WASHINGTON — The U.S. ambassador to Russia on Thursday visited American journalist Evan Gershkovich at Lefortovo Prison in Moscow.

Following Ambassador Lynne Tracy’s visit, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said that Gershkovich “remains resilient and is grateful for the support of friends, family and supporters.”

“We continue to call for Evan’s immediate release,” the embassy said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has been detained for nearly 10 months on espionage charges that he denies.

He is one of two American journalists detained by Russia in 2023. The other, Alsu Kurmasheva, works with VOA’s sister network Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague and was detained while in Russia to see family.

While the U.S. State Department declared Gershkovich wrongfully detained shortly after his arrest, it has still not made that designation for Kurmasheva, who has spent more than 90 days in custody.

The Journal welcomed the latest consular visit as “important for Evan and his family.”

“We appreciate the U.S. government’s ongoing support for his well being,” the newspaper said in a statement.

In the nearly 10 months since Gershkovich was jailed, the Russian government has not publicly provided evidence to back up the spying allegations against the reporter. He is being held in pretrial detention and will remain in custody until at least the end of January.

At a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Gershkovich’s mother, Ella Milman, told Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker that her son was “doing the best that he can under the circumstances, and the circumstances are very hard.”

Russia’s Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.

While Gershkovich approaches 10 months in jail, fellow American journalist Kurmasheva this week passed the three-month mark.

The dual U.S.-Russian citizen wrote a letter to her friends and colleagues, part of which her husband posted on the social media platform X.

“You admire my courage in coming [to Russia] at ‘such a time.’ But we live in the present, and we won’t have any ‘other’ time. ‘Time’ will, of course, exist, but someone close to you, someone who needs your help, may no longer be there,” Kurmasheva wrote.

“No one will give me back the three months of my life that I’ve now spent where I shouldn’t be. I am responsible for my family. For my young children, for my elderly mother,” Kurmasheva said.

“Today, I’m looking at your postcards with images of open doors and windows. You are strong and confident. You will definitely find the right answers to your questions. Open doors for yourself and others; don’t be afraid of it. I am very grateful to you,” Kurmasheva said.

An editor at RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir service, Kurmasheva traveled to Russia in May 2023 for a family emergency. Her passports were confiscated when she tried to leave the country in June, and she was waiting for her passports to be returned when authorities detained her in October.

Kurmasheva was initially charged with failing to register as a “foreign agent,” but Russian authorities in December added an additional charge of spreading false information about Russia’s military.

Kurmasheva and her outlet reject the charges, which carry a combined sentence of up to 15 years in prison. She will be held in pretrial detention until at least February.

Her husband, Pavel Butorin, called for her release in a post on X.

“The Russian government must drop its absurd charges against Alsu, release her from detention, and allow her to leave Russia and return to her family,” he wrote.

Butorin is the director of Current Time TV, a Russian-language TV and digital network led by RFE/RL in partnership with VOA.

Since Kurmasheva’s jailing, her employer and press freedom groups have urged the U.S. State Department to declare Kurmasheva wrongfully detained, which would open additional resources to help secure her release.

When asked about why Kurmasheva has not been declared wrongfully detained, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday told reporters, “I would say that it is a case that we continue to focus an enormous amount of attention on. It’s something we continue to look into.

“And as I have said a number of times, that just because we have not made a wrongful detention determination at any point does not indicate anything about the work that we are doing or about what our future posture may be,” Miller said.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday ranked Russia as the fourth-worst jailer of journalists in the world for 2023, with 22 reporters behind bars. Of those, 12 are foreign nationals.

In addition to Kurmasheva and Gershkovich, the other 10 foreign reporters are Ukrainian.

Paul Beckett, a Washington-based assistant editor at the Journal who is leading the newspaper’s campaign to secure Gershkovich’s release, told VOA that the disproportionate number of foreign journalists held by Moscow “shows the antipathy that they have toward independent reporting.”
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moscow — Russia’s top diplomat on Thursday dismissed a U.S. proposal to resume a dialogue on nuclear arms control, saying it’s impossible while Washington offers military support to Ukraine. 

