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This is VOA News. I'm Joe Ramsey.
New indictments were announced on Thursday in the U.S. against [*allage] alleged Russian military cyber criminals. AP correspondent Jackie Quinn reports. The FBI special agent in charge of Maryland, where some computer systems were used to launch the cyberattack in Ukraine just weeks before the war in 2022: "These six criminals aimed to cripple Ukraine's government and critical infrastructure by targeting their finances, agriculture, emergency services, healthcare and schools." Some U.S. companies were (inaudible) involved so the Justice Department is offering a $60 million reward to help find the suspects. I'm Jackie Quinn. Ukraine's top military commander said in an interview broadcast on Thursday Kyiv's incursion into Russia's southern Kursk region was working and there had been no Russian advances on a key sector of the eastern front for six days. Ukraine's military poured into the Kursk region last month and says it's captured dozens of settlements. Meanwhile, Russia's forces have been moving forward slowly on the eastern front in Ukraine's Donetsk region, particularly near the town of Pokrovsk. Ukrainian Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, interviewed by CNN, said the Russian advances had been stopped. The Democratic (Republic) of Congo received its first batch of empox vaccines on Thursday, which health authorities hope will help curb an outbreak that has prompted the U.N. to declare a global public health emergency. Congo is the epicenter of the outbreak, which has spread to neighboring countries and elsewhere. But a lack of vaccines in Africa has hampered efforts to stop the spread of these sometimes deadly disease. A plane carrying doses touched down in the capital, Kinshasa. This is VOA News. France's president on Thursday appointed a chief Brexit negotiator as France's new prime minister. AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports. French President Emmanuel Macron hopes that Brexit negotiator and veteran conservative Michel Barnier can work with France's bitterly divided legislature to end political turmoil that has roiled Macron's presidency. Barnier's appointment ends more than 50 days of caretaker government in France that offers no guarantee of a return to political calm. Barnier faces the tough task of having to work with the acrimonious and deeply split, hung parliament that emerged from the surprise legislative elections that Macron called early in June. I'm Karen Chammas. Venezuelan opposition leader María Carino Machado said on Thursday she wants the United States to do much more to press President Nicolás Maduro amid an ongoing dispute over July's presidential election. Democracies around the world have criticized the Venezuelan government's handling of the July 28 vote, which election officials and its top court say was won by Maduro, who's been in power since 2013. Authorities have not released full tallies, blaming a cyberattack, but ballot box-level tallies posted by the opposition show a resounding victory for its coalition candidate, Edmundo González. South Africa's Ukrainian Association has expressed outrage a Russian naval vessel was recently allowed to dock for several days at a Cape Town harbor. Kate Bartlett reports critics say the incident calls into question Pretoria's purported neutral stance in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Ukrainian Association in South Africa said it was dismayed to learn the Russian naval training ship Smolnyy had anchored at the Port of Cape Town in late August. The Russian consulate general in Cape Town said on its X account August 30 that the ship's command had met with South African naval counterparts and hosted a reception "aimed at strengthening bilateral ties." Russian state news agency Tass also reported the ship's "unofficial" port call. It said the ship had undertaken a long-distance voyage that included stops in Cuba and Venezuela so that 300 cadets from the Russian Ministry of Defense could conduct a maritime practice. Kate Bartlett, VOA News, Johannesburg. New research released on Thursday suggests volcanoes were still erupting on the moon when dinosaurs roamed Earth. Researchers based their conclusion on an analysis of tiny glass beads brought back from the moon by a Chinese spacecraft. They report moon volcanoes may have persisted until about 120 million years ago. I'm Joe Ramsey. |