Explainer: What Skirmish Tells Us About Ukraine-Russia Conflict
Tensions were already high between bitter foes Russia and Ukraine, but there’s even more murk than usual following a weekend clash near the Sea of Azov. …
Tensions were already high between bitter foes Russia and Ukraine, but there’s even more murk than usual following a weekend clash near the Sea of Azov. …
Protesters in cities across Europe and elsewhere marked the U.N. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Sunday, with tens of thousands turning out in Madrid and demonstrators in Istanbul greeted by tear gas. Hundreds of women gathered in Istanbul’s Tunel Square to march on the city’s main pedestrian Istiklal Avenue. Dozens of police formed a barricade and prevented the group from marching, saying their demonstration was not permitted. Police fired several rounds of tear gas to stop the group. The activists instead continued their demonstration in the square with a sit-in. They chanted slogans and dispersed …
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire will meet retailers and insurers on Monday to assess the economic impact of nationwide protests against rising fuel costs, he said on Sunday. Protesters clad in fluorescent jackets, dubbed “yellow vests,” have blocked highways across France since Nov. 17, setting up burning barricades and deploying convoys of slow-moving trucks, often denying access to shopping centers and some factories. French retailers have warned that prolonged protests could hit the Christmas shopping season and threaten jobs, while President Emmanuel Macron has shown no sign of backing down on taxes introduced last year on diesel and petrol …
It took Britain’s Theresa May and 27 other European Union leaders just 40 minutes to sign the Brexit deal after two years of tortuous negotiations, but the trials and tribulations of Britain’s withdrawal agreement approved Sunday in Brussels are far from over. As they endorsed the 585-page the agreement, and a 26-page accompanying political declaration that sets out the parameters of negotiating a possible free trade deal between Britain and the European Union, powerful political foes in London plotted strategies to undo it. There is little evidence Britain’s embattled prime minister will have sufficient support to win legislative endorsement of …
Turkish authorities detained two people following a drive-by shooting near the Austrian Embassy in capital Ankara early Sunday. The governor’s office said in a statement the two suspects were detained and their weapon confiscated. It said the suspects were thought to be under the influence of alcohol after having drunk late into the night. The governor’s office said the suspects shot into the air from a moving car near the Austrian Embassy at 0400 am (0100 GMT). There were no reports of damage or injuries. Official Anadolu news agency said they were in a white car and security …
Russia fired on two Ukrainian naval ships and rammed a third vessel in the Black Sea Sunday, accusing the Ukrainians of illegally entering what it claims as its territorial waters. Ukrainian officials say at least six sailors were wounded and denies doing anything wrong – accusing Russia of engaging in military aggression. “Such actions pose a threat to the security of all states in the Black Sea region and therefore require a clear response from the international community,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) accuses Ukraine of staging a deliberate provocation. “Weapons were used with the …
Countries around the world have their own versions of pasta. In Germany there is spaetzle, in Greece there is orzo, throughout Asia there are dishes with noodles, and in Latin America you can find countless variations of spaghetti and other pastas. Voice of America reporter Iacopo Luzi visited the famed company Pasta Mancini in Monte San Pietrangeli, Italy, to see how they make this global staple. …
The Catholic Church’s global organization of nuns has denounced the “culture of silence and secrecy” surrounding sexual abuse in the church and is urging sisters who have been abused to report the crimes to police and their superiors. The International Union of Superiors General, which represents more than 500,000 sisters worldwide, vowed to help nuns who have been abused to find the courage to report it, and pledged to help victims heal and seek justice. The statement, issued on the eve of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, was the first from the …
Tens of thousands of people rallied across Europe on Saturday against sexist violence, with more than 30,000 turning out in Paris, where a separate protest against rising fuel prices brought clashes. Anti-violence rallies across France drew around 50,000 people in all, according to organizer Caroline de Haas, to answer a citizen collective’s call for a “feminist tidal wave” of outrage against gender violence brought into sharp focus by the #MeToo movement. Elsewhere, a thousand people braved driving rain in Rome, while similar protests drew several hundred demonstrators in Geneva and Athens. “The fight against violence against women is progressing daily but …
So versatile were Leonardo da Vinci’s talents in art and science and so boundless his visionary imagination, he is known to the world as the universal genius. But not to Italy’s nationalist-tilting government, which is livid about plans by the Louvre museum in Paris for a blockbuster exhibit next year with as many as possible Leonardo masterpieces loaned from Italian museums to mark the 500th anniversary of the Renaissance artist’s death. “It’s unfair, a mistaken deal,” Italian Culture Ministry Undersecretary Lucia Borgonzoni said of a 2017 agreement between a previous government and the Louvre. “Leonardo is an Italian genius,” she …
