The investigation into Russian influence on the US elections has renewed attention to the Russian ban on US adoptions – a response to American sanctions about 5 years ago. Donald Trump Jr. said that was the topic when he met with a Russian lawyer during his father’s election campaign. As Svetlana Prudovskaya of VOA’s Russian service reports, the adoption ban has impacted families and children in both countries. …
The team captain of Spain’s storied football club Barcelona, which has become a focal point of secessionist Catalan sentiment, is urging politicians in Madrid and the Catalan capital to start negotiating about the future of Spain’s restive northeast province. “Before we do ourselves more damage, those in charge must open dialogue with each other. Do it for all of us. We deserve to live in peace,” Andrés Iniesta wrote on his Facebook page, apologizing at the same time for weighing in on “situations that are complex.” His appeal came as a top EU official Thursday warned that the separatist dispute, …
Eberhard van der Laan, Amsterdam’s popular mayor, has died of lung cancer, the city said Friday. Van der Laan informed city residents of his illness in January, saying the prognosis left “little reason for optimism.” When he retreated from public life three weeks ago, thousands gathered in front of his canal-side house to applaud for several minutes in a display of support. Van der Laan, 62, was known as an effective, pragmatic and sometimes combative mayor with a sense of humor. When an “Occupy” tent camp arose in front of the stock market in October 2011, Van der Laan was …
Sixteen people were killed Friday when a train slammed into a bus that had broken down at a level crossing near Moscow, Russia’s investigative committee said in a statement. The bus, which was carrying migrant workers from Uzbekistan, was pushed several hundred meters down the track, Russia’s Rossiya 24 TV channel reported. Footage showed fragments of what was left of the bus strewn across the track. The train itself appeared to have sustained no visible damage. “The bus stalled on the track,” Vladimir Myagkov, a spokesman for Russian Railways, told Rossiya 24 at the crash site. “Some people say the …
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Friday. “We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in announcing the award. News of the coalition’s peace prize comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened Iran and North Korea about their nuclear abilities. The U.S. leader will likely decertify the nuclear deal with Iran, a pact he has called the “worst deal ever negotiated.” Trump also recently suggested at …
Protesters in Catalonia have demonstrated for and against independence. Thursday, both sides gathered outside Barcelona over the deployment of national troops in the region. Spanish authorities have sent thousands of police and Civil Guard to Catalonia to block moves for independence. Spain’s Constitutional Court has ordered a suspension of Catalonia’s parliamentary session next week, in which regional leaders plan to vote for a unilateral declaration of independence. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. …
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has visited Belarus, emphasizing plans to bolster military ties with the ex-Soviet nation. Speaking at the start of Thursday’s talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Maduro said that “cooperation in the military sphere has been very successful and we need to expand it.” Maduro didn’t elaborate and details of military cooperation aren’t immediately known. Lukashenko said that Belarus would like to develop cooperation with Venezuela in energy, agriculture and construction. Belarus, Russia’s neighbor and ally, has exported wheat, fertilizers and medicines to Venezuela. Maduro’s visit to Belarus comes a day after his trip to Russia, where …
Europe-based Russia experts are receiving news of Jon Huntsman’s ambassadorship with a mix of skepticism and eager anticipation that strained ties between Washington and Moscow could improve during his tenure. The new U.S. ambassador to Russia presented his diplomatic credentials Tuesday to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Kremlin ceremony, a move that marks the beginning of his appointment. Receiving Huntsman, Putin characterized the current state of bilateral relations as unsatisfactory, but called for “constructive, predictable, and mutually advantageous cooperation,” and expressed his hope that Huntsman’s arrival will mark the beginning of a new chapter in bilateral relations. Huntsman, a …
Spain’s Constitutional Court has ordered the suspension of a Catalonian special parliamentary session next week, during which regional leaders plan to vote to break away from Spain. A spokeswoman for the court said judges “ordered the suspension of the plenary that has been called for Monday in the [Catalan] parliament” as the constitutional court hears appeals against it. Catalonian lawyers have said the session would be illegal because it deals with the referendum vote over the weekend, which had already been suspended by the Constitutional Court. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also called on Catalonian authorities to cancel plans to …
The standoff between Madrid and supporters of independence in Spain’s wealthy Catalan region has stirred separatist feelings far beyond the Spanish borders. Politicians across the globe criticized armed Spanish police who used truncheons and rubber bullets on voters, injuring hundreds in a crackdown on Sunday’s secession vote, considered illegal under Spain’s 1978 Constitution. Several politicians from regions with their own separatist movements said it was time for politics to resolve the crisis in the euro zone’s fourth-biggest economy. Catalan leaders said the result showed its people wanted to leave Spain and it would push ahead with secession. Madrid has ruled …
