Month: November 2023

The Kremlin on Tuesday hosted Palestinian representatives and foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Indonesia in what observers say was a bid to showcase its position on the Israel-Hamas war. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from the VOA Moscow Bureau. VOA footage by Ricardo Marquina. …

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Dutch voters cast their ballots on Wednesday in a nail-biting election in which opinion polls show at least three parties — including the far right — could hope for the top spot. A weighted poll published on the eve of the vote showed anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party, or PVV, tied for the lead with the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, or VVD, of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte. “I hope I don’t wake up tomorrow and we have Wilders as a prime minister. That’s a nightmare,” said Amsterdam resident Arie van der Neut, an architect, after …

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King Charles III hosted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife at a glittering banquet at Buckingham Palace Tuesday, as Britain rolled out the red carpet for a formal state visit aimed at strengthening trade and defense ties between the two countries. The U.K. government hopes the Korean leader’s three-day visit will help cement an “Indo-Pacific tilt” in its foreign and trade policy. The king and Queen Camilla hosted Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee at a sumptuous white tie and tiara banquet at Buckingham Palace, where Charles paid tribute to South Korea’s political and economic advances …

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Ukraine said Wednesday Russia launched 14 drones and a cruise missile as part of its latest attacks. The Ukrainian air force said its air defenses downed all of the drones, which were directed at parts of central, southeastern and western Ukraine. There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties. The Ukrainian military also said the Russian X-22 missile fell into a field in the Zaporizhzhia region without reaching its target. Ukraine identified the Russian drones as being Shahed drones made by Iran, and the latest attacks followed warnings by the United States that Iran could provide Russia with …

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It has been 10 years since the start of the uprising known as Maidan, or the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine. The wave of civil unrest was sparked by the Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to not sign an association agreement with the European Union, which set off a three-month resistance movement. VOA met with three Maidan activists, whose lives — along with their country — changed forever in November 2013. …

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is warning that if Russia is successful in Ukraine, China will be emboldened to use military force to expand its territory in the Indo-Pacific. “We can’t live in that kind of world,” Austin told U.S. troops at a military installation in eastern Poland Tuesday after a surprise stop the day before in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. “If you’re another autocrat, say China, and you want to take over more ground [and] more territory, and you saw what happened in Ukraine and there were no consequences to be paid, you’d feel pretty good about it,” …

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The European Union said on Tuesday a review of its development aid to Palestinians, ordered after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, found no evidence of funds going to the militant group and that its assistance would continue. The EU is the biggest provider of such aid to Palestinians. It has earmarked $1.3 billion for its programs for the period between 2021 and 2024. The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, announced the review two days after Hamas militants attacked Israel from Gaza, killing 1,200 people and taking some 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Officials said the review …

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