Month: April 2021

U.S. officials have indicated President Joe Biden will likely soon recognize that the systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago was genocide.  As VOA Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports, he would be the first American president to do so. Camera:  Dilge Timocin,  Aram Avetisyan …

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U.N. agencies have delivered 23 tons of hygiene items to civilians in the rebel-controlled part of eastern Ukraine, the United Nations said Friday.This was the second time this month that a U.N.-organized humanitarian convoy had been allowed to cross the 500-kilometer contact line, which separates Ukrainian government forces from the Russian-backed rebels. The first delivery on April 15 consisted of 18 tons of COVID-19 supplies.Jens Laerke, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the one crossing point in the divided country had been closed since February 24 because of security concerns.“The reopening is welcome, as …

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French authorities have detained three people and opened a terrorism investigation after a man attacked and killed a police administrator Friday with a knife at a police station in a Paris suburb.Security officials said the attacker stabbed a female police administrative worker outside the police station in the southwest Paris suburb of Rambouillet.The officials said at least one police officer at the scene opened fire on the assailant — identified as a 36-year-old Tunisian national living in France  — and fatally shot him. Media reporters said the man had no previous criminal record and was unknown to police.Authorities say the victim …

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Germany’s health minister said Friday the nation’s coronavirus vaccination program is picking up momentum just as “emergency brake” COVID-19 restrictions go into effect across the country to slow the spread of the virus.   The German parliament this week gave approval to measures granting emergency powers the Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to implement nationwide shutdowns, including 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfews and the closing of schools in an effort to stop a third wave of COVID-19 that has been sweeping the country.   At a news briefing in Berlin, Health Minister Jens Spahn said the restrictions begin Saturday, focusing …

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As many as 130 people died this week in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Safa Msehli, IOM spokeswoman said “For two days, the NGO Alarm Phone, which is responsible for sending distress calls to the relevant maritime rescue centers in the Mediterranean region had been calling on States to uphold their responsibility towards these people and send rescue vessels.  “Unfortunately,” she said “that has not happened.”Msehli said the independent rescue group SOS-Mediterranee sent a vessel, the Ocean Viking, in search of the boat. Unfortunately, when it arrived on the scene Thursday evening, …

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The White House brought out the billionaires, the CEOs and the union executives Friday to help sell President Joe Biden’s climate-friendly transformation of the U.S. economy at his virtual summit of world leaders.  The closing day of the two-day summit on climate change showcased Bill Gates and Mike Bloomberg, steelworker and electrical union leaders and executives for solar and other renewable energy. “We can’t beat climate change without a historic amount of new investment,” said Bloomberg, who’s donated millions to promote replacing dirty-burning coal-fired power plants with increasingly cheaper renewable energy. “We have to do more, faster to cut emissions,” …

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Athletes who make political or social justice protests at the Tokyo Olympics were promised legal support Thursday by a global union and an activist group in Germany.The pledges came one day after the International Olympic Committee confirmed its long-standing ban on “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda” on the field of play, medal podiums or official ceremonies.Raising a fist or kneeling for a national anthem could lead to punishment from the IOC. The Olympic body’s legal commission should clarify what kind of punishment before this year’s games, which open on July 23.The IOC also said that slogans such as …

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Pakistan’s parliament will resume debating the fate of the French ambassador Friday after the government appeared, for now, to put a lid on bloody anti-France protests that rocked the country for a week.A resolution calls for debate on whether to expel the French envoy, for the national assembly to condemn Western blasphemy, for Muslim nations to unite on the issue, and for authorities to provide space in cities for future protests.The resolution — put forward privately by a member of the ruling party — will likely be replaced by a more strongly worded one from the opposition, but will nevertheless …

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An ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has urged Navalny to end his hunger strike, which is in its third week.”To continue [the strike] would be dangerous for his life and health,” Anastasia Vasilyeva, head of the Doctors Alliance union, told Reuters. “We very much hope Alexei will end the hunger strike tomorrow.”The news comes a day after more than 1,900 Navalny supporters were detained during protests in cities across the country.In a Thursday Instagram post, Navalny said he felt “pride and hope” after learning about the protests.“Here it is — the salvation of Russia. You. Those who came …

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