Britain’s Prince William and Prince Harry unveiled a statue to their late mother Princess Diana in London on Thursday, on what would have been her 60th birthday. As Henry Ridgwell reports, much of the focus at the ceremony was on the deteriorating relationship between the two princes.Camera: Henry Ridgwell …
Turkey sees Israel’s formation of a new government without Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a chance for the two countries to reset relations that have long been strained. But recent fighting between Hamas and Israel threatens to complicate any effort to improve ties.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Benjamin Netanyahu routinely exchanged insults, with both leaders making little secret of their mutual dislike. With Netanyahu gone, an opportunity now exists for improving ties, says Sinan Ulgen of Istanbul’s Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies. But Ulgen warns Erdogan’s fiery condemnation last month of Israel for its military confrontation with …
With poll numbers for pro-Putin political parties sinking ahead of Russia’s scheduled fall parliamentary elections, the Kremlin has launched a new campaign strategy: clearing the field of would-be challengers. From Moscow, Charles Maynes reports. Camera: Ricardo Marquina Montañana, Agency Produced by: Henry Hernandez …
Several countries have imposed restrictions on travelers from Britain amid rising cases of the delta variant of the coronavirus. Scientists say the delta mutation is more infectious and now makes up around 95 percent of new cases in Britain. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …
Chef José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen were awarded a prestigious Spanish prize Wednesday for their international relief work promoting healthy food.The jury that decides the Princess of Asturias Awards gave Andrés, 51, and the nonprofit group he founded the Award of Concord for “offering extraordinarily fast and efficient on-the-ground response to social and nutritional emergencies.”Born in northern Spain in 1969, Andrés moved to the U.S. in 1991 and was later naturalized as an American citizen. He helped popularize Spanish cuisine, especially the tapa, in the U.S. before he also became heavily involved in humanitarian work.Andrés founded the World …
President Vladimir Putin told Russians on Wednesday that the time would come when he would name his possible successor in the Kremlin, but he said the choice would ultimately lie with voters.Putin, 68, has been in power as president or prime minister since the turn of the century. His current six-year term in the Kremlin is due to end in 2024, and his remarks are being closely parsed for clues as to whether he plans to extend his rule.Russia changed its constitution last year at Putin’s behest allowing him to run for two more six-year terms in the Kremlin, and …
A new, smaller version of the Statue of Liberty arrived Wednesday at Ellis Island in New York Harbor, a gift to the United States from France, 135 years after that nation presented the original Lady Liberty to the U.S. The nearly-three-meter version of the statue arrived in New York after a nine-day journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The bronze statue is on loan for 10 years to the French embassy in Washington from the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (CNAM). For the past decade it stood at the entrance to the National Museum of Arts and Crafts …
They are called Adam or Nastashia, they are Europeans and live in the United Kingdom where they have been placed in homes or foster families, victims of chaotic journeys. Some of these children are now at risk of becoming undocumented as a result of Brexit.”This means that they will not have the right to live in the United Kingdom,” warns Marianne Lagrue, an official of the association Coram Children’s Legal Center which helps them. “They will not be able to access free health care, work, receive benefits, rent housing, learn to drive and have a bank account,” she told AFP.At 18, they …
European borders and economies are opening up this summer, thanks to falling coronavirus cases and rising vaccination numbers. But experts warn the pandemic’s scars could be long term and profound—especially for young people, a generation Europe cannot afford to lose. Things are looking up for young Parisians. Bars and restaurants have reopened, also schools and universities, for the last weeks before summer vacations. Young people having coffee in Paris. France reopened bars and restaurants mid-may as coronavirus cases dropped. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)At a community room with other students, Sorbonne University student Katarzyna Mac is studying for final exams. She is grateful that …
European borders and economies are opening up this summer, thanks to falling coronavirus cases and rising vaccination numbers. But experts warn the pandemic’s scars could be long term and profound — especially for young people, a generation Europe cannot afford to lose. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has the story from Paris.Camera: Lisa Bryant Produced by: Jon Spier …
The coronavirus pandemic has forced millions of Syrian refugees living in Turkey deeper into poverty, with many having to take on large debts, according to aid agencies. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …
The European Union’s asylum agency said Tuesday that the number of people seeking international protection in Europe hit its lowest level last year since 2013, but that the drop was due mostly to coronavirus travel restrictions. EASO said in a new report that 485,000 asylum applications were made in the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland in 2020. That’s a 32% decrease over the previous year. It said that “reduced applications were primarily due to restricted mobility and travel, rather than a decrease in the number of people in need of international protection.” Two-thirds of the applications were lodged in just three …
