Category: Євросоюз

As Americans reflect on two mass shootings that claimed 31 lives last weekend, they’re asking how to stop the carnage. Researchers at a Los Angeles center devoted to tolerance say part of the answer lies in ending hate online. Political leaders and social media companies, they add, must help to tone down the hateful rhetoric. Rick Eaton, senior researcher at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization, studies online hate. He points to an internet game that encourages players to shoot people crossing the border. Another site created with the popular gaming site Minecraft shows an animated crematorium …

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As Americans reflect on two mass shootings last weekend that claimed 31 lives, they’re asking how to stop the carnage. Researchers at a Los Angeles center devoted to tolerance say part of the answer is ending online hate. They say political leaders and social media companies must also help to tone down the rhetoric. Mike O’Sullivan reports from Los Angeles.   …

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U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman has stepped down after two years in his post as the top U.S. envoy to Moscow, calling it a “historically difficult period in bilateral relations.” VOA’s diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine looks at what his departure might mean for U.S.-Russia relations. …

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Russia’s population is expected to decline sharply in the next few decades, something that will greatly affect its economy and Moscow’s ability to project power abroad. Emigration of young, educated professionals is one of main causes. A Gallup poll this year found one-fifth of Russians would leave the country if they could, a three-fold increase from five years ago. VOA’s Igor Tsikhanenka traveled to Perm, known as Russia’s last city in Europe because of its location at the Ural mountains.   …

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Medical experts in Kenya are banking on human breast milk to save the lives of newborn babies.  Nairobi’s Pumwani Maternity Hospital has set up East Africa’s first breastmilk bank, the second in Africa, to provide donated milk to babies in need. As Sarah Kimani reports from Nairobi, the milk bank appears to be having an impact.   …

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It is 4 pm on May 21st. We land in Luanda. It’s the beginning of winter or cacimbo, as it is called in Angola. As the plane descends, the heat near the ground causes the air to shimmer, promising warmer weather than expected at this time of year. Betty, a photojournalist, and I were about to be warmly welcomed by the weather and by the people. We settled into a hotel in downtown Luanda, where tall modern buildings overshadow the older colonial-era houses. Every time I return to Luanda, I feel that modernity is taking over, trying to replace the …

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Syrian government forces captured two northwestern villages in an intensified offensive on the last rebel-held part of the country, inching closer to the town of Kfar Zeita which has been held by insurgents since 2012, opposition activists and state media reported Wednesday. Meanwhile, neighboring Turkey reiterated threats to attack northeastern Syria to push back U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish forces there even as Turkish and U.S. officials held in Ankara on establishing a so-called “safe zone” within Syria. The two developments the Syrian government offensive and Turkey’s threats herald new escalations in Syria’s civil war, now in its ninth year. The Syrian …

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“I have two boys…and I wanted them to, sort of, not have to deal with racism.” This is the quote that sticks with me the most from my time covering the Year of Return and a cultural festival known as Panafest in Ghana. Gail Nikoi, who now serves as president of the African American Association of Ghana, moved to Accra four years ago with her husband and her two teenage sons. The sentiment struck me not so much because of the problems it reflects in the United States, but because it shows how this American family was able to be …

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One of the reasons I got into journalism (many years ago!) was for the opportunity to meet some of the most interesting and inspiring people… and through them, learn more about the history and culture of my adopted country. Jeromyah Jones and his father, Jerome Jones, Jr., are among those people. Both father and son are artists who have created hundreds of paintings, mostly portraits of notable African Americans who’ve made a lasting contribution to American culture. They created a banner, called “I AM 400,” which uses 69 of those paintings to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of …

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Frank Iero, Jr. was the rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist of the rock band “My Chemical Romance” and “Leathermouth” has a solo rock project titled ‘Frank Iero and the Future Violents.”  The band has released their first record, “Barriers” recently.  This is their first album since a near-fatal bus accident in Sydney, Australia in 2013. …

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U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said one day after the U.S. placed a full economic embargo against Venezuela the U.S. can now sanction anyone who supports the government of President Nicolas Maduro. U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to freeze all Venezuelan government assets in the U.S. — the toughest sanctions on Maduro’s government so far. In a speech Tuesday in Lima, Peru at a summit on Venezuela, Bolton said the U.S. is “sending a signal to third parties that want to do business with the Maduro regime: proceed with extreme caution. There is no need to …