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Saudi Arabia’s King Salman for talks in Moscow on Thursday in the first official visit of a Saudi monarch to Russia that was expected to focus on oil and the war in Syria. At the Kremlin’s opulent St. Andrew’s Hall, Putin in televised remarks hailed the king’s visit as a “landmark” event. Salman in his reply called Russia a “friendly nation” and said his country is committed to strengthen ties “in the interests of peace and security.” Relations between the two countries have often been strained. During Cold War times, the Saudis helped arm Afghan …
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman is in Moscow for the first ever visit by a Saudi monarch to Russia. During the four-day visit, the king is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks on issues ranging from oil to Syria. The visit reflect strengthening ties between two historic rivals, pushed closer by a mutual need to stem the drop in global oil prices. The rivalry between two of the world’s largest oil producers goes back to the Cold War when the Saudis helped arm Afghan rebels fighting against the Soviet invasion. More recently, tensions were high over …
As Moscow’s propaganda efforts targeting Americans are under scrutiny by Congress, some lawmakers are pushing for increased support for U.S. government-funded broadcasting in Russia. Lawmakers issued the calls Wednesday during a meeting of the Helsinki Commission, an independent U.S. government agency that monitors democracy and human rights in Europe. “A free press is now more important than ever, and absolutely necessary to counter an increasingly bold [Russian President] Vladimir Putin,” said Congressman Steve Chabot. The hearing came hours after the Senate Intelligence Committee briefed the public on its ongoing investigation into attempted Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. …
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny called on his supporters on Wednesday to hold street protests this weekend across Russia, in defiance of an official ban, to demand that Navalny be allowed to run in next year’s presidential election. Navalny, a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, was jailed for 20 days on Monday for repeatedly violating laws governing the organization of public meetings and rallies. His arrest, the third this year, means that he will miss a campaign rally planned in Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg on Oct. 7 — the Russian leader’s birthday. Appealing to his supporters via his Facebook …
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hosted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, hailing him for reaching out to the opposition. Speaking at the start of their Kremlin talks, Putin noted that “Venezuela is going through uneasy times” and credited Maduro with “succeeding in establishing some contact” with opposition forces. Venezuela’s opposition insists that any solution to the nation’s protracted economic and political crisis requires Maduro to step down. However, the embattled socialist has shown no sign of ceding power and accused opponents of plotting with the U.S. to remove him by force. During the Kremlin meeting, Maduro thanked Putin …
The European Commission on Wednesday stepped up legal action against Hungary over restrictions on foreign funding likely to affect civil society groups funded by the billionaire investor George Soros. The EU executive believes the law, passed in June, violates the right to freedom of association and to protection of private life and personal data enshrined in the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as breaching the principle of free movement of capital. Hungary’s right-wing prime minister, Viktor Orban, has long criticized organizations funded by the Hungarian-born Soros, accusing them of working as paid activists advocating Soros’s political goals, notably …
In a historic, unprecedented move, a Georgian political party has nominated an openly gay candidate for public office. Running on the non-parliamentary opposition Republican Party ticket, Nino Bolkvadze, a 40-year-old lawyer and LGBT rights advocate, is seeking a city councillorship in Tbilisi, the nation’s capital and largest city. “I want Georgia to be a better place for my children,” said Bolkvadze, a single mother of two teenage girls who was shunned by her family for coming out on the country’s most popular TV show two years ago. Established by dissidents some four decades ago and once outlawed by the Soviet …
The Russian Foreign Ministry, saying U.S. officials had broken into residences at Russia’s consulate in San Francisco, has threatened retaliation over what it called an illegal act. Russian staff left the consulate last month, after Washington ordered Moscow to vacate some of its diplomatic properties. The moves were part of a series of tit-for-tat actions during a thorny phase in bilateral relations. Since then, U.S. officials had occupied administrative parts of the compound, but on Monday they entered residential areas that the departing staff had locked, the ministry said in a statement late Monday. “Despite our warnings, the U.S. authorities …
Spain’s King Felipe VI has condemned the Catalan authorities, saying they placed themselves “outside the law” by holding an independence vote Sunday. In a television address to the nation Tuesday, the king called for unity even as thousands took to the streets across Spain’s northeastern province to protest a Spanish police crackdown during the referendum. Separatist Catalan leaders have vowed to declare independence even though Madrid has declared the vote illegal and invalid. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont told the BBC such a declaration could come within days. Catalan labor unions called for a general strike to voice anger about the …
The prime ministers of Bulgaria, Greece and Romania gave their support to their Balkan neighbor Serbia’s bid to join the European Union on Tuesday, saying the integration of the western Balkans would guarantee regional peace and stability. Serbia, which in the 1990s was seen as pariah of Western Balkans for its central role in wars that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia, expects to complete negotiations on EU membership by 2019. “All of us know that the natural place of Serbia is in the European Union,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said after a four-party summit in the Black Sea city …