Month: January 2018

An Iranian woman who was arrested in Tehran last month for apparently protesting peacefully against the country’s mandatory Islamic dress code has been freed, a human rights lawyer says. …

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has banned Russia’s team from the PyeongChang Winter Games, but will allow individual athletes to compete under a neutral flag. The IPC said in a statement Monday that “it is maintaining the suspension of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC),” because of its doping past. However, “in recognition of the progress …

Read more “Russia’s Team Banned From Winter Paralympic Games”

Opposition politician Mikheil Saakashvili was in Ukraine’s Supreme Court on January 29 to seek the restitution of his Ukrainian citizenship, which was revoked by President Petro Poroshenko last year. …

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says that Moscow believes a hotly anticipated U.S. list of rich Russians seen as close to President Vladimir Putin is an attempt to meddle in the country’s March 18 election. …

The European Union says that if U.S. President Donald Trump initiates unfair trade measures against the 28-nation bloc, it would stand ready “to react swiftly and appropriately.”   In a weekend interview, Trump said he was annoyed with EU trade policy since he claims the U.S. cannot sufficiently export to the EU. He said his …

Read more “EU Ready to Hit Back if Trump Imposes Anti-EU Trade Measures”

Pope Francis says countries have a responsibility to fight anti-Semitism and the “virus of indifference” threatening to erase the memory of the Holocaust. Francis’ comments to an international conference Monday comes as the largely Roman Catholic Poland considers legislation that would outlaw blaming Poles for the crimes of the Holocaust. The proposed legislation has sparked …

Read more “Pope Denounces Holocaust ‘Indifference’ amid Polish Uproar”

Thousands of protesters gathered at Moscow’s central Pushkin Square on January 28 to call for the boycott of Russia’s upcoming presidential election. Russian anticorruption activist and opposition politician Aleksei Navalny urged the boycott after he was barred from running in the election. Police arrested Navalny as he walked down a main thoroughfare to the demonstration. …

Read more “Moscow Protesters Support Navalny’s Election Boycott Call”

Key Republicans voiced strong support Sunday for special counsel Robert Mueller’s handling of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but split on whether Congress needs to approve legislation to block President Donald Trump from firing Mueller. Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine, breaking with some …

Read more “Key Republicans Support Mueller Handling of Trump Probe”

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono expressed hopes for improved relations with China during talks Sunday in Beijing that also touched on joint efforts to counter North Korea’s nuclear program.   In opening remarks to his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, Kono said that as the world’s second and third largest economies, China and Japan “have a …

Read more “Japan Foreign Minister Hopes for Improved Ties with China”

A look at the best news photos from around the world. …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed that Turkey will clear its entire border with Syria with what he called “terrorists.” …

Thousands of Russians across the country heard the call of Russian anticorruption activist and opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and rallied on January 28 in a pledge to boycott the country’s upcoming presidential election after Navalny was barred from running. RFE/RL filmed the protests in the cities of Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, and Saratov. (RFE/RL’s …

Read more “Election Boycott Rallies Sweep Russia”

Chinese authorities are placing tighter administrative controls over Larung Gar, a Buddhist study center, according to a report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW). About 200 Communist Party cadres and lay officials “are taking over all management, finances, security, admissions, and even the choice of textbooks at the center, following demolitions and expulsions in 2017,” according …

Read more “China Places New Controls on Center of Tibetan Buddhist Studies”

Officials trying to settle differences over how to update the North American Free Trade Agreement have made some progress and hope politicians decide the talks should continue, Steve Verheul, Canada’s chief negotiator, told Reuters on Saturday. The United States, Canada and Mexico are due to finish the sixth of seven planned rounds of NAFTA discussions …

Read more “Canada Hopes NAFTA Talks Proceed to Next Round; Some Progress Made”

Gunmen killed at least 14 people early Saturday at a dance club in the northeastern Brazil city of Fortaleza. Officials in Ceara state said three cars full of armed men arrived at the Forro do Gago nightclub. Witnesses said the men opened fire inside the club and continued shooting indiscriminately for about 30 minutes. Many …

Read more “Nightclub Shooting in Brazil Leaves 14 Dead”