  With …

In Turkey, a commemoration was held to mark the first anniversary of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi’s murder sparked widespread international condemnation of Saudi Arabia, and the calls for justice are continuing, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul …

Pope Francis named one of Italy’s leading anti-Mafia prosecutors as president of the Vatican’s criminal tribunal Thursday, just days after a new scandal erupted over alleged financial wrongdoing in the heart of the Holy See.The appointment of Giuseppe Pignatone came two days after Vatican police raided the Apostolic Palace and seized documents and computers from …

In Turkey, a commemoration was held to mark the first anniversary of the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi’s slaying sparked widespread international condemnation of Saudi Arabia, and the calls for justice are continuing, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.   …