Speaking at his annual news conference, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of fueling global security risks by encouraging Ukraine to ramp up strikes on Russian territory and warned that Moscow would achieve its goals in the conflict despite Western assistance for Kyiv. 

Commenting on a U.S. proposal to resume contacts in the sphere of nuclear arms control, Lavrov described it as “unacceptable,” saying that Moscow had put forward its stance in a diplomatic letter last month. He argued that for such talks to be held, Washington first needed to revise its current policy toward Russia. 

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in June that the Biden administration was ready to talk to Russia without conditions about nuclear arms control even as Russia-U.S. ties were at their lowest point since the Cold War, noting “it is in neither of our countries’ interest to embark on opening the competition in the strategic nuclear forces.” 

But Lavrov charged that Washington’s push for the revival of nuclear talks has been driven by a desire to resume inspections of Russia’s nuclear weapons sites. He described such U.S. demands as “indecent” and cynical in view of Ukraine’s attacks on Russian nuclear-capable bomber bases during the conflict. 

He mocked the U.S. offer to resume nuclear arms dialogue, arguing that Washington’s position amounts to saying, “We have declared you an enemy, but we’re ready to talk about how we could look at your strategic nuclear arsenal again.” 

Extensive mutual inspections of nuclear weapons sites were envisaged by the New START treaty, which then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed in 2010. The inspections were halted in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and never resumed. 

Moscow participation suspended

In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Moscow’s participation in the treaty, saying Russia could not allow U.S. inspections of its nuclear sites at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have openly declared Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine as their goal. Moscow emphasized, however, that it wasn’t withdrawing from the pact altogether and would continue to respect the caps on nuclear weapons the treaty set. 

The New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control pact between Russia and the United States, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. It’s set to expire in 2026, and the lack of dialogue on anchoring a successor deal has worried arms control advocates. 

“Amid a ‘hybrid war’ waged by Washington against Russia, we aren’t seeing any basis, not only for any additional joint measures in the sphere of arms control and reduction of strategic risks, but for any discussion of strategic stability issues with the U.S.,” he said. “We firmly link such possibility to the West fully renouncing its malicious course aimed at undermining Russia’s security and interests.” 

The minister said Washington’s push for restarting nuclear arms talks was rooted in a desire to “try to establish control over our nuclear arsenal and minimize nuclear risks for itself,” but added that “those risks are emerging as a result of forceful pressure on our country.” 

He accused the West of blocking any talks on ending the conflict and inciting the ramping up of attacks on Russia. 

“Such encouragement and the transfer of relevant weapons shows that the West doesn’t want any constructive solution,” Lavrov said. “The West is pushing toward the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, and that raises new strategic risks.” 

Asked if tensions with the West over Ukraine could spiral into a showdown resembling the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis — when the U.S. and the Soviet Union found themselves on the edge of nuclear war — Lavrov sternly warned against encouraging Ukraine to strike targets in Russia. 

He specifically accused Britain of inciting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to order such attacks, although he didn’t offer any proof to back the claim. 

“London is literally egging on Zelenskyy to bomb any facilities anywhere in Russia,” Lavrov said. 

‘We will achieve’ goals in Ukraine

He reaffirmed that Russia would pursue what it calls the “special military operation” regardless of Western pressure. 

“We will consistently and persistently press the goals of the special military operation and we will achieve them,” he said. “They should have no hope that Russia could be defeated in any way. Those in the West who fantasize about it have failed to learn history lessons.” 

On other foreign policy issues, Lavrov talked at length about growing influence of the Global South and argued that Western sway in international affairs was waning. 

He hailed Russia-China ties, saying they were going through their “best period in history” and were stronger than a conventional military union. 

Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s call for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, describing it as the only way to ensure security for both Palestinians and Israel. He also criticized the U.S.-led attacks on Yemen, saying that “the more the Americans and the British bomb, the less desire to talk the Houthis have.”
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The need to move wounded soldiers from remote front lines to safety with limited resources has forced Ukrainian volunteers to innovate a way to turn used SUVs into casualty evacuation vehicles, or CASEVACS for short. Lesia Bakalets visited a workshop in Kyiv where old cars are repurposed into lifesaving vehicles. VOA footage by Evgenii Shynkar.
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Washington — Israel’s ongoing response to last year’s Hamas attack has included a spike in arrests of Palestinian journalists in the occupied West Bank, a report released Thursday found.

The country in 2023 ranked as the sixth-worst jailer of journalists globally, with 17 behind bars, all of them jailed after the October 7 terror attack, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ.

The annual report, which captures a snapshot of journalists jailed for their work as of December 1, found 320 journalists behind bars overall. Among those held are contributors to VOA and its sister networks Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

China topped the 2023 census, followed closely by Myanmar, Belarus, Russia and Vietnam. Iran tied with Israel for sixth place, each with 17 journalists jailed.

“The message is clear. Journalists hold the powerful to account,” said CPJ’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “And those in power often find that incredibly threatening.”

Ginsberg said the data shows how authoritarian regimes abuse laws to “detain and silence journalists.”

“And that’s exactly what it’s intended to do. It’s intended to silence critical voices,” she said.

CPJ has documented more arrests of Palestinian journalists since conducting its December 1, 2023, census. In total, Israel detained 25 since October 7, and as of Wednesday, 19 remained behind bars, CPJ found.

“These high number of arrests are simply a reflection of the broader crackdown that we’re seeing on journalists,” Ginsberg said.

 

The conflict has already proved to be the deadliest on record for journalists, with at least 83 journalists killed, including 76 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment. It has previously denied targeting journalists.

Media-related detentions are common in the West Bank, according to Palestinian political analyst Nour Odeh. But Odeh, a former Al Jazeera reporter, said she has never witnessed anything like the recent wave of arrests.

“The scale is really astounding,” Odeh told VOA from Ramallah, adding that she thinks the goal behind the crackdown is “showing who’s boss.”

Most of those detained are held in administrative detention, CPJ found. That means Israeli authorities can hold the journalist without charge, on the grounds that they believe the journalist is planning to commit a crime in the future, CPJ said.

“You don’t really have to do anything to get arrested. There is no protection,” Odeh said. “There’s nothing that will shield you.”

Another trend in this year’s prison census is the use of non-journalism charges to target reporters, Ginsberg said. Those charges range from money laundering to tax evasion to terrorism.

“In that way, those in power can paint journalists as criminals, as the enemy,” Ginsberg said.

The Chinese government is among the countries that regularly use national security charges to target reporters.

China has long ranked among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, and this year the country ranked in the top spot, with 44 journalists imprisoned.

Nearly half of those — 19 — are Uyghurs, marking a grim intersection between Beijing’s poor press freedom record and its human rights abuses against the majority-Muslim ethnic group.

The United Nations has warned that China’s abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang may amount to crimes against humanity. Several governments, including the United States, have said the abuses amount to genocide. Beijing denies any wrongdoing.

For Zubayra Shamseden, who works at the Uyghur Human Rights Project in Washington, the disproportionate jailing of Uyghur reporters is no coincidence.

“For the Chinese government, Uyghur journalists are a dangerous group of people,” Shamseden told VOA. “They try to crack down on Uyghur journalists particularly because they want to shut the Uyghur voice off.”

CPJ’s Ginsberg said journalists who cover minority groups or are from minority groups themselves are among the most persecuted.

In response to VOA’s email requesting comment, a spokesperson at China’s Washington embassy rejected reports that Beijing does not respect media freedom.

“The Chinese government protects press freedom in accordance with law, and gives full play to the role of media and citizens in supervising public opinion,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that some in the U.S. “smear and attack China,” which, they said, “in itself is spreading disinformation.”

