Month: October 2022

In the days since Dane Partridge was fatally wounded while serving as a volunteer soldier in Ukraine, his sister has found moments of comfort in surprising places: first, a misplaced baseball cap discovered in her laundry room, then in a photo of a battered pickup truck with only one tire intact. The 34-year-old Idaho man died Tuesday from injuries suffered during a Russian attack in Luhansk. A State Department spokesperson confirmed the recent death of a U.S. citizen in Donbas without naming them, The Washington Post reported. A former U.S. Army infantryman, Partridge felt “spiritually called” to volunteer with the …

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The United States will send $725 million in military assistance to Ukraine, the White House said Friday, the latest U.S. security package to help Kyiv and the first since Russia’s widespread missile attacks on Ukraine’s civilian population. U.S. officials said the aid package does not include significant new capabilities or counterair defenses. Instead, it focuses on resupplying Ukraine with ammunition and weapons that Kyiv has been successfully using in its counteroffensive against Russia. “The capabilities we are delivering are carefully calibrated to make the most difference on the battlefield for Ukraine,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a …

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Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch. UNGA declares Russian ‘annexation’ of Ukrainian territories invalid In its strongest show of support for Ukraine since Moscow’s February 24 invasion, the U.N. General Assembly voted 143-5 on a resolution condemning and rejecting Russia’s move to annex Ukrainian territory. The only countries supporting Russia in Wednesday’s vote were Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua and Syria. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield says the resolution means in the eyes of the world “Ukraine remains Ukraine.” UN General Assembly …

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Robbie Coltrane, the baby-faced comedian and character actor whose hundreds of roles included a crime-solving psychologist on the TV series “Cracker” and the gentle half-giant Hagrid in the “Harry Potter” movies, has died. He was 72. Coltrane’s agent, Belinda Wright, said he died Friday at a hospital in his native Scotland, and but did not immediately release other details. She called him “forensically intelligent” and “brilliantly witty” in just one of many tributes made to him. “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, who decades ago said Coltrane was her first choice to play Hagrid, tweeted Friday that he was “an incredible …

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Jeremy Hunt was named Britain’s new finance minister on Friday, the latest senior ministerial role for the self-proclaimed entrepreneur regarded by many in his Conservative Party as a safe pair of hands but whose days in top jobs had seemed over. After being the longest-serving health secretary in British history and stints running the foreign office and culture ministry, Hunt returns from government exile after two failed bids to become Britain’s prime minister himself. While he made it to the run-off to replace Theresa May before losing to Boris Johnson in 2019, he fared much less well in the leadership …

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The International Committee of the Red Cross is calling on both Russia and Ukraine to grant it unimpeded access to all prisoners of war being held by each side. The ICRC has been working since late February, when Russia invaded Ukraine, to obtain access to all prisoners of war. The Swiss-based aid agency says its teams have been trying to check on their condition and treatment and keep their families informed about their loved ones. However, the effort has been largely frustrated. ICRC head of media Ewan Watson said Red Cross teams only have been able to visit several hundred …

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“In the last three days, pro-Russian forces have made tactical advances towards the center of the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast,” Britain’s defense ministry said in an intelligence update posted to Twitter on Friday about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Elements of 2nd Army Corps, the pro-Russia militia of the Luhansk region, likely advanced into the villages of Opytine and lvangrad to the south of the town,” the update said. “There have been few, if any, other settlements seized by regular Russian or separatist forces since early July.” “However,” the report said, “forces led by the private military company Wagner …

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Thursday for the fourth time in as many months. The frequent meetings and close ties are fueling concerns among Turkey’s Western allies that Ankara is circumventing sanctions against Russia. The latest encounter was in Astana on the sidelines of the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia. Speaking to reporters after his meeting, Erdogan said he wants to build on the success of the United Nations-brokered deal that allows Ukrainian grain blockaded by Russian naval forces to enter world markets. Erdogan said Turkey is …

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Europe faces a higher-than-usual chance of a cold blast of weather before the end of the year, but the winter overall is likely to be warmer than average, the continent’s long-range weather forecaster said Thursday. Temperatures this winter will be crucial for homeowners worried about the record cost of heating their homes, and for European policymakers seeking to avoid energy rationing because of reductions in Russian gas supplies. “We see the winter as being warmer than usual,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service that produces seasonal forecasts for the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). …

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A failed engine and high waves were to blame for the fatal shipwreck that killed at least 18 Europe-bound migrants off the coast of Greece last week, one survivor tells VOA. Speaking to VOA Somali by phone, Mustafa Farah, a survivor from Somalia in his 20s, said about 50 migrants were traveling on an overloaded boat that departed Izmir, a city on Turkey’s Aegean coast, the evening of October 5, bound for Greece. “As we traveled under cover of night, strong winds swept the Aegean Sea, and the tragedy started to appear when the engine of the boat … failed,” …

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