Month: October 2021

An international Russia-hosted meeting Wednesday pressed the Taliban to form a “truly inclusive” government in Afghanistan and called for the United Nations to convene a donor conference as soon as possible to help avert a humanitarian catastrophe facing the war-torn country. The huddle, known as the Moscow format consultations on Afghanistan, was held with the participation of leaders of the interim Taliban government and senior officials from Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, India, as well as five formerly Soviet Central Asian states. “Participating countries call on the current Afghan leadership to take further steps to improve governance and to form a …

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In Belarus, just across the border from Ukraine, many children have been living with chronic radiation sickness since a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in 1986. They have returned to school after being unable to escape contamination for yet another summer due to COVID-19 pandemic border restrictions. For VOA, Ricardo Marquina has more from the Gomel region of southern Belarus in this report narrated by Miguel Amaya. …

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The European Parliament has awarded the European Union’s highest human rights prize to imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny for challenging President Vladimir Putin’s rule over the country. Lawmakers Wednesday announced on Twitter that Navalny is the recipient of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The award is named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov. In the announcement, legislators openly criticized Putin and called for Navalny to be freed from prison. “Mr. Putin, free Alexey Navalny. Europe calls for — his and all other political prisoners’ — freedom,” the tweet said. Navalny, 45, is currently serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence. Authorities …

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The European Union’s national heads of government are readying for a fiery summit meeting Thursday which will be dominated by a clash among them over a recent ruling by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal that declared Poland’s constitution has primacy over the bloc’s laws.    A preview of the fundamental legal and political issues that will be at stake Thursday — and the anger involved — was seen Tuesday when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki confronted each other in the European Parliament.    Von der Leyen threatened Poland with suspension of EU voting rights …

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FBI agents raided homes Thursday in Washington and New York City linked to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire with ties to the Kremlin and to Paul Manafort, the onetime chairman of Donald Trump’s 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. The agents carried boxes out of a mansion in one of Washington’s wealthiest neighborhoods, with yellow “CRIME SCENE DO NOT ENTER” tape across the front yard, and towed away a vehicle.  A spokesperson for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed the agency was conducting a court-authorized law enforcement activity at the home, which The Washington Post has previously reported was linked to …

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U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says no third country has a veto on Ukraine’s aspirations to join the NATO military alliance.  “Ukraine…has a right to decide its own future foreign policy, and we expect that they will be able to do that without any outside interference,” Austin said during a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday, when asked about Russian objections to Ukraine’s entry into NATO. Tensions have risen between Russia and the U.S.-led alliance, with Moscow announcing on Monday it is suspending its permanent mission to NATO in response to the alliance’s expulsion of eight Russians diplomats earlier this month. …

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Russian government officials Tuesday recommended closing workplaces after the nation again set a daily record for COVID-19 deaths and nearly 34,000 new infections.  Russia’s government coronavirus task force reported 1,015 deaths over the past 24 hours, the highest number since the pandemic began. That brought the total death toll to 225,325 — by far the highest in Europe. It also registered 33,740 new infections in the past day. Speaking Tuesday at a government coronavirus meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova proposed closing workplaces from October 30 to November 7. She proposed that those days be deemed non-working days to combat …

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The European Commission is considering potential legal and financial responses after Poland’s constitutional court challenged the supremacy of EU law, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.  Speaking during a meeting of EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, von der Leyen said the Polish court’s ruling earlier this month was “a direct challenge to the unity of the EU.”  “We cannot and we will not allow our common values to be put at risk,” she said.  The judges for Poland’s highest court ruled that the national constitution had primacy over EU law.  The increased tensions between Poland the EU fed speculation …

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