Month: April 2018

Anticipation is building in Washington before an expected meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, the man Trump dispatched to North Korea for an initial meeting with Kim, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, faces a Senate confirmation vote this week for a new post, secretary of state. …

Read more “Anticipation Builds for Trump-Kim Meeting”

French President Emmanuel Macron is heading to the United States for a state visit with President Donald Trump, looking to convince him of the need to keep a U.S. presence in Syria even after the defeat of Islamic State terrorists. Ahead of his arrival in Washington Monday, Macron told Fox News during an interview at …

Read more “France’s Macron: US Role in Syria Vital”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, as the two neighbors work to ameliorate strained ties. The two leaders will meet in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Friday and Saturday, China’s and India’s foreign ministries announced Sunday. “Our common interests far outweigh our differences. …

Read more “India’s Modi to Meet With Xi in China”

Gunmen have killed two Shi’a and wounded a third in southwestern Pakistan in the latest attack on the religious minority, officials say. …

Armenian security forces in Yerevan detained dozens of protesters who gathered on the city’s central Republic Square on April 22. The afternoon protest was a continuation of a dispersed march led toward the city’s southern Erebuni district by the organizer of antigovernment protests, Nikol Pashinian. …

An Iranian cleric has suggested that the holy Shi’ite city of Qom should be turned into an independent country, like Vatican City. …

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth attended a star-studded special concert Saturday as the world’s oldest and longest-reigning living monarch celebrated her 92nd birthday. Welsh singer Tom Jones kicked off the show with his hit “It’s Not Unusual” shortly before Elizabeth appeared in the royal box of London’s Albert Hall, flanked by her family. Kylie Minogue, Sting, Ladysmith …

Read more “Queen Celebrates her 92nd in Royal Style”

Dozens of bodies, including those of jihadists and civilians, have been found in a mass grave in the former Islamic State group stronghold of Raqqa, Syria, a local official said Saturday. The former de facto capital of the group in northern Syria, Raqqa saw the jihadists ousted by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in October 2017. Nearly …

Read more “Dozens of Bodies Reported Found in Raqqa Mass Grave”

U.S. lawmakers this week strongly endorsed continued U.S. military engagement in Libya, calling it vital for building the country’s unity and keeping it from becoming a hub for terrorism. U.S. involvement in Libya has been a politically divisive issue ever since former President Barack Obama launched the U.N.-authorized military intervention aimed at saving pro-democracy protesters …

Read more “US Lawmakers Call for Greater US Role in Libya”

Armenian protest leader Nikol Pashinian says he will meet on April 22 with former president and current Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian after nine days of mass demonstrations against Sarkisian’s rule. …

Armenian protest leader Nikol Pashinian says he will meet on April 22 with former president and current Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian after nine days of mass demonstrations against Sarkisian’s rule. …

Iran’s President Hassan Rohani has criticized the morality police’s use of violence against women failing to observe the compulsory Islamic dress code, state media reported on April 21. …

A Rohingya Muslim man among the group of 76 rescued in Indonesian waters in a wooden boat says they were at sea for nine days after leaving Myanmar, where the minority group faces intense persecution, and were hoping to reach Malaysia.  The eight children, 25 women and 43 men were brought ashore Friday afternoon at …

Read more “Rohingya Rescued After Drifting at Sea for 9 Days “

Israeli soldiers firing Friday from across a border fence killed four Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy, and wounded more than 150 others, health officials said, as several thousand people in blockaded Gaza staged a fourth round of weekly protests on the border with Israel. Huge black plumes of smoke from burning tires engulfed the border …

Read more “4 Palestinians Dead, Hundreds Hurt in Gaza Protest”

The food industry uses plastic to wrap its products in many places around the world. Plastic manufacturers say that keeps produce and meat fresh longer, so less goes bad and is thrown away. But, according to a new European study, while the annual use of plastic packaging has grown since the 1950s, so has food …

Read more “Plastic: If It’s Not Keeping Food Fresh, Why Use It?”