ROME / WASHINGTON —Italy is having second thoughts on renewing a controversial investment pact with China.The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) deal was on the table duringMay 5 talks in Romebetween Chinese Foreign Ministry official Wang Lutong and his Italian counterparts, according to the Italian news outlet Decode39. It was also under discussion when Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi visited Italyin February this year.A senior Italian government official has told Reuters that his country is highl

BANGKOK —At a Bangkok intersection, 34-year-old human rights lawyer Jammy shouts over the traffic through a megaphone urging commuters to vote for Move Forward, Thailand’s most radical party, which is hoping the youth vote in Sunday’s election rewards it with a role in a coalition government.Momentum is building behind the party, with polls putting it second, behind Thailand’s biggest party, the pro-democracy Pheu Thai, and making its articulate leader Pita Limcharoenrat the most popular can

WASHINGTON —As Turkey heads to the polls for its momentous elections Sunday, former U.S. ambassadors to Ankara will be monitoring from afar.While the perspectives shaped by their respective tenures in Turkey may vary, three former mission chiefs speaking to VOA share at least one view: The elections in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will face the biggest challenge to his two-decade rule will determine the course of Turkey’s future, its role as a NATO ally and its international standing.T

The European Central Bank announced on Thursday the seventh-straight increase in its three key interest rates since July. At 0.25%, it was the smallest increase to date.Speaking to reporters in Frankfurt, Germany, ECB President Christine Lagarde said that while inflation has dropped from its high of more than 10% in October, at 7%, it remains too high.The bank said previous rate increases — all of which were one-half to three-quarters of percentage point — are being transmitted forcefully thro

ATHENS —Greece’s Supreme Court has barred a convicted neo-Nazi from competing in upcoming national elections. But despite that decision, the court has allowed another extreme-right, nationalist party to run, raising fears that it can soak up reactionary votes, and enter parliament.The Greek Supreme Court assembly voted nine to one to disqualify Ilias Kasidiaris and his party, called The Greeks, from the May 21 polls.It is the first time a party has been banned since the 1974 restoration of dem

SYDNEY —The growing threat of far-right extremism in Australia has prompted opposition lawmakers to propose a new law to federally criminalize the public display of Nazi symbols. Experts say Australia’s response to white nationalism is similar to that in other countries.A parliamentary inquiry in Australia’s federal parliament Tuesday heard the Nazi salute and swastika were universally recognized symbols of mass murder and hate that have been weaponized by far-right extremists.The Australian