Category: Світ

When France’s president wants to carry European concerns to the world stage to find solutions for climate change, trade tensions or Iran’s nuclear ambitions, he no longer calls Washington. He flies to Beijing.President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China this week suggests that the United States risks being sidelined on the global stage under President Donald …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening to deepen military ties with Moscow unless the United States lifts its embargo on the sale of a key fighter jet.The warning comes ahead of next week’s planned meeting between Erodgan and President Donald Trump.FILE – A Sukhoi Su-35 fighter with special vectored thrust jet engines takes part …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia’s new weapons have no foreign equivalents but he insists the country will not use them to threaten anyone.Speaking during a meeting with senior military officers, Putin said that “we plan to build up our defense capability, commissioning hypersonic, laser and other new weapons systems that other countries …

Buckingham Palace says new outfits designed for Queen Elizabeth II will not use real fur.The palace said Wednesday the decision does not mean the queen will dispose of all the fur outfits she already has. The palace statement says “the queen will continue to re-wear existing outfits in her wardrobe.”   The decision pleased animal …

The European Union is preparing to pay Turkey tens of millions of euros to help bolster its coast guard, a senior EU official said Wednesday, as increasing numbers of people leave the country in hopes of finding sanctuary or jobs in Europe.The Greek authorities are struggling to cope with a sharp rise in the number …

Former U.S. secretary of state James Baker says the greatest threat to democracy today is the rise of authoritarianism. Secretary Baker spoke to VOA on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a moment in world history in which he played a pivotal role. VOA’s Vivian Chakarian has more. …

The Spanish government’s ambiguous relationship with Venezuela — and the possibility of U.S. economic sanctions stemming from that relationship — has emerged as an issue in the run-up to legislative elections this weekend.In a candidates’ debate Monday night, centrist candidate Albert Rivera accused Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of “always being last in line and …

The United States is warning a key European ally on growing threats from Russia, as Germany gears up to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is heading to Germany on Wednesday, three decades after the demolition of the wall, to underscore what U.S. officials say is …

European Council President Donald Tusk said on Tuesday he would not run for president of Poland, dampening the expectations of some opposition supporters that he would challenge incumbent President Andrzej Duda in an election next year.”After careful consideration, I decided not to run for the upcoming presidential election,” Tusk told reporters in Brussels in a …

Russian historian Anatoly Razumov has been working for more than three decades to identify those who died in Joseph Stalin’s purges. “We aren’t humans, if we don’t have memory,” he says.As he bustles around his cramped office with floor-to-ceiling bookcases and papers stacked high everywhere, he assures VOA, “This room is well-organized, I can find …

The European Union has voiced regret at the U.S. government’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement and expressed hopes that one of the world’s biggest CO2 emitters will backpedal on its decision and rejoin.   European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said Tuesday that the global deal signed in 2015 remains “the most …

Italy will next year become the world’s first country to make it compulsory for schoolchildren to study climate change and sustainable development, Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti said.Fioramonti, from the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, is the government’s most vocal supporter of green policies and was criticized by the opposition in September for encouraging students to skip school …

The U.S.-based democracy and freedom watchdog group said in its latest report that many governments are using social media to spy on citizens and manipulate elections.“Our two main themes this year were looking at how governments are using social media to undermine their own elections and also monitor their citizens,” said Allie Funk, co-author of …

The democracy watchdog group, Freedom House, has released a report  painting a bleak outlook for the way many governments are using social media. The Freedom House report says governments spy on us while others seek to manipulate elections. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi spoke with one of the authors of the report, and has this story. …

The main candidates to become Spain’s next prime minister clashed Monday over how to handle Catalonia’s independence drive, ahead of a repeat election that opinion polls show could be as inconclusive as the one in April.Opinion polls suggest a third of voters are still unsure who they will vote for Sunday, meaning Monday’s televised debate …

Britain’s intelligence agency, the MI5, downgraded the country’s terrorist threat level from “severe” to a “substantial” on Monday. MI5’s Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) considers the risk of a terrorist attack as likely when the threat level is “substantial,” and highly likely when it is “severe,” the second-highest rating. The assessment considers terrorist threats from right-wing …

November marks 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Wall’s demise brought an end to a divided  Berlin — and symbolized the eventual liberation of East Germany, and later the rest of Eastern Europe, from Soviet communist rule. Yet the wall’s anniversary comes as the country confronts new barriers in Germany’s charged …

Thirty-five-year-old Katerina blinks away the start of tears and says she plans tomorrow to take to the jail warm clothing for winter to her father, Stalin-era historian Yury Dmitriyev.Thirty-five-year-old Katerina says of her father, the Gulag historian Yury Dmitriyev, “He’s a great father. And he’s not just my father. He’s a friend. And I miss …

Police in Vietnam have arrested eight people in relation to the discovery of 39 dead Vietnamese in a truck near London last month, state media said on Monday.British police last week charged two men with manslaughter over the deaths of the group, whose bodies were found inside a container on the truck on Oct. 23.”Based …

For more than two years President Donald Trump has talked about pulling the United States out of the landmark Paris climate agreement. Starting Monday he finally can do something about it.Even then, though, the withdrawal process takes a year and wouldn’t become official until at least the day after the 2020 presidential election.In the Paris …

When the Berlin Wall came tumbling down 30 years ago, many hoped its demise portended an end to barriers between borders and isolationism.But with US President Donald Trump’s planned wall on the border with Mexico, the West Bank “separation barrier” and Hungary’s anti-migrant fence facing Serbia and Croatia, manmade partitions are going up again.”Edifices of …

Iran will not lift its ban on talks with the United States, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday, describing the two countries as implacable foes on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.”One way to block America’s political infiltration is to ban any talks with …

London’s Vietnamese community has gathered at a vigil and a service to honor the 39 Vietnamese victims who died in a refrigerated truck container in southeastern England.The community is mourning the unidentified victims, who were trying to enter Britain in hopes of finding greater opportunity. They were discovered dead on Oct. 23 at an industrial …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will apologize to Conservative Party members who voted for him based on his promise to take Britain out of the European Union by Oct. 31.He told Sky News on Sunday that it was a matter of “deep regret” that he failed to do so.Asked if he was …

The transfer of migrants from overcrowded camps on the islands to the Greek mainland continued over the weekend, with authorities saying 415 arrived at the port of Eleusis west of Athens Saturday afternoon and another 380 expected around noon Sunday.The migrants had been living on the island of Lesbos, at the Moria camp where almost …

Vietnam Friday announced its first arrests in a suspected cross-border trafficking case in Essex, England, where authorities found the bodies of 39 Vietnamese they believe suffocated to death in a refrigerated truck.Police in Ha Tinh province said they arrested and charged two suspects after 10 local families reported fearing their family members were among the …