Month: March 2018

United Nations aid agencies are gearing up for the first delivery in months of desperately needed humanitarian assistance to thousands of people trapped in the besieged Syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta. Syrian authorities finally have given permission for the U.N. convoy to enter the enclave’s town of Douma on Sunday. The convoy will be carrying …

Read more “Syrian Authorities Give UN Green Light to Deliver Aid to Eastern Ghouta”

The mass shooting of 17 people at a Florida high school in February has reignited the long-running debate over gun laws in the United States. Here is a look at some gun rights and gun control groups in the U.S.: Prominent gun rights groups National Rifle Association The NRA, which claims 5 million members, is one …

Read more “Fact Box: US Gun Rights, Gun Control Groups”

Police in Kyiv moved in to dismantle a protest camp near the national parliament building on March 3, detaining some 100 protesters amid clashes. Police said six protesters and four police officers were hurt in the violence near the Verkhovna Rada in the Ukrainian capital. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service) …

Slovak authorities have released all seven people detained in connection with the murder of an investigative reporter, an event that shocked the Central European country. …

With a day to go before polls open in an Italian election that has been marked by ugly anti-migrant rhetoric and marred by violence, the leader of the center-left Democratic Party and former prime minister Matteo Renzi warned voters that Italy is on the brink of being led by “extremists” and “dangerous populists,” and risks …

Read more “Former PM Renzi Warns Italians of Extremist Government”

Animal-protection activists in Russia have discovered millions of rubles worth of state tenders for the killing of stray dogs and cats in cities that will host this summer’s soccer World Cup. …

The life of the Reverend Billy Graham was celebrated at his funeral Friday, the culmination of more than a week of tributes to the most charismatic evangelical minister of his generation who conveyed a message of salvation to millions of people. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were among some 2,000 people to …

Read more “Billy Graham Laid to Rest in North Carolina Hometown”

A court in Zimbabwe has this week ordered the government and the head of the police force to pay reparations to a group of resettled black farmers whose homes were demolished in 2015 to make way for the former first lady’s game park. The court victory provides little immediate comfort to the farmers at the …

Read more “Zimbabwe Court Orders State to Compensate Evicted Black Farmers”

At least five soldiers and a suicide bomber were killed in two related incidents in Somalia early Friday, according to Somali government and security officials. Somali authorities say the bomber rammed a minivan full of explosives into the main gate of a military base in the town of Afgoye, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) northwest …

Read more “At Least 5 Somali Soldiers Killed in Related Attacks”

Uzbek opposition journalist Yusuf Rozimurodov has been released from prison after spending 19 years behind bars, human rights activist Ismoil Adilov has told RFE/RL. …

FIFA chief Gianni Infantino says Iranian President Hassan Rohani has assured him that women will soon be allowed to attend soccer matches in the country, although it could “take a bit of time.” …

The European Union is ready to mediate in the latest natural-gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia, with European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic expected to contact the energy ministers of the two countries. …

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been charged for tweeting brutal images of Islamic State violence. The move by a court in the Paris suburb of Nanterre comes after the National Assembly voted in November to strip the National Front chief of her parliamentary immunity over the three photos posted on Twitter in 2015.  …

Read more “French Far-Right Leader Charged Over Islamic State Tweets”

The White House on Thursday faced fresh speculation about the future of national security adviser H.R. McMaster, with officials sending mixed messages about his possible departure. Amid a stream of staff leaving Donald Trump’s White House, NBC reported that the three-star general tasked with running White House security policy would, within months, be headed for …

Read more “White House Faces Rumors About Top Security Aide’s Exit”

Mustafa Emre Çabuk is out of prison but not out of trouble. The Turkish national, who for the past 15 years ran a Gülen school in the Georgian capital, Tblisi, is the latest international educator caught up in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s anti-Gülenist campaign. Çabuk is at home under security services protection after nine …

Read more “Turkey’s Global Anti-Gülen Crusade Puts Tbilisi in Diplomatic Bind”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has presented computer animations of new wonder weapons he says have been successfully tested and developed. …