European Council President Donald Tusk and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez agreed to a deal Saturday on the future of Gibraltar, removing a key obstacle one day before a European Union meeting intended to endorse the Brexit deal. Spain had demanded changes to the agreement and an accompanying declaration on a new EU-Britain relationship to clarify that the future of Gibraltar, which was ceded to Britain in 1713 but still is claimed by Spain, be decided in direct talks between Madrid and London. Sanchez had warned he could boycott the summit on Sunday if London and EU member states …
The stone steps leading into the medieval church where Serbian Orthodox worshipers enter are worn. In the half-light of the interior, some pilgrims reverentially lean on or drape themselves across the tomb of King Stefan Dečanski, considered by Serbs a “holy monarch.” Others light candles. One young woman has dozens of tapers in her hand, lighting each one slowly and methodically after a brushing kiss and a silent prayer. Many of the pilgrims have driven six hours from Belgrade to pray this Sunday in one of the most revered Serbian Orthodox churches, the 14th century Visoki Dečani. For many …
Police fired tear gas and used water cannon to disperse protesters in Paris who are angry over rising fuel costs and President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies, the second weekend of “yellow vest” protests that have caused disruption across France. Several hundred protesters had converged on the Champs Elysees where they faced police sent to prevent them from reaching the nearby presidential Elysee Palace. Some protesters sang the national anthem while others carried signs with slogans saying “Macron, resignation” and “Macron, thief.” Fears of extremists For more than a week, protesters clad in the fluorescent yellow jackets that all motorists in …
French terror laws are contradicting basic principles of justice, according to Amnesty International. The group argues that legislation introduced to replace the state of emergency following recent terror attacks places undue restrictions on terror suspects before they have committed any crime, with little judicial oversight. Henry Ridgwell reports. …
The United States has welcomed a report that Iran’s largest commercial lender, Bank Melli, has seen its German branch disconnected from phone and internet service under pressure of U.S. sanctions. In a Thursday report, German business newspaper Handelsblatt said Germany’s part state-owned telecom provider Deutsche Telekom had cut off Bank Melli’s Hamburg office. It was not clear when the branch lost its phone and internet services. Handelsblatt quoted Deutsche Telekom as sending Bank Melli a message, saying: “We have to assume that you can no longer make any payments” for telecom services. There was no immediate response from Deutsche Telekom to a VOA …
Tensions in Kosovo rose again Friday after police arrested three ethnic Serbs, including two police officers, on suspicion of involvement in the killing earlier this year of a leading Serb politician in the north of the country. The three men were arrested in the Serb-dominated town of Mitrovica, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the capital, Pristina, as suspects in the January slaying of Oliver Ivanovic, police said in a statement. A fourth Serb was arrested for resisting police. A fifth person is still at large, police said. Police said they seized evidence for the investigation into Ivanovic’s killing during …
From Senegal to Ethiopia, artists, governments and museums are eagerly awaiting a report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron on how former colonizers can return African art to Africa. The study by French art historian Bénédicte Savoy and Senegalese economist Felwine Sarr, being presented to Macron on Friday in Paris, is expected to recommend that French museums give back works that were taken without consent, if African countries request them. That could increase pressure on museums elsewhere in Europe to follow suit. The experts estimate that up to 90 percent of African art is outside the continent, including statues, thrones …
Pope Francis named the Vatican’s top sex abuse investigator and a close U.S. ally to an organizing committee for a February abuse prevention summit whose stakes have grown after the Holy See blocked U.S. bishops from taking action to address the scandal. Abuse survivors and women working at the Vatican will also contribute to the preparatory committee. Notably absent from the lineup announced Friday was Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who heads the pope’s sex abuse advisory commission, though one of his members, the Rev. Hans Zollner, is the point-person for the group. In addition to Zollner, the committee includes Maltese …
Cities in Russia, Japan and Azerbaijan are about to find out which one of them gets to host the 2025 World Expo, an event expected to draw millions of visitors and showcase the local economy and culture. The 170 member states of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions are voting Friday on whether to award the Expo to Yekaterinburg, Osaka or Baku. Past world’s fairs brought the world such wonders as the Eiffel Tower, the Ferris Wheel and Seattle’s Space Needle — and today’s version is aimed at finding solutions to challenges facing humanity. World Expos are held every five …
Official figures show more than 1.8 million people have applied for asylum in Germany in the past five years. The figures, first reported Friday by German daily Bild, show a sharp rise in asylum requests from 123,581 in 2013 to 723,938 in 2015. This year to date, figure has returned to about 2013 levels. In a response to a question from opposition Free Democratic Party lawmakers, the government said almost a third of asylum-seekers — about 573,000 — originated from Syria. The second and third most numerous groups were Afghans and Iraqis, with about 203,000 and 176,000 applicants respectively since …