Category: Світ

World leaders have offered their support to Brigitte Macron, the wife of France’s president, after a string of public insults from Brazilian leaders targeting her appearance.The insults came as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and French President Emmanuel Macron have clashed repeatedly in recent weeks over fires in the Amazon rainforest and climate change.An official close …

Former Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni was nominated Tuesday to take the key role of European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, where he will oversee public spending in member states, most notably in Italy.The choice of Gentiloni was a surprise move by Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming head of the European Commission, who named her …

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had a source with high-level access to the Kremlin who played a key role in the assessment that President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign aimed at the 2016 U.S. election, The New York Times and CNN reported Monday.Neither U.S. news organization identified the source by name, but several Russian …

Britain’s parliament has for the second time rejected Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to hold early elections in an attempt to break the Brexit deadlock.Johnson had lobbied for snap elections on October 15 in an effort to win a parliamentary majority to approve his Brexit plans ahead of an EU summit of the continent’s leaders.Following …

Barcelona could cut deaths from air pollution and improve quality of life by implementing in full a plan to calm traffic and free up space for residents, researchers said Monday.The compact Spanish city is home to more than 1.6 million people and is plagued by contaminants and noise largely due to heavy density of traffic, …

Facebook and Instagram on Monday blocked the social media accounts of two Italian neo-fascist groups and some of their activists because they had violated the platforms’ policies against spreading hate, Facebook said.Casapound and Forza Nuova, which espouse extreme right-wing ideologies, have boosted their profile in Italy by leading anti-migrant campaigns on their social media sites.”People …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is tightening his grip on his ruling party, expelling rivals amid weakening public support and challenges from former allies.”Mischief makers,” Erdogan called once-close allies at a recent rally of his supporters in the central provincial city of Sivas. “If we keep our brotherhood strong, then seeds of unrest can’t grow,” he …

After Boris Johnson won the Conservative party contest in July to succeed Theresa May as Britain’s prime minister, U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed his victory, praising him as “Britain Trump.”Since entering Downing Street, Johnson seems to be paying the American leader the highest form of flattery by imitating Trump’s political and media tactics, echoing his …

A colorful era in British parliamentary history is coming to a close with Speaker of the House John Bercow’s abrupt announcement Monday that he will leave his influential post by the end of October.That means he won’t be sporting his festive designer ties beneath his solemn robes or clamping down on rude lawmakers with his …

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth gave her approval Monday to legislation seeking to block Prime Minister Boris Johnson from carrying out a no-deal Brexit, his plan to take the country out of the European Union on October 31 without spelling out the terms of the split.FILE – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Boris Johnson, then newly-elected leader …

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has issued a stark warning that climate change poses a rapidly growing global threat to human rights as dwindling resources due to global warming lead to increased hunger, migration and conflict.  Bachelet spoke at the opening of the 42nd session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.In a prelude to …

British Airways has canceled almost all its flights for 48 hours, affecting as many as 195,000 travelers, due to a strike by pilots over pay.The U.K.’s flagship carrier said in a statement Monday that it had “no way of predicting how many (pilots) would come to work or which aircraft they are qualified to fly.”As …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, facing staunch opposition at home, told Ireland’s leader Monday that a new Brexit deal can be reached so Britain leaves the European Union by the Oct. 31 deadline.Speaking alongside Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin, Johnson said a deal on the Irish border question can be secured in time …

Russian voters handed setbacks to Kremlin-affiliated candidates in Moscow and other local elections nationwide — losses that came despite a near total ban on opposition candidates that sparked a summer of street protests and mass arrests in the capital.  With most of the vote counted, returns showed pro-Kremlin candidates lost over a third of seats in …

More than 2,000 people – including the U.S. ambassador and several other Western diplomats – marched in Sarajevo Sunday for Bosnia’s first-ever gay pride parade.There were nearly as many riot police and other security forces at the march as participants after conservative Muslims and other religious groups demanded it be canceled.The marchers waved the universal …

World War II veteran Henry Ochsner, who landed on the beach at Normandy on D-Day and later received the French government’s highest honor for his service, has died. He was 96.Family friend Dennis Anderson says Ochsner died Saturday at his home in California City of complications from cancer and old age.As part of the U.S. …

A charity ship run by humanitarian groups in the Mediterranean spent a rainy Sunday searching open waters for a fragile rubber boat overloaded with migrants before finally plucking 50 people to safety not far off Libya’s coast.The Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking, which is operated jointly by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders, sent its own boats …

A senior minister of Britain’s ruling Conservative party has resigned because she does not think the prime minister is serious about creating a Brexit divorce deal. Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said late Saturday that Boris Johnson is not working to secure a Brexit withdrawal agreement. “There is no evidence of a deal,” Rudd said.  “There …

Pope Francis said on Saturday rapid deforestation and the loss of biodiversity in individual countries should not be treated as local issues since they threaten the future of the planet.Francis made his appeal on a visit to Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island, which research institutes and aid agencies say has lost about 44% of its …

In Russia, elections are Sept. 8 for municipal and Duma deputies and regional governors. The vote was preceded by months of protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Authorities used different tactics to prevent the spread of discontent around the country and contain any opposition. Yulia Savchenko reports from Moscow on how authorities attempted to keep the …

This story originated in VOA’s Ukrainian service. Some information is from Reuters and RFE. VOA Ukrainian’s Tatiana Vorozhko contributed reporting. WASHINGTON – Ukrainian security officials have a launched an investigation into “subversive” activities by one of the Eastern European country’s defense contractors over plans to supply military hardware to neighboring Russia.    Ukraine’s main government agency for counterintelligence and …

With the French back from summer vacation, the yellow vest movement is vowing to turn this month into a “black September” of protests. But there was little sign Saturday of the massive crowds that shuttered shops and disrupted France’s economy and politics not so long ago.  “We’re here, we’re here,” some in yellow vests sang, crossing a busy …

VOA’s Turkish Service contributed to this report. The leading figure from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is facing almost 10 years in prison on terror charges. Canan Kaftancioglu, 47, was sentenced Friday to nine years, eight months and 20 days in prison on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda, insulting the state, insulting the …

A long-awaited prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine has taken place, raising hopes of renewed efforts to end the war in Ukraine’s east between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists.Early Saturday, two buses were seen leaving Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison, while a Ukrainian state-emblemed plane landed at Vnukovo airport in the Russian capital Saturday morning.  Similar movements …

Winston Churchill’s grandson, who was expelled midweek from the Conservative party for voting to delay Brexit, launched Saturday a scathing attack on Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who wrote a biography of his grandfather, saying he should stop comparing himself to Britain’s iconic wartime leader as he’s “nothing like” him.“Winston Churchill was like Winston Churchill because …

Venezuela opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez is forming a shadow government from his refuge at the Spanish Embassy in Caracas, despite an agreement that prohibited him from engaging in political activity when the embassy granted him asylum five months ago.Lopez sought the protection of Spain’s diplomatic mission after he led a failed coup against embattled President …