On The Scene: Update on Situation in Manchester, UK
VOA reporter Henry Ridgwell updates us on new developments in the investigation into the Islamic State suicide bombing that targeted an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, May 22, 2017. …
VOA reporter Henry Ridgwell updates us on new developments in the investigation into the Islamic State suicide bombing that targeted an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, May 22, 2017. …
British police are urgently trying to determine whether the suicide bomber who struck a music concert Monday in the northern city of Manchester acted alone or was part of a larger terror network. The man who blew himself up following an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena has been identified as Salman Abedi, police said. Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins identified the 22 year-old Abedi as the alleged attacker, but provided no other details. The Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for Monday’s blast that killed at least 22 people and injured 59 others. The group …
During his election campaign, France’s new president Emmanuel Macron promised he would visit French troops in Mali. Just days into his term, he made Mali his second foreign visit, and his first to Africa. In choosing Mali as his second foreign trip, just a week into his presidency, Emmanuel Macron was sending a clear message that he is determined to continue the fight against terrorism. France sent troops into Mali in 2013, in a military intervention that pushed the extremists from their strongholds, but hasn’t stopped the wave of killings, kidnappings and attacks there by Islamic militants. Macron went to …
British actor Roger Moore, best known for his movie role as James Bond, has died at the age of 89. “It is with a heavy heart that we must announce our loving father, Sir Roger Moore, has passed away today in Switzerland after a short but brave battle with cancer,” his children said in a statement Tuesday. “The love with which he was surrounded in his final days was so great it cannot be quantified in words alone.” A private funeral will be held in Monaco according to his wishes, they added. Moore gained international fame for playing famous secret …
The U.S. State Department is repeating its call for Hungary to “engage directly” with a university founded by billionaire George Soros which may have to leave Budapest because of recent amendments to the law on higher education. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday that the U.S. government wants Hungary to suspend the implementation of the new “discriminatory, onerous requirements,” which she says threaten academic freedom and independence. Nauert said in a statement that the U.S. government “has no authority or intention” to negotiate about Central European University, as sought by Hungarian officials. Zoltan Balog, who oversees …
British police say at least 19 people have been killed and 50 wounded in a massive explosion Monday night at a concert arena in Manchester, England. The explosion occurred just moments after a concert by American pop star Ariana Grande. Authorities say they are treating the blast as a terrorist incident until they know otherwise. Video from the concert showed thousands of concertgoers scrambling and screaming, trying to escape the building. The incident caused transport chaos, with traffic jams outside the venue and rail services being cancelled. A number of audience members were seen walking around the building covered in …
British police are confirming a number of fatalities after a massive explosion at a concert by American pop star Ariana Grande in Manchester, England Monday night. At least 19 have been killed. Incident is treated as a terrorist attack until police know otherwise. Ambulances were seen rushing to the Manchester Arena venue, and police added in a statement that people should avoid the area. Earlier, several media outlets reported that there were two explosions from within the 21,000-seat venue, but that was not confirmed by authorities. Police have released few details and have not said how many people have been …
Russian cybercriminals used malware planted on Android mobile devices to steal from domestic bank customers and were planning to target European lenders before their arrest, investigators and sources with knowledge of the case told Reuters. Their campaign raised a relatively small sum by cybercrime standards — more than 50 million roubles ($892,000) — but they had also obtained more sophisticated malicious software for a modest monthly fee to go after the clients of banks in France and possibly a range of other western nations. Russia’s relationship to cybercrime is under intense scrutiny after U.S. intelligence officials alleged that Russian hackers …
The Belarus government has returned to a policy of large-scale repression, causing a dramatic deterioration in human rights, according to a report published on Monday for submission to next month’s session of the U.N. Human Rights Council. Last month the United States extended sanctions relief for Belarus for a further six months, part of an effort to engage with its veteran leader President Alexander Lukashenko. The European Union last year ended five years of sanctions against Belarus. The report by the Council’s Special Rapporteur on Belarus, Miklos Haraszti, called on the international community to remain vigilant on human rights in …
Margaret Chan, the outgoing Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), has opened this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) by staunchly defending the organization against critics who say it has lost its relevance. Chan’s tenure as head of WHO will soon end and after 10 years of service, she appears intent on handing her successor, who will be elected Tuesday, an organization that is viable and remains the essential leader in global health. In addressing the WHA for the last time, Chan presented 3,500 delegates from WHO’s 194 member states with, what could be seen, as a …
