Amazon workers strike at seven US facilities ahead of Christmas rush
Amazon.com workers at seven U.S. facilities walked off the job early on Thursday during the holiday shopping rush, aiming to pressure the retailer into contract talks with their union. Warehouse workers in cities including New York, Atlanta and San Francisco…
White House: NATO membership necessary for Ukraine security guarantees but invitation decision up to next president
WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden’s administration prepares to transfer power to the incoming team of President-elect Donald Trump, VOA Ukrainian Iuliia Iarmolenko spoke with Michael Carpenter, the National Security Council director for Europe. Carpenter discussed the Biden administration’s final…
Staggering scale of Sudan crisis ‘demands sustained and urgent attention’
Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations at the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), described the situation as a “crisis of staggering scale and cruelty”. “It demands sustained and urgent attention,” she emphasized….
Syria’s new ‘flame of hope’ must not be extinguished: Guterres
That’s the warning from UN Secretary-General António Guterres speaking to reporters in New York on Thursday morning. He said there is “a real risk that progress could unravel,” without an “inclusive, credible and peaceful” political transition that is Syrian led, on…
‘Dying hungry and in pain’: An increasingly likely outcome in Gaza
Speaking to correspondents via video link on Thursday, the senior OCHA official underscored the grim reality facing over two million people trapped in Gaza, where basic necessities like food, shelter, and safety have become scarce. “Dying hungry and in pain”…
Reconstruction and vital repairs underway in Syria, as ‘security conditions’ permit
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters at the daily briefing on Thursday that bakeries in Aleppo are at near full capacity – “but partners report that they have seen long queues and crowding.” The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reports that the rehabilitation…
Putin says Russia ready to compromise with Trump on Ukraine war
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on ending the war and had no conditions for starting talks with the Ukrainian authorities….
US deaths are down and life expectancy is up, but improvements are slowing
NEW YORK — U.S. life expectancy jumped last year, and preliminary data suggests there may be another — much smaller — improvement this year. Death rates fell last year for almost all leading causes, notably COVID-19, heart disease and drug…
Russian officials report oil refinery fire after Ukraine targets border regions with dozens of drones
Officials in Russia’s Rostov region reported a fire Thursday at an oil refinery after a wave of attacks from several dozen Ukrainian aerial drones. Rostov acting Governor Yuri Slyusar said on Telegram that the fire happened at the Novoshakhtinsk refinery…
Zelenskyy: Ukraine lacks military strength to recover its Russian-occupied land
Ukraine’s president told a French newspaper Wednesday that his country does not have the military might to take back its Russian-occupied territories. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Le Parisien that Ukraine’s military does not possess the strength it needs to expel…