Month: October 2023

Russia’s foreign minister will visit North Korea this week, the Foreign Ministry said Monday, days after the United States claimed Pyongyang had delivered munitions and military equipment to Russia for use in the fighting in Ukraine. Sergey Lavrov will be in North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday, the ministry said in a brief statement that did not specify whom he would meet or the aims of the trip. The White House said Friday that more than 1,000 containers of equipment and ammunition have been sent to Russia from North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia last …

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Qatar announced Monday the reunification of a group of Ukrainian children with their families, a start on the return of some of the thousands of children Ukraine says Russia forcibly took after launching its invasion in February 2022. The repatriations took place after months of talks brokered by Qatar. Officials familiar with the matter said four children, ages 2 to 17, were being reunited under an arrangement that could lead to more repatriations. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the State of Qatar facilitated the hosting of the children and their families at the Qatari Embassy in Moscow during the …

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Voters in Poland are choosing representatives for both houses of parliament. Poles outside the country are joining the vote. Svitlana Prystynska has our story from the Western U.S. state of Colorado. …

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The White House said Sunday it plans to try this week to win congressional approval of a new weapons aid package for Ukraine and Israel that would total significantly more than $2 billion.  White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS’s “Face the Nation” show that President Joe Biden will lobby Congress this week on the need for the package to be approved as Ukraine’s 20-month war with Russia slogs on with no end in sight and Israel appears set to launch a ground invasion of Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 shock attack on Israel by Hamas …

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For soldiers fighting on Ukraine’s front lines, a split second first aid decision can be the difference between life or death. Whether learning to apply a tourniquet, wrap a bandage or carry a wounded person, regular basic medical training is an essential part of their skill set in the field. “It’s crucial training, because every soldier needs to know how to save his own life and that of others nearby,” said Victor Pylypenko, a 36-year-old medic in the 72nd Ukrainian brigade. According to analysts, at least tens of thousands of soldiers have been wounded and killed on both sides since …

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Several International Olympic Committee members called on Sunday for President Thomas Bach to stay on after his second term ends in 2025 and continue for an unprecedented third one. Elected in 2013, Bach is due to step down in 2025 in line with current Olympic Charter rules, following a first eight-year term and a second four-year one. The IOC, however, said it would be discussing the matter in a future executive board meeting. Sunday’s open declaration by IOC members followed speculation in recent months that Bach could potentially continue as president of the one of the most powerful bodies in …

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Poland is holding a high-stakes election on Sunday that has energized many voters, with the ruling conservative nationalist party pitted against opposition groups that accuse it of eroding the foundations of the democratic system. The ruling party, Law and Justice, has a devoted base of supporters in the Central European nation of 38 million who appreciate its defense of Catholic traditions and its social spending on pensioners and families with children. The payments have given relief to poor people.  But support for the party has shrunk since the last election in 2019 — when it won nearly 44% of the …

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Poles vote Sunday in a parliamentary election the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) hopes will earn it an unprecedented third term in office, while the opposition warns it could put the country on a path towards leaving the European Union. Opinion polls suggest PiS will come out ahead but could lose its majority amid intensifying discontent over its democratic record, which has cost Poland billions of euros in EU aid, and concerns over women’s rights and the cost of living. With war raging in neighboring Ukraine and a migrant crisis brewing, the EU and Washington are watching the vote closely, …

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Jews in communities far from Israel gathered at synagogues this weekend for Shabbat services held amid the ongoing war ignited by Hamas militants’ attack on Israel a week earlier. Rabbis led prayers of peace and shared grief with their congregations. At many synagogues security was tight. Pittsburgh Rabbi: Hamas attack resurfaces generations of trauma for Jewish people The deadly Hamas attack is not just another geopolitical event for Jewish people, explained one U.S. rabbi. It is dredging up generations of visceral trauma, especially in Pittsburgh – the city scarred by the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. “More Jews were …

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Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. No Shade, No Water, Record Heat: More Migrants Die in US Desert In the past 12 months through September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection logged 60 migrant deaths due to heat in the El Paso sector, triple the same period a year ago. The sector spans the Chihuahuan Desert through New Mexico and parts of Texas along 431 kilometers (268 miles) of the border. It has been the busiest area for migrant crossings into the U.S. southwest …

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