Russia on Thursday accused the European Union of “theft” after the bloc transferred the first tranche of profits from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine to boost Kyiv’s military capabilities. But some fear Western states could cut their own aid, as Henry Ridgwell reports. Camera: Henry Ridgwell. …
islamabad — A group of 28 asylum-seekers were repatriated to Afghanistan from Germany on Friday after being deported for criminal convictions. The deportees, on board a chartered flight, arrived in the capital of Kabul, where Taliban authorities promptly detained them for investigation and blocked journalists’ access to the airport, according to witnesses. The Taliban did not immediately issue a statement regarding the fate of the Afghan returnees or whether the repatriation resulted from mutual understanding between Kabul and Berlin. Earlier, a German government spokesperson said in a statement on its website that the Afghan nationals had been “convicted for criminal offenses,” …
Media rights are at risk in Georgia as the country once seen as a safe haven for journalists implements a new law. For VOA News, Liam Scott has the story. Camera: Cristina Caicedo Smit, Krystof Maixner, Martin Bubenik, Michael Eckels …
Russian shelling has destroyed 50% of Ukraine’s electricity generation capacity since late March, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. To make up for the power shortage, the country has turned to U.S. energy giant Westinghouse for help developing next-generation nuclear reactor units. Tetiana Kukurika has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer: Sergiy Rybchynski …
FRANKFURT/TALLINN — Inflation in the euro zone fell to its lowest level in three years in August, setting the stage for a further cut in the European Central Bank’s interest rates next month despite an Olympics-driven surge in the price of services. The ECB has started winding down a two-year campaign against high inflation that followed the brisk reopening of the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Inflation in the 20 countries sharing the euro currency fell to 2.2% this month, the slowest pace since July 2021 and closing in on the ECB’s 2% target, according to …
The arrest in France last Saturday of Pavel Durov, the billionaire boss of the social media platform Telegram, is reverberating around the world as Russia urges France not to turn the investigation into ‘political persecution.’ Durov is under formal investigation over alleged illegal activities on Telegram, as Henry Ridgwell reports. …
London — Russia on Thursday warned France not to turn the investigation of Pavel Durov, the boss of Telegram, into a “political persecution” after the billionaire 39-year-old CEO was put under formal investigation relating to activities on his social media platform. Moscow has implied there are political motivations behind the arrest of Durov, who was detained Saturday as he disembarked his private jet at Paris-Le Bourget airport, near the French capital. “The main thing is for what is happening in France not to run into political persecution,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday. “Of course, we consider him a Russian …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Washington — Russian opposition politician Ilya Ponomarev says he saw no reason to be suspicious when he received what appeared to be an email from former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, a trusted contact with whom he communicates periodically. “This letter was visually no different from his other letters. I believed that it was his letter because it was visually no different from his other letters,” Ponomarev told VOA Russian in a Zoom interview. But this email from several months ago turned out to be one of numerous “phishing attacks” targeting U.S. diplomats and others that have been identified as …
Uzhhorod, Ukraine — Ukraine’s first lady wants her country’s children to view themselves not as a generation enduring a grinding war but rather as “a generation of winners.” On the sidelines of a day spent at a rehabilitation camp for Ukrainian children in the relatively safe western city of Uzhhorod, Olena Zelenska said Tuesday that working with the next generation was a moral obligation and a “strategic priority” for Ukraine’s future. Many of the children will return to front-line cities after spending a few weeks at the camp created by Voices of the Children charity, barely enough time to overcome the …
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s budget proposal for 2025 includes record defense spending of 187 billion zlotys ($48.7 billion), officials said Wednesday. Prime Minister Donald Tusk presented the main points of next year’s budget for the nation, which borders war-torn Ukraine and where security concerns are high. Tusk described the budget proposal as “generous” and supporting further economic growth. “It is a great effort, but there is no turning back from it,” Tusk said at a news conference, referring to the defense sector funding. Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said that the defense spending proposal would constitute 4.7% of gross domestic product, compared …
SINGAPORE — Pope Francis will embark on the longest overseas tour of his papacy next week, as he visits four countries across Asia and Oceania on a grueling 11-day trip. The 87-year-old pontiff is scheduled to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore on a journey emphasizing economic and religious diversity. The pope has faced recent health challenges and concerns and this is set to be his first overseas trip of 2024. Francis was forced to pull out of a visit to Dubai last November to recover from a bout of flu and lung inflammation. Ailing health has caused him …
NEA SILATA, Greece — Six weeks before harvest, there’s no water left in the ground for farmer Dimitris Papadakis’ olive grove in northern Greece, so he has started a new morning routine. Joined by his teenage son, he uses a truck to bring water from nearby areas. Using a small generator, he connects the vehicle to irrigation pipes to save what’s left of his thirsty crop. “Our boreholes have almost dried up … We now depend on tankers to irrigate our fields,” says Papadakis, who heads an agricultural cooperative in a village in Halkidiki, a three-fingered peninsula in northern Greece which …