A watchdog organization says 31.1 million people were displaced in 2016 within their home countries due to conflict, violence and disasters. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) released a report Monday about the startling statistics. “In 2016, one person every second was forced to flee their home inside their own country,” said Jan Egeland, NRC secretary-general. “Internally displaced people now outnumber refugees by two to one. It is urgent to put internal displacement back on the global agenda.” Refugees seek asylum in other countries, giving them legal refugee status, which entitles them to certain …
“No End in Sight” is the title of the British-based Amnesty International report into the ongoing crackdown in Turkey, after last July’s failed coup. The 21-page report focuses on what it describes as the arbitrary dismissals of more than 100,000 public service workers, since the introduction of emergency rule after a botched military takeover. “People are losing not only their jobs, but also their professional careers are destroyed; their family lives are destroyed; this is a disastrous situation facing a vast number of people,” warns Andrew Gardner, Amnesty’s Turkey researcher, “and there appears no end in sight.” The Amnesty …
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has formally extended the state of emergency declared after a failed 2016 military coup, saying the decree will remain in place until the country finds “welfare and peace.” Erdogan spoke Sunday in Ankara to tens of thousands of his followers and members of his ruling (AK) Justice and Development Party, which convened to re-elect their party co-founder to the post. The state of emergency permits Erdogan and his Cabinet to issue decrees without parliamentary approval or judicial review. Erdogan’s announcement and his return as party chief came four weeks after Turkish voters narrowly approved …
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the U.S. has expressed its “dismay” to Turkish officials about last week’s clash in which Turkish security personnel apparently attacked demonstrators in Washington. Tillerson told Fox News Sunday that Turkey’s ambassador to the U.S. has been told that last Tuesday’s violence was “simply unacceptable.” “There is an ongoing investigation,” he said, adding that he will wait on the outcome of that probe before deciding on a more formal response. The clash broke out between Turkish security personnel and protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington. Protesters …
Germany’s Social Democrats raised pressure on conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday, saying if she could not resolve a row with Turkey over access to the Incirlik air base, German troops should move. Merkel’s defense minister, tacitly admitting the possibility said she had been looking for other locations and hinted that Jordan could be one. Turkey, which has refused permission for German lawmakers to visit their troops at Incirlik, has said Berlin is free to move its soldiers from the base. That would, however, be a significant snub to a NATO ally. Already strained bilateral ties have deteriorated further over …
In a surprise announcement Sunday, Pope Francis named five new cardinals, for Spain, El Salvador and three countries where Catholics are a tiny minority: Mali, Laos and Sweden. “Their origin, from different parts of the world, manifests the universality of the Church spread out all over the Earth,” Francis said, speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace to thousands of faithful in St. Peter’s Square. Those chosen are Monsignor Jean Zerbo, archbishop of Bamako, Mali; Monsignor Juan Jose Omella, archbishop of Barcelona, Spain; Monsignor Anders Arborelius, bishop of Stockholm; Monsignor Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, apostolic vicar of Pakse, Laos; and …
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party on Sunday kicked off a congress to re-elect President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its chairman after last month’s referendum. Erdogan will return to lead the party he co-founded after Sunday’s extraordinary congress in Ankara, since last month’s referendum removed a constitutional requirement that presidents be neutral and cut ties with their political parties. Erdogan welcomed the tens of thousands of people outside the arena. “My dear fellow travelers … we were separated but today we are together once again,” he said. Erdogan and the AKP won a narrow victory on the April 16 referendum …
Recent studies suggest that as many as 400 million people around the world do not have access to basic health care. In some cases it’s because of conflict, but in some cases it’s just geography: humans live in some very far away places, Siberia for instance. That’s where the medical ship comes in handy. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s lead in the opinion polls has narrowed after her Conservatives and the Labour opposition published their policy plans this week, with one survey showing the gap between the two parties halving to nine points. May had been on course for a landslide with a majority of up to 150 seats, opinion polls had indicated in the early stages of campaigning ahead of the June 8 national vote. Four polls Saturday however showed the Conservatives with an expected vote share of between 44 and 46 percent, still easily ahead of the Labour Party at 33 to …
Rescuers pulled 2,121 migrants to safety from boats in the Mediterranean late Friday and early Saturday and recovered one dead body, the Italian coast guard said. More than 45,000 people have reached Italy by boat from North Africa this year, up more than 40 percent from the same period in 2016, and 1,222 people are known to have died on the crossing, according to the International Organization for Migration. The rescue operations involved two ships operated by the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Sea Eye and Jugend Rettet, and a Spanish vessel participating in the EU’s EUNAVFOR mission in the Mediterranean, the …