Ginsberg pointed to Hong Kong — where media freedom has sharply declined since China enacted the National Security Law in 2020 — as just one piece of evidence to the contrary.

The pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai is currently on trial under the law and, if convicted, he could face life in prison.

Most journalists are jailed in their home countries. But of the 320 reporters held globally, CPJ documented 17 detained in foreign countries — most in Russia.

Of the 22 journalists imprisoned in Russia, 12 are foreign nationals, including two Americans and 10 Ukrainians. 

“That tells you not just how Russia wants to control the narrative inside the country, but also how it’s looking to control the narrative outside the country,” Ginsberg said.

Russia’s Washington embassy did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.

The Americans are The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Alsu Kurmasheva. International press freedom groups say the charges against both of them are groundless and politically motivated.

Gershkovich, who denies the espionage charges against him, has been detained for nearly 10 months. And Kurmasheva, who was detained in October, has rejected accusations she violated Russia’s foreign agent law.

Paul Beckett, a Washington-based assistant editor at the Journal who is leading the newspaper’s campaign to secure Gershkovich’s release, said the impending one-year anniversary of his colleague’s arrest should reinvigorate efforts to free the reporter.

“This should give everyone a renewed sense of urgency that this has gone on too long and needs to be remedied as quickly as possible,” Beckett told VOA.
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berlin — Heavy snow and freezing rain hit parts of northern and central Europe on Wednesday, bringing transport to a halt in some Scandinavian regions and causing major disruption at airports in Frankfurt and Oslo. 

At Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s busiest, freezing rain forced a halt to takeoffs, German news agency dpa reported. The airport cited a danger of deiced aircraft icing up again as they taxied toward the runway. Some departures resumed in the afternoon as the rain subsided. Hundreds of flights already had been canceled. 

The airport in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, was closed temporarily as heavy snow reduced visibility for pilots. Airport spokesperson Ylva Celius Trulsen said the huge amount of snow and wind hampering traffic was “very unusual” and the resulting closure was “extremely rare.” The airport reopened later Wednesday. 

Heavy snowfall brought traffic to a standstill in large parts of Scandinavia, with roads and highways clogged with stranded motorists, public transportation delays, cancellations on some ferry routes and the closure of some bridges. Police in several parts of Denmark urged people to stay home. Southern Sweden also saw heavy snowfall. 

The freezing rain across western and southern Germany led to many accidents on icy roads early Wednesday. As a precaution, many schools and kindergartens closed and some companies offered employees the option of working from home. 

National train operator Deutsche Bahn canceled several long-distance trains and announced that the maximum speed of its ICE high-speed trains was limited to 200 kilometers per hour (124 mph) for the day as a precaution. 

The small airport in Saarbruecken closed for the day, and there were delays and cancellations in Munich and elsewhere. 
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LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA — Attempts to depoliticize Slovenia’s public broadcaster RTV have led to accusations that new management is simply replacing one political agenda with another by purging the outlet of employees considered too sympathetic to the previous administration. 

Earlier this month, managers at RTV notified 15 journalists who worked on the daily news show “Panorama” that their services were not required, and that they should stay at home, on reduced pay, until needed. 

New leadership at the broadcaster said the show, which was established under RTV’s previous managers in 2022, was being taken off the air because of low viewership. 

But the former editor of “Panorama,” Rajko Geric, said he believes the decision could be related to moves to clear RTV of anyone deemed supportive of former Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose center-right government was defeated in elections in April 2022. 

“Left-wing parties took over RTV” following the installation of a new administration led by Prime Minister Robert Golob, charged Geric, who has since been called back to work. 

Other observers suggest the decision to cancel the show, which took an in-depth look at issues such as climate change and vaccination practices, had more to do with financial pressures on the broadcaster.  

In 2022, Golob’s new government passed a law aimed at preventing political interference with Slovenia’s public broadcasters in what was seen as a response to complaints from many RTV journalists of political pressure from leaders appointed under the Jansa administration. 

