Turkey’s currency, the lira, continues to slide as the country’s central bank failed to halt the decline Monday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the United States of purposely trying to damage his country’s economy. More from VOA’s Bill Gallo. …
White House national security adviser John Bolton met on Monday with Turkey’s ambassador to the United States to discuss Turkey’s detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, the White House said. “At the Turkish ambassador’s request, Ambassador John Bolton met with Ambassador Serdar Kilic of Turkey (on Monday) in the White House. They discussed Turkey’s continued detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson and the state of the U.S.-Turkey relationship,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. “The fact that there’s ongoing discussions between the two countries regarding Brunson’s return to the U.S. is positive,” said Jay Sekulow, an attorney for U.S. President Donald …
The Turkish lira has fallen more than 40 percent since the start of the year, 20 percent just last week, amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Turkey, and international investors’ concerns over the economy. For Turkey, the dramatic collapse of the currency signal fears for the future, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. Fruit and vegetable sellers, along with fishmongers, try to drum up business in Istanbul’s old Kadikoy market. But trade is slow. Most people just look and walk on. Organic shopkeeper Meltem worries for the future. She says she is pessimistic about the future because prices will …
Turkey’s central bank failed to halt the slide of the country’s lira currency on Monday as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of purposely trying to damage his country’s economy. “We are together in NATO and then you seek to stab your strategic partner in the back. Can such a thing be accepted?” Erdogan said in the capital, Ankara. The Turkish lira has plunged 40 percent this year, dropping 16 percent Friday and tumbling another seven percent Monday, trading at 6.9 to the dollar, up slightly from its low point. The Turkish central bank said it would …
Italy’s transport minister says Britain should take in 141 migrants picked up by a rescue ship that sails under the flag of the British territory of Gibraltar. Italy continues to refuse port to ships run by humanitarian groups, and Danilo Toninelli said Monday on Twitter that Britain should take responsibility for the migrants aboard the Aquarius, operated by French humanitarian groups. Toninelli said the rescue was coordinated by the Libyan coast guard and that the ship was now in Maltese waters. The French aid groups SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders have called on European nations to identify a close …
Asian and European markets were rattled by the Turkish lira’s record low of 7.24 to the dollar overnight.The markets began to recover Monday, however, when Turkey’s Central Bank said it was ready to take “all necessary measures” to help Turkish banks manage their liquidity. The bank’s announcement followed the finance minister’s disclosure that Turkey has prepared an “action plan” scheduled to roll out Monday that is intended to ease market concerns that led to the slump in the value of Turkish currency. The lira recovered to 6.61 to the dollar following the Central Bank’s announcement. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, …
Leaders of five countries surrounding the resource-rich Caspian Sea have signed an agreement on the status of the world’s largest inland body of water. The convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea was signed Sunday at a summit in Kazakhstan. Separately, the Caspian nations signed various documents on trade and economic cooperation. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports the summit comes at a time when Russian and Iranian economies face a fallout from U.S. sanctions. …
Greek authorities have ordered the evacuation of two villages and a monastery on the island of Evia near Athens after a large fire broke out in a dry pine forest on Sunday. Agriculture minister Vangelis Apostolou, who is on the scene, told reporters that fire crews are bracing for an all-night struggle. “Forces from the entire region have been transferred here,” Apostolou said. Traffic on the main road that runs the length of the 180-kilometer island has been stopped and travellers are being asked to take ferries rather than drive near the blaze. Greece is still mourning the 94 people …
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, embroiled in a bitter dispute with the U.S., a NATO ally, contended Sunday the plunging value of his country’s lira currency amounted to a “political plot” against Turkey. Erdogan, speaking to political supporters in the Black Sea resort of Trabzon, said, “The aim of the operation is to make Turkey surrender in all areas, from finance to politics. We are once again facing a political, underhand plot. With God’s permission we will overcome this.” U.S. President Donald Trump has feuded with Erdogan over several issues, including the detention of an American pastor in Turkey, whom …
A European rescue group says migrants stranded in the Mediterranean told it five ships passed them by and refused to help until one of the group’s ships finally picked them up Friday. “It seems the very principle of rendering assistance to persons in distress at sea is now at stake,” Aloys Vimard of the group SOS Mediterranee said Sunday. “Policies designed to prevent people from reaching Europe at all costs are resulting in more suffering and even riskier journeys to safety for people who are already highly vulnerable.” Vimard said ships may be leaving migrants at sea because they are …