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Can Turkey be reeled back in as a trusted NATO partner? A growing chorus of policy-makers and foreign-policy analysts fear it can’t. The threat this week by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to launch a military incursion into Kurdish-majority areas in northern Syria is setting the stage for yet another fierce dispute between Ankara and the rest of NATO — including the U.S., which partnered with Syrian Kurds to rout the Islamic State terror group. Erdogan’s warming ties with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and his purchase of an advanced Russian air-defense system — as well as his pursuit of strategies in …

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Indonesia’s massive August 4 power outage is raising new concerns about the state electricity company, and renewing calls to look at alternative power sources, including geothermal energy, solar photovoltaic and wind. The blackout that hit the state-owned PLN electric company was Indonesia’s worst  since 2005, affecting millions of people in Jakarta and surrounding areas such as West Java and Banten. “By diversifying our energy sources by adding renewables, we may have a backup plan reducing the potential of a total blackout,” Mamit Setiawan, an analyst with Energy Watch, told VOA. Setiawan added that the centralized nature of power plants on …

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Updated: Aug. 6, 2019, 2:49 p.m. VOA’s Mandarin Service contributed to this report. WHITE HOUSE — The White House is signaling it is not seeking to further escalate the trade war with Beijing, after the administration of President Donald Trump took the mostly symbolic action of declaring China a currency manipulator. “We have negotiated in good faith, and we want to continue to negotiate in good faith with the Chinese,” despite disappointment with China’s negotiators not living up to earlier promises and a lack of progress, Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, told reporters on Tuesday. “The door …

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North Korea launched a fresh round of short-range ballistic missiles into the sea early Tuesday and warned it could take a “new road” in response to U.S-South Korea military exercises that began this week. The launch came as Defense Secretary Mark Esper is in the Asia-Pacific region on his first international trip in his new post. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb is traveling with Esper as tensions in the region are on the rise …

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VOA’s Esha Sarai contributed to this report from Mauritania.  A Mauritanian blogger, jailed for nearly six years in Mauritania, has said he only “saw the sun six times” during his incarceration.  Citizen journalist Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mkhaitir has arrived in Europe after being freed last week, Amnesty International said in a release Monday.  “Mkhaitir’s long-awaited release is a welcome development. He spent more than five years behind bars, mostly in solitary confinement. Mkhaitir should never have been arrested in the first place. He will now be able to resume his education and enjoy his human rights,” Amnesty’s Kine Fatim Diop …

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The United States and Taliban teams in Doha negotiating an initial deal to end the war in Afghanistan seem to have agreed on the main agenda items and are now finalizing the details of implementing them. “We have made excellent progress,” tweeted Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation. He added that his team was now discussing with the Taliban the “technical details as well as steps and mechanisms required for a successful implementation.”  FILE – Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Doha, speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia, May 28, 2019. Taliban spokesman …

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Thousands of people have been evacuated from a Siberian town after an ammunition storage site on a military base caught fire, setting off a series of explosions and injuring at least eight people.  Tass news agency reported one soldier was also killed and eight people were wounded in Monday’s incident. Videos posted on social media showed thick smoke rising from the military base and fireworks-like eruptions. ? Еще одно видео взрыва на военных складах в Красноярском крае pic.twitter.com/tdiv27CGja — НТВ (@ntvru) August 5, 2019 Regional authorities declared a state of emergency for the area surrounding the city of Achinsk in …

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VOA English to Africa Service’s Paul Alexander and Peter Clottey contributed to this report. Tanzania’s government on Monday charged investigative journalist Erick Kabendera with money laundering, tax evasion and assisting a criminal racket.  Kabendera has been in custody since July 29. Suspects charged with money laundering are not eligible for bail, so news reports say he could remain in jail until his case is resolved, which could take three years. Kabendera’s alleged violations occurred between early 2015 and last month. His next court date is Aug. 19. The freelance journalist has been critical of President John Magufuli’s administration and the …

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Updated 9:05pm EDT North Korea launched a fresh round of ballistic missiles into the sea early Tuesday and warned it could take a “new road” in response to U.S.-South Korean military exercises that began this week. The North fired two short-range ballistic missiles from South Hwanghae Province in the western part of the country, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The missiles traveled about 450 kilometers and reached a height of about 37 kilometers, it added. U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials say the missiles appear to be similar to the short-range ballistic missiles launched by …

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