Month: July 2022

Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will sign a deal Friday to resume Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s office said Thursday. Russia and Ukraine are both major global wheat suppliers, but Moscow’s February 24 invasion of its neighbor has sent food prices soaring and stoked an international food crisis. The war has stalled Kyiv’s exports, leaving dozens of ships stranded and some 20 million tons of grain stuck in silos at Odesa port. Ankara said a general agreement was reached on a U.N.-led plan during talks in Istanbul last week and that it would …

READ MORE

The European Central Bank raised interest rates Thursday for the first time in 11 years by a larger-than-expected amount, joining steps already taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other major central banks to target stubbornly high inflation.  The move raises new questions about whether the rush to make credit more expensive will plunge major economies into recession at the cost of easing prices for people spending more on food, fuel and everything in between.  The ECB’s surprise hike of half a percentage point for the 19 countries using the euro currency is expected to be followed by another increase …

READ MORE

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned Thursday after failing in his efforts to unite the fractious pieces of his unity government. President Sergio Mattarella’s office said in a statement the president had accepted Draghi’s resignation but asked him to stay on in a caretaker role. The development could mean Italy heads to a parliamentary election in the coming months instead of the scheduled vote set to take place next year. Draghi became prime minister in 2021 as Italy dealt with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and a sagging economy. Mattarella rejected his earlier offer of resignation last week, urging …

READ MORE

Ukraine reported Russian shelling Thursday on the city of Kharkiv killed at least two people and wounded 19 others. Regional governor Oleg Synegubov said the dead included one child, and that four people were in serious condition. Britain’s defense ministry said Thursday that Russian forces were continuing small-scale assaults along the front line in the Donbas region, the part of eastern Ukraine that has been a focus of its war. The ministry said in its daily assessment that Russia was likely closing in on the Vuhlehirska power plant, northeast of Donetsk, and that Russian forces were prioritizing capturing critical infrastructure …

READ MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have succumbed to his own mythmaking and hyperbole, unable to let go of his desire to conquer Ukraine, no matter what the costs, according to a public assessment by America’s top spymaster. CIA Director William Burns, the last U.S. official to meet with Putin before he ordered Russian forces into Ukraine in February, warned late Wednesday that the Russian leader truly believes he must conquer Ukraine to fulfill his destiny. “Putin really does believe his rhetoric, and I’ve heard him say it privately over the years, that Ukraine’s not a real country. … He …

READ MORE

When Russian missiles struck a mall in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk last month, the deadly attack sent ripples of disinformation across Europe. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the mall was “permanently closed” at the time of the strike and that its forces were targeting ammunition stores. Russia’s ambassador to Ireland responded to international criticism over Moscow’s targeting of a civilian area, describing claims about the attack as “yet another disinformation stunt.” In the Hungarian capital, Budapest, Blanka Zoldi, editor-in-chief of the fact-checking site Lakmusz, watched as those and other false claims crossed her country’s borders. “In Hungary, pro-government social media …

READ MORE

As Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska reminded the U.S. Congress of the human costs of Russia’s invasion of her country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow’s military aims were no longer confined only to the east of the country. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …

READ MORE

Britain drew closer to selecting a new prime minister Wednesday after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak were chosen as finalists by Conservative party lawmakers. Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt finished out of the running in third place in the voting to replace Boris Johnson. Both Truss and Sunak have played key roles in public office in recent years. Truss has guided Britain’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Sunak helped lead Britain’s economy during much of the coronavirus pandemic. One of them will replace Johnson as prime minister come September 5, after he was forced …

READ MORE

A new study shines a light on the health risks, challenges, and barriers faced daily by millions of refugees and migrants who suffer from poor health because they lack access to the health care available to others in their host countries. The World Health Organization has just published its first world report on the health of refugees and migrants. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it a landmark report and an alarm bell. He said the report reveals the wide disparities between the health of refugees and migrants and the wider populations in their host countries.   “For example, many …

READ MORE

…

READ MORE