The coronavirus, climate change and food security are on the agenda Tuesday as foreign ministers from the G-20 group of nations meet in Italy. The talks in the city of Matera represent the first time the ministers are gathering in person since 2019. U.S. State Department officials said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would stress the importance of working together to address such global challenges, a common theme in recent months as he and President Joe Biden set a foreign policy path heavily focused on boosting ties with allies. “To address the climate crisis, Secretary Blinken will encourage G-20 members to work together toward ambitious outcomes, including …
Western powers are promising recent successes by the Islamic State across Africa will not go unanswered, backing plans for a task force to focus on the terror group’s spread from Iraq and Syria to the African continent.The announcement Monday following a meeting in Rome by the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS comes a day before the seventh anniversary of the terror group’s proclamation of its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and two years since the caliphate’s territorial defeat in Syria.But despite constant pressure from the U.S. military and other coalition members, Western counterterrorism officials warn that IS, or Daesh …
The vice president of the European Commission on Monday warned against complacency regarding the COVID-19 pandemic as the highly infectious delta variant, first discovered in India, continues to spread on the continent. During a European Union parliamentary committee meeting, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said a recent advisory from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) indicates the delta variant is expected to account for 70% of all new cases in Europe by August, and 90% by the end of that month. He said ECDC modeling scenarios suggested that further relaxations of coronavirus safety restrictions would lead to …
The Kremlin on Monday strongly rejected claims that Russian military instructors in the Central African Republic have been involved in killing civilians and looting homes. During a heated discussion at the U.N. Security Council last week, the United States, Britain and France accused Russian military contractors of committing human rights abuses in the conflict-stricken country. On Sunday, The New York Times cited a report to the Security Council that accused the Russians of killing civilians and looting homes during fighting earlier this year. FILE – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov listens during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 19, 2019.Asked about the …
Leaders of Turkey and France are pledging to ease tensions after months of trading insults, but tensions between them remain over their competing interests in Africa.French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian declared Turkey and France are in what he described as “recovery period” after the French and Turkish President met on the sidelines of the NATO summit earlier this month and pledged to resolve their differences. French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan had engaged in a war of words as the two leaders competed for international influence. Sinan Ulgen of the Istanbul-based Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies says …
German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday continued to make the case that a face-to-face summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin is the best way to address regional issues with him, days after other European leaders rejected her proposal for such a meeting. Merkel, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, proposed the summit idea during a European Union meeting in Brussels. Eastern European leaders, particularly members who share borders with Russia, rejected the proposal, saying such a meeting would reward Putin for recent aggressive Russian behavior such as cyberattacks or the deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine. …
The U.N. human rights chief, in a landmark report launched after the killing of George Floyd in the United States, is urging countries worldwide to do more to help end discrimination, violence and systemic racism against people of African descent and “make amends” to them — including through reparations. The report from Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, offers a sweeping look at the roots of centuries of mistreatment faced by Africans and people of African descent, notably from the transatlantic slave trade. It seeks a “transformative” approach to address its continued impact today. The …
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged allies Monday to maintain a focus on defeating the Islamic State group, with a particular focus on countering its affiliates in Africa.“We’ve made great progress because we’ve been working together, so we hope you’ll keep an eye on the fight, keep up the fight against this terrorist organization until it is decisively defeated,” Blinken said in Italy Monday at the start of a meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.He said coalition efforts had produced “significant achievements,” including virtually ceasing the movement of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria.Blinken noted that 10,000 ISIS militants are being detained by Syrian Democratic Forces, calling the situation “simply …