Under that law, a new council was formed to oversee RTV. The council, which has power to name the management and endorse business and financial plans, installed new leaders at RTV in August 2023.  

With his government’s actions, Golob said, “Politics is withdrawing from managing RTV Slovenia and giving its employees the necessary autonomy.”

But in an October interview on the station’s TV Slovenia, Golob said that the ruling party has “obliged ourselves that we will clean RTV of ‘Jansism'” — a reference to those deemed to be supporters of former Prime Minister Jansa.  

Following the interview, Geric filed a criminal complaint against Golob, accusing him of abusing power and publicly inciting hatred. 

The journalist told local media it is against the law for anyone in a position of power to “announce the cleaning of the public institution according to the political views of employees.”  

In a written statement, RTV told VOA, “There are no political pressures and we strongly reject insinuations of political cleansing.”  

Despite Geric’s complaints, independent analysts say that media freedom in Slovenia has been on a “positive upsurge.” 

The new government “reversed the negative trajectory under the previous administration, ended the practice of verbal attacks on journalists by the leading government figures, and enacted a principled attempt … to limit political meddling and appointments,” said Jamie Wiseman, the Europe advocacy officer at the Vienna-based International Press Institute or IPI. 

Still, Wiseman told VOA, “The road to democratic reform at RTV will continue to be bumpy.” 

Public broadcaster under pressure

Slovenia’s RTV has been under pressure from ruling parties ever since the country gained independence in 1991. Many academics and journalists say the level of pressure was never as bad as under Jansa’s populist government. 

Marko Milosavljevic, a professor of journalism and head of the communication department at Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences, told VOA that more recently, conditions for media have improved. 

RTV reporting proves that “journalists are now more independent and can be more critical towards the government and other holders of power than was the case before.” 

In September, TV Slovenia’s investigative show “Tarca” reported on a case of alleged corruption involving Sanja Ajanovic Hovnik, who was a minister of public administration in Golob’s government.  

Hovnik, who denied the allegations, resigned days after the show aired. 

Milosavljevic said that under the previous management at RTV, a number of journalists were hired to work on programs including “Panorama” that would report “in favor of the (then center-right) government.”   

“The question is what to do with people who were employed due to political interests,” he said, adding that the management should follow the law if it decides to end any contracts. 

Slovenia’s Association of Journalists and Publicists said in a statement that the notices issued this month were “retaliation” against journalists hired or promoted by the broadcaster’s previous managers.  

Milosavljevic believes public debate is needed to decide how to reorganize RTV and secure its financing.  

RTV’s main source of income is via a subscription that most households pay. However, the fee has not increased since 2012, even as inflation has reached almost 30 percent from that year to 2023.   

The government determines the fee, but since 2012 each ruling party has declined to increase the rate.  

In December, RTV management board member Simon Kardum resigned, saying that a new strategy was needed to save the institution.   

That same month, the government awarded RTV an extra $5.4 million for programming for minorities, to help ease its financial troubles.   

TV Slovenia runs a 24-7 operation and is one of the most popular channels in the country. It has more than 2,000 employees and competes with several privately owned channels.  

RTV’s current chief executive, Zvezdan Martic, told the daily newspaper Delo that at least 76 percent of people in Slovenia use at least one RTV service each week.  

He added that the journalists who had received notice have not been terminated and noted that RTV had already called three of them back to work.   
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LONDON — The Princess of Wales has been hospitalized after undergoing planned abdominal surgery and will remain at The London Clinic for up to two weeks, Kensington Palace said Wednesday. 

The former Kate Middleton is expected to return to public duties after Easter, the palace said. The 42-year-old future queen was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday. 

“The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate,” the palace said. “She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.” 

The palace said that Kate, the wife of Prince William, wished to apologize for postponing her upcoming engagements. 

“She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible,” the palace said. 

After Prince Harry and Meghan’s stormy departure to California in 2020, the Prince and Princess of Wales have solidified their position as being among the most popular members of the royal family. Kate, in particular, has remained a reliable royal in the public eye — the smiling mother of three who can comfort grieving parents at a children’s hospice or wow the nation by playing piano during a televised Christmas concert. 

She was among the royals who appeared at the annual Christmas Day service at Sandringham. 
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Vienna, Austria — The rich and famous are paying top dollar for a place at this week’s Davos summit, but heiress Marlene Engelhorn is on the other side of the fence at the glitzy Swiss resort, demanding that they pay more in taxes.

The 31-year-old is also pursuing an ambitious plan to pay people to come up with ideas for her to give away the bulk of her $27.4 million wealth so she can escape what she calls a “dynastic rich swamp.”

“I’ve inherited a fortune and therefore power, without having done anything for it. And the state doesn’t even want taxes on it,” said the Austrian-German activist and founder of the Taxmenow initiative.

Engelhorn is joining several protests by a wealthy minority on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum calling for higher taxes on the rich.

The descendant of the founder of BASF chemical giant, Friedrich Engelhorn, is among an exclusive group of millionaires pushing for governments to tax them more to bridge the growing wealth gap.

The estimated 2,150 billionaires around the world are $3.3 trillion richer than they were in 2020, while nearly 5 billion people worldwide have grown poorer, the charity Oxfam said in a report on Monday, slamming “levels of obscene inequality.”

Engelhorn, who inherited millions when her grandmother died in 2022, announced this month that a citizens group of 50 Austrians will be set up and paid to devise ideas for the future of her fortune.

To make the process more democratic, 10,000 randomly selected Austrians are being invited to apply to join the group by filling out a questionnaire. Fifty will then be selected.

From March to June, the group will gather on several weekends in Salzburg to develop solutions “in the interests of society as a whole,” according to a statement.

Engelhorn was not immediately available to comment on the project.

If the group does not manage to suggest ideas with broad support, the inheritance will be returned to the heiress.

Engelhorn, who studied German at university, said she will get a regular job after “more than 90 percent” of her wealth has been redistributed.

“I’ll switch from the wealthiest 1% of society to the less wealthy 99%. … I think that’s an improvement. I’m moving up into a democratic society, out of this dynastic rich swamp,” she told the German daily Tagesspiegel.

Europe’s wealth inequality is particularly pronounced in Austria, economist Emanuel List of Vienna’s University of Economics and Business told AFP.

Quoting European Central Bank estimates, he said “the top 5% own about 54% of Austria’s net wealth, while the entire bottom half of households only owns 4%, so basically nothing.” 

At least 15 billion euros are inherited or passed on in Austria every year, and whether one receives an inheritance or not “plays a very big role” in moving up the net worth ladder, he added.

In Austria, where conservatives have held the economy ministry for decades, inheritance tax was scrapped in 2008, one of few EU countries to do so.

Compared with campaigns such as U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett’s pledge to donate 99% of his fortune to philanthropic causes, List says Engelhorn’s scientifically supported initiative is “innovative.”

Amid a persistent cost-of-living-crisis, Austria’s opposition Social Democrats last year made a new call for an inheritance tax to be revived.

The ruling conservative People’s Party firmly rejected the proposal.

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, which leads in polls ahead of a general election this year, called the Social Democrats’ tax plans “an attack on families, entrepreneurs and all top performers.”
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LISBON, Portugal — Bobi the Dog’s title as the world’s oldest canine was suspended on Tuesday after Guinness World Records officials began to have doubts about his real age. 

He died in October at the official age of 31 years and 165 days, eight months after the record-breakers’ hall of fame declared on its website that he was the world’s oldest living dog.

The purebred Rafeiro — a Portuguese race of livestock guard dog whose life expectancy is usually 12 to 14 years — was also declared the oldest dog ever, breaking a nearly century-old record held by an Australian cattle dog named Bluey, who died in 1939 aged 29 years and five months.

