Month: August 2024

Baltic countries are moving to protect NATO’s eastern flank in the face of Russian aggression. The Baltic defense line — a new fortification system along their borders with Russia and Belarus — is meant to shield NATO allies from potential attacks. VOA’s Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze reports from the Latvia-Russia border. VOA footage and editing by Daniil Batushchak. …

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LONDON — Britain has revived its attempt to give police wider powers to impose conditions on street protests, a decision that a civil rights group said showed a worrying disregard for the rule of law. The group, Liberty, successfully challenged the changes to public order laws made by the country’s previous Conservative government. London’s High Court ruled in May that the government exceeded its powers by lowering the threshold for police to impose conditions. The interior ministry’s appeal against the ruling was delayed in July – shortly after Labor won a parliamentary election – to allow for talks with Liberty about …

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Berlin — The suspects in the foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna earlier this month sought to kill “tens of thousands” of fans before the CIA discovered intelligence that disrupted the planning and led to arrests, the agency’s deputy director said. The CIA notified Austrian authorities of the scheme, which allegedly included links to the Islamic State group. The intelligence and subsequent arrests ultimately led to the cancellation of three sold-out Eras Tour shows, devastating fans who had traveled across the globe to see Swift in concert. CIA Deputy Director David Cohen addressed the failed plot during the …

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PARIS — A lawyer for Telegram boss Pavel Durov, who is being investigated in France, said it was “totally absurd” to suggest the head of a social network was responsible for any criminal acts committed on the platform, French media said. A French judge put Durov under formal investigation on Wednesday, saying he was suspected of complicity in running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, images of child sex abuse and drug trafficking. He is also being investigated for alleged money laundering and the refusal to cooperate with judicial authorities. Durov, who spent four days in police custody following his …

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Following more than nine months of unjust detention, American-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva is adjusting to life in freedom with her family in Prague. While in Washington this week to receive an award, she tells VOA’s Liam Scott the fate of other political prisoners is on her mind. Camera: Cristina Caicedo Smit, Hoshang Fahim, Adam Greenbaum, Krystof Maixner, Martin Bubenik …

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WASHINGTON — Two men from Europe are charged in a plot to call in bogus reports of police emergencies to harass and threaten members of Congress, senior U.S. government officials and dozens of other people, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.  Thomasz Szabo, 26, of Romania and Nemanja Radovanovic, 21, of Serbia targeted at least 100 people with “swatting” calls to instigate an aggressive response by police officers at the victims’ homes, the federal indictment alleges.  The calls also included threats to carry out mass shootings at New York City synagogues and to set off explosives at the U.S. Capitol …

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