The U.S. ambassador to London has publicly warned British Prime Minister Theresa May to side with President Donald Trump in the burgeoning transatlantic dispute over the controversial nuclear deal with Iran, which the U.S. leader withdrew from in May. Ambassador Woody Johnson cautioned there would be trade consequences for Britain, which he described as the closest U.S. ally, unless it breaks with the European Union and follows Trump in re-imposing sanctions on Tehran. The envoy also delivered a clear ultimatum to British businesses, instructing them to stop trading with Iran or face “serious consequences” when it comes to trade with …
Russian and Turkish foreign ministers are set to hold talks Monday in Ankara focusing on the looming crisis over the rebel-controlled Syrian Idlib enclave, which threatens to become a military flashpoint between Turkish and Syrian forces. The crisis threatens to derail deepening Russian-Turkish ties. Damascus is steadily massing its forces around Idlib in preparation for a widely expected assault. But Ankara has vowed to protect the rebels, declaring it a “red line.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is attending the two-day Turkey’s Ambassador Conference. On the sidelines, he is scheduled to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusolgu, who …
Talk about going green. One British soccer team has made it its goal to become the first professional sports team in the world to be certified carbon neutral. It’s an official designation recently awarded to the team by the Secretary in charge of Climate Change at the United Nations. But that’s not all. The team may also be the world’s first 100 percent vegan football club. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo has more. …
There’s an abundance of seahorses in a remote gulf off the coast of northeastern Greece … and scientists are not exactly sure why. Although seahorses exist in Greece’s seas, scientists say it’s unusual to find a stable and continued presence for a protected species ravaged by overfishing throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Local divers are enthralled by the elegant creatures and are going to great lengths to document their presence and advocate for their protection. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more. …
Iran’s official IRNA news agency is reporting that China’s state-owned petroleum corporation has taken a majority share of the country’s South Pars gas project after French oil and gas company Total announced it would pull out because renewed U.S. economic sanctions against Iran. The Saturday report quotes Mohammad Mostafavi, an official in Iran’s state oil company, as saying CNPC now owns 80 percent of the shares in the $5 billion project, having bought shares from Total. CNPC originally had about 30 percent of shares in the project. The renewal of U.S. sanctions took effect on Tuesday. …
Italians are divided between those who think parents should have the right to decide whether to vaccinate their children and those who feel immunization programs must be decided by the government, which they believe has better access to information. Vaccine regulations differ widely across Europe, and the current situation in Italy is in limbo. Italians enrolling their children in state-run nursery schools currently are uncertain if they need to provide evidence their children have had 10 vaccinations required by a law that came into effect in March. A week ago, the upper house of parliament voted through an amendment to …
V.S. Naipaul, the Trinidad-born Nobel laureate whose celebrated writing and brittle, provocative personality drew admiration and revulsion in equal measures, died Saturday at his London home, his family said. He was 85. His wife, Nadira Naipaul, said he was “a giant in all that he achieved and he died surrounded by those he loved having lived a life which was full of wonderful creativity and endeavor.” Naipaul was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001 “for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories.” ‘Barefoot colonial’ to knighthood …
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron about trade, Iran and the Middle East, the White House said. Trump, who is vacationing at his New Jersey golf club, said on Twitter that he had discussed “various subjects” with Macron in a “very good” phone call. The two leaders discussed “a broad range of trade and security issues, including the situation in Iran and the broader Middle East,” the White House said in a statement. The Elysee Palace said in a brief statement the two leaders discussed Syria, Iran and the Israel-Palestinian conflict, but did not mention trade. Trump and Macron last met at …
The campaign strategist for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s 2014 election bid says Paul Manafort’s offer to guide the nascent political campaign was rejected because it would have further divided Ukrainians in the wake of deadly clashes of the Maidan revolution that ousted pro-Kremlin leader Viktor Yanukovich, Manafort’s former boss. Questions about Manafort’s role in the current Ukrainian president’s election surfaced during questioning at Manafort’s trial, which is under way in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Manafort, who briefly chaired President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, is facing charges of violating tax laws and laundering money that stem from his work in …
A U.S. federal grand jury has indicted a U.S. citizen for attempting to join the Islamic State group. The grand jury in Chicago charged Faress Shraiteh with conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State and other crimes. Shraiteh is a U.S. citizen who used to live in Chicago and now lives in Israel. According to the indictment, Shraiteh and two other people began trying to join the Islamic State in 2014 and traveled to Egypt the following year. The three then traveled to Turkey, but Shraiteh was not allowed to enter the country and instead flew to Israel, where he …