Month: June 2018

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

Egypt has extended its state of emergency for another three months. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s decision was published in the official gazette on Sunday. It should be approved by parliament within seven days and go into effect on July 14.   Egypt has been under a state of emergency, after an Islamic State affiliate bombed two …

Read more “Egypt Extends State of Emergency for Another 3 Months”

Hundreds of people gathered in the center of the Macedonian capital late on June 23 to protest against a landmark agreement with Greece to rename the country. …

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, came together in the Belgian capital on June 24 for EU-mediated talks aimed at normalizing bilateral relations. …

Pakistan’s military says Afghanistan-based “terrorists” on Sunday ambushed one of its border fencing teams and killed a soldier. The fatal cross-border raid in the treacherous North Waziristan region also injured a junior officer, said army spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor. “Another son of soil sacrificed his life while making Pakistan-Afghanistan border safe and inaccessible for terrorists,” …

Read more “Afghan-Based ‘Terrorists’ Attack Pakistani Border Fencers”

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic received members of the Russian military’s famed Aleksandrov song-and-dance ensemble, also known as the Red Army Choir, on June 23 in Belgrade. The ensemble then performed outside the city’s St. Sava Church for an estimated 5,000 spectators. Serbia’s government subsidized the free concert with 18 million dinars ($177,000). …

A fresh wave of violence and repression left at least seven dead in Nicaragua as international criticism mounted against the government of President Daniel Ortega over its response to protests. The attacks began Friday evening, hours after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights presented a report indicating the Nicaraguan government had violated human rights during …

Read more “More Die in Nicaragua as Unrest Continues”

In an attempt to capitalize on what’s become a ratings bonanza for Arabic satellite channels during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, two comedies struck the wrong chord with audiences when their lead actors appeared in blackface.  Criticism was swift on social media, but failed to trigger a deeper discussion on racism in the Middle …

Read more “Racist Tropes in Ramadan TV Satires Anger Black Arabs”

A monitor group says Russian jets have struck rebel-held areas in southern Syria in the first such attacks since Moscow agreed to a cease-fire in July 2017, endangering one of the so-called “de-escalation” zones. …

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Saturday that she was booted from a Virginia restaurant because she works for President Donald Trump, becoming the latest administration official to experience a brusque reception in a public setting. Sanders tweeted that she was told by the owner of the Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia, that she had …

Read more “Sanders Says She Was Told to Leave Virginia Restaurant”

Soccer’s international governing body says it has initiated an investigation into reports of apparent politically tinged celebrations by two ethnic-Albanian members of Switzerland’s World Cup squad. …

Turks are heading to the polls on June 24 in presidential and parliamentary elections that could either solidify President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s power or reveal new signs of weakness after more than 15 years of increasingly authoritarian rule. …

Venezuela is in a deep economic and political crisis, with thousands of people fleeing the country to find a better life for their family. More than 1 million have left, and experts estimate this number will continue to grow. VOA reporter Celia Mendoza went to the Simon Bolivar Bridge between Venezuela and Colombia to hear …

Read more “Thousands of Venezuelan Families Continue to Flee Their Country”

Kim Jong-pil, the founder of South Korea’s spy agency whose political skills helped him also serve twice as prime minister, first under his dictator boss and later under a man his agency kidnapped, has died. He was 92.    Kim was declared dead on arrival at Seoul’s Soonchunhyang University Hospital from his home Saturday, said …

Read more “Former South Korean Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil Dies”

The U.S. military will face a difficult task in identifying the remains of soldiers missing from the Korean War as the Pentagon prepares to receive them from North Korea in coming days, officials and experts said. U.S. President Donald Trump, who met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an historic summit in Singapore …

Read more “Remains From North Korea Likely to be Hard to Identify”

Argentina on June 22 said it has asked Russia to detain and deport four of its soccer fans filmed fighting with Croatian fans at a World Cup match. …