Month: September 2024

Pope asks for liberation of Myanmar’s detained ex-leader Suu Kyi

ROME — Pope Francis has called for the liberation of Myanmar’s detained former leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and offered the Vatican as a safe haven, the pontiff said in a recent conversation with Jesuits in Asia. “I asked for the Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s release and received her son in Rome. I offered the Vatican to receive her in our territory,” he said in a private conversation during a recent 12-day tour across Southeast Asia. The 87-year old pontiff visited Myanmar in December 2017. Italian daily Corriere della Sera published the comments on Tuesday in an …

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$375 million US military aid package for Ukraine expected as soon as Wednesday

Pentagon — The U.S. military is expected to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine this week valued at up to $375 million, the largest aid sent to Kyiv since May. According to several U.S. officials, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity to discuss the package ahead of the announcement, the aid for Kyiv is expected to be announced as soon as Wednesday. One official told VOA the package is likely to include air-to-ground munitions for F-16 fighter jets, which would allow Ukrainian pilots to operate away from the front lines and Russia’s air defenses.  The package also …

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France’s new government gets to work amid anger on left, right 

paris — After more than two months without a functioning government, France’s new cabinet got to work Monday. How long it will remain in office is unclear. French politics have been in limbo since inconclusive snap legislative elections in late June and early July. The elections saw a leftist coalition win the most votes and the far-right National Rally emerging as the largest party. Only now, after the Paris Olympics, has a new center-right government been named, which doesn’t include either of these two blocs. On national TV Sunday night, conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier outlined some broad priorities. He called …

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Soyuz capsule with 2 Russians, 1 American from ISS returns to Earth

Moscow — A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russians and one American from the International Space Station landed Monday in Kazakhstan, ending a record-breaking stay for the Russian pair. The capsule landed on the Kazakh steppe about 3 1/2 hours after undocking from the ISS in an apparently trouble-free descent. In the last stage of the landing, it descended under a red-and-white parachute at about 7.2 meters per second (16 mph), with small rockets fired in the final seconds to cushion the touchdown. The astronauts were extracted from the capsule and placed in nearby chairs to help them adjust to gravity, then …

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Climate of fear permeates repressive Belarusian society

geneva — United Nations investigators are accusing the Belarusian government of Alexander Lukashenko of instilling “a pervasive climate of fear by quashing all avenues of dissent” by systematically oppressing its perceived political opponents. “Measures of repression and intimidation aimed at suppressing dissent continue unabated in Belarus, particularly in the lead-up to the presidential election scheduled in 2025,” Karinna Moskaleko, chair of the Group of independent Experts told the U.N. human rights council Monday. Moskaleko presented a searing account of widespread human rights violations, abuse, and horrific cases of cruelty and deprivation in this first oral update of the human rights situation …

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Eurozone business activity slumps after Olympics boost 

Brussels, Belgium — Eurozone business activity declined for the first time in seven months in September, as France lost steam after the end of the Paris Olympic Games, a key survey said Monday.   S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) — a key gauge of the overall health of the economy — dropped to 48.9 in September, down from 51 in August.  Any reading below 50 indicated contraction.     “The eurozone is heading towards stagnation. After the Olympic effect had temporarily boosted France, the eurozone heavyweight economy, the Composite PMI fell in September to the largest extent in 15 months,” said Cyrus de la …

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EU challenges China’s dairy product probe at WTO 

Brussels — The European Commission launched a challenge at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday against China’s investigation into EU dairy products, initiated after the European Union placed import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.  This is the first time the European Union has taken such action at the start of an investigation, rather than wait for it to result in trade measures against the bloc.  “The EU’s action was prompted by an emerging pattern of China initiating trade defense measures, based on questionable allegations and insufficient evidence, within a short period of time,” the commission said.  Proceedings at the WTO …

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