Month: August 2018

Taliban militants have launched an attack on the Afghan provincial capital of Ghazni and heavy fighting is under way as security forces try to repel them, officials say. …

The lone military identification tag that North Korea provided with 55 boxes of human remains last month belonged to Master Sgt. Charles H. McDaniel, an Army medic from Indiana who was killed in the opening months of the Korean War.   The Army on Wednesday handed McDaniel’s slightly corroded dog tag to his sons, Charles …

Read more “Sons Feel Mixed Emotions After N. Korea Returns Dad’s Dog Tag”

The Moscow office of the Open Russia civic movement established by exiled former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was searched by the police on August 9, the group has said. …

The tools available for farming have come a long way since Dale Cope was a boy. “One of my chores for my parents is to go weed the garden with a hoe. Now, I’m not going to send a hoe out there, I’m going to fly out there with my drone, and I’m going to …

Read more “Drones Can Help Farmers Grow Better Crops”

Dozens of people, many of them children, were killed in Saudi-led coalition air strikes on August 9 in Yemen’s Saada province, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and local medical sources said. …

Unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly referred to as drones, can become an important tool for farmers around the world within the next 10 years. Researchers at Texas A&M University in College Station are looking at different applications of precision farming with drone technology. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details. …

Ukrainian Ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova says “rapid actions” are needed to save the life of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, who has been on a hunger strike in a Russian prison for nearly three months. …

On the heels of a deadly terrorist attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, Tajikistan’s interior minister has penned a play about a fictional mother who goes to Syria to search for her IS-fighter son. …

Belarus on Wednesday detