Month: October 2017

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan says a firearm accessory used by the gunman who killed 58 people and wounded hundreds of others in Las Vegas, Nevada, should be examined, possibly leading to Republican consideration of gun control legislation. “Clearly, that is something we need to look into,” the Wisconsin Republican said Thursday in an interview …

Read more “US House Speaker: Las Vegas Gunman’s Firearm Accessory Should Be Examined”

Women’s rights groups on Thursday denounced police raids on their offices in several Polish cities that resulted in the seizing of documents and computers, a day after women staged anti-government marches to protest the country’s restrictive abortion law. The raids took place Wednesday in the cities of Warsaw, Gdansk, Lodz and Zielona Gora. They targeted …

Read more “Polish Women’s Groups Decry Police Raid on Their Offices”

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said most foreign troops will be able to leave the country “within four years.” …

Severe flooding has spread to more towns and villages throughout southern Azerbaijan, after heavy rains inundated parts of the capital, Baku, earlier this week. (RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service) …

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers unveiled legislation on Wednesday that would overhaul aspects of the National Security Agency’s warrantless internet surveillance program in an effort to install additional privacy protections. The bill, which will be formally introduced as soon as Thursday, is likely to revive debate in Washington over the balance between security and …

Read more “US Lawmakers Want to Restrict Internet Surveillance on Americans”

Horse manure will generate electricity for an international horse show in Finland this month in a new form of alternative energy, Finnish utility Fortum said Wednesday. It said the Helsinki horse show in mid-October will be the first at which the event’s electricity needs, from scoreboards to lighting, are met by energy from the horses’ …

Read more “Horses to Power Helsinki Horse Show, With Droppings”

The regional Catalan government plans to declare independence in the coming days from Spain, the latest twist in a constitutional crisis between Spain’s central government in Madrid and separatists in the northeast.   What that independence declaration will actually mean for the prosperous region — and how Spain, the European Union and the international community …

Read more “AP Explains: How Spain-Catalonia Standoff Has Evolved”

Amnesty International (AI) says thousands of Afghans are being put in danger by European governments by forcing them home, where they face the risk of human rights abuses including torture, kidnapping, and death. …

U.S. officials say President Donald Trump will likely deliver an Iran policy speech next week, just days ahead of the October 15 deadline to certify whether Tehran is adhering to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with global powers. …

Three powerful Russian businessmen who control the country’s largest commercial bank have filed the second of two defamation lawsuits in connection with a salacious intelligence report involving President Donald Trump. …

On Monday, a U.S. tourist destination became known as the site for a heinous crime. The worst shooting massacre in recent U.S. history killed 59 people and injured more than 500 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Police say 64-year-old Stephen Paddock fired into 22,000 at a Country Western concert. Now, images of the actual guns found …

Read more “Mass Shooter Bought Guns Legally, Modified Them”

U.S. President Donald Trump is going to Las Vegas on Wednesday, as investigators there continue to try to figure out why a gunman attacked a music festival from a hotel room high above, killing at least 58 people and then himself. “We’re going to see some of the folks that are recovering, some of the …

Read more “Las Vegas Authorities ‘Making Progress’ But No Motive Yet in Mass Shooting”

In a historic, unprecedented move, a Georgian political party has nominated an openly gay candidate for public office. Running on the non-parliamentary opposition Republican Party ticket, Nino Bolkvadze, a 40-year-old lawyer and LGBT rights advocate, is seeking a city councillorship in Tbilisi, the nation’s capital and largest city. “I want Georgia to be a better …

Read more “Georgian Republicans Nominate Country’s First Openly Gay Candidate”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is traveling to Iran for talks with President Hassan Rohani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. …

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman will travel to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin, the first visit to the Russian capital by a reigning Saudi monarch. …

The prime ministers of Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania have expressed support for Serbia’s bid to join them in the European Union, saying the move would help guarantee regional peace and security. …

They were school teachers and youth football coaches, real estate agents and local business owners.   They were parents, siblings, husbands, wives, neighbors and friends.   They traveled to Las Vegas to see their favorite stars, posting videos and photos to social media.   At least 59 of them never made it home after a …

Read more “Loved Ones Mourn Victims of Las Vegas Shooting Attack”