Month: June 2024

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Luhansk said Ukrainian attacks left at least 28 people dead as Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange drone attacks overnight into Saturday. A Ukrainian attack Friday on the small town of Sadove in Ukraine’s partially occupied Kherson region killed 22 and wounded 15 people, Moscow-backed governor Vladimir Saldo said. Russian state news agency Tass cited Saldo as saying that Ukrainian forces first struck the town with a French-made guided bomb, then attacked again with a U.S.-supplied HIMARS missile. He said Ukrainian forces had “deliberately made a repeat …

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A man accused of assaulting the Danish Prime Minister in central Copenhagen will appear in a pre-trial custody hearing on Saturday, authorities said. Police confirmed “there has been an incident” with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Friday and that a 39-year-old man was arrested. They didn’t provide further details and it wasn’t clear if Frederiksen was hurt. The man is expected to arrive at 1100 GMT at the Copenhagen District Court in Frederiksberg, a municipality enclave within the Danish capital. The prime minister’s office told the Danish state broadcaster DR on Friday that Frederiksen was “shocked” by what …

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DAKAR, Senegal — Russia’s top diplomat pledged help and military assistance while on a whirlwind tour of several countries in Africa’s sub-Saharan region of Sahel this week, as Moscow seeks to grow its influence in the restive, mineral-rich section of the continent. Russia is emerging as the security partner of choice for a growing number of African governments in the region, displacing traditional allies like France and the United States. Sergey Lavrov, who has made several trips to Africa in recent years, this week stopped in Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso and Chad. Moscow has aggressively expanded its military …

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PRAGUE — Voters in Slovakia, Italy and other European Union nations are casting their ballots Saturday on the third day of elections for the European Parliament, with populist and far-right parties looking to make gains across the 27-member bloc. In Slovakia, the election was overshadowed by an attempt to assassinate populist Prime Minister Robert Fico on May 15, sending shockwaves through the nation of 5.4 million and reverberating throughout Europe. Analysts say the attack could boost the chances of the premier’s leftist Smer (Direction) party, the senior partner in the governing coalition, to win the vote. Fico, who took office last …

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President Joe Biden stressed the need for transatlantic unity during his speech at the monument overlooking the beach where, 80 years ago, Allied troops fought a battle that delivered a decisive blow to Nazi aggression. VOA White House Correspondent Anita Powell reports from Pointe du Hoc, France. …

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Pointe du Hoc, France — Standing alone atop a concrete bunker dug into a 100-foot cliff overlooking the cold, choppy waters off Normandy’s coast, U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday explained why he came to the French countryside to deliver a forceful speech drawing a straight line from the past to the present. “Where we stand was not sacred ground on June 5th, but that’s what it became on June the 6th,” he said, referring to the battle that Allied forces launched that day in 1944. “The Rangers who scaled this cliff didn’t know they would change the world,” he said …

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White House — U.S. President Joe Biden is aiming to persuade leaders of the world’s seven richest economies on a plan that could potentially provide up to $50 billion in loans for Ukraine’s war effort by using interest from frozen Russian assets held in Western financial institutions. The U.S. leader wants his G7 counterparts to endorse the plan at their upcoming summit in Apulia, Italy, set to kick off June 13. But before G7 partners can get on board, much of the scheme’s details must first be ironed out, a source familiar with Biden’s plan told VOA. If agreed upon, the …

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