“While our review is ongoing, we have decided to temporarily pause both the record titles for Oldest Dog Living and [Oldest Dog] Ever just until all of our findings are in place,” a Guinness spokesperson told AFP.

The reference site for extreme achievements did not say what had raised their suspicions.

But skeptics cited by British and U.S. media said Bobi’s feet appeared to be a different color in photos of him as a puppy and snaps of him in his dotage.

And Miguel Figuereido, a veterinarian in Lisbon, told AFP last year: “He doesn’t look like a very old dog … with mobility problems … or with an old dog’s muscle mass.”

Guinness World Records insisted the suspension was “temporary, while [the review] is ongoing.”

Bobi’s owner, Leonel Costa, insisted that all the “suspicions are unfounded.”

In a statement sent to AFP, he said that the certification procedure “took almost a year” and that he had complied with all the requirements demanded by Guinness. 

Costa accused “a certain elite in the veterinary world” of being behind these suspicions, because they had difficulty accepting that Bobi had always fed on a “natural diet” instead of dog food.

Bobi, who was officially born on May 11, 1992, cheated death in his first days of life.

He and three other puppies were from a litter born in a woodshed owned by the Costa family in the village of Conqueiros in central Portugal.

Because the family already owned so many animals, the parents decided to get rid of the newborn puppies.

They unwittingly left one puppy — Bobi — behind and were eventually persuaded by Leonel Costa and his sister to keep him.

Costa has attributed Bobi’s longevity to the tranquility of country living and his varied diet.

He was never chained up or put on a lead, and used to roam the woods around the village before he got too old to move much and spent his days lolling around the yard with the family cats, he said.
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Washington is stepping up efforts to enforce sanctions against Russia with secondary sanctions meant to stop Turkey from helping Moscow and its trading partners circumvent trade restrictions over the war in Ukraine. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, analysts say the success or failure of the sanctions will depend on how much nations stand to lose by restricting commercial links with Russia.
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LONDON — An estimated 3.5 million Britons living overseas will from Tuesday be eligible to vote in United Kingdom general elections, in one of the biggest increases in the country’s electoral franchise in a century.

The expansion in the electorate follows a change in the law, approved by parliament in 2022, scrapping a previous curb on U.K. citizens voting if they had lived overseas for over 15 years.

Implemented ahead of an election set for later this year, it is the most significant change to the voter rolls since a 1928 law granted women equal voting rights, and a 1969 move to lower the voting age to 18 from 21.

Britons worldwide will now be able to register to vote online, regardless of how long they have been overseas.

Under U.K. election law, once registered overseas voters will also be permitted to donate to political parties and campaigners.

Around 233,000 overseas voters were registered for the last election in December 2019, a significant Brexit-attributed bump on the numbers seen in previous contests.

The government estimates that Tuesday’s change could enfranchise around 3.5 million people — nearly triple the 1.3 million votes that was the winning margin in the 2016 referendum on European Union membership.

It is also greater than the difference in the vote totals for Britain’s two main parties — the Conservatives and Labour — in five of the last six general elections.

But U.K. elections ignore the parties’ overall vote counts, instead electing lawmakers under the first-past-the-post system in 650 individual constituencies.

It remains unclear how many of the newly eligible 3.5 million U.K. citizens living overseas will successfully register to vote.

They will need to provide details of the address and time they were last registered to vote or living in Britain.

Local authorities, who are responsible for the electoral roll in their areas, must be able to verify an applicant’s identity and past connection to the area, according to the Electoral Commission.

Unlike some countries, there is no provision for in-person voting overseas, and all ballots have to be cast by mail or by using a proxy in the U.K.

The Electoral Commission is launching a publicity campaign and working with partner organizations to raise awareness of the rule change.

“We know there are eligible voters in every corner of the world, so we’re calling on those with friends and family abroad to help spread the news,” communications director Craig Westwood said.

Research by Britain’s Office for National Statistics suggests the largest numbers of British emigrants are in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and European Union member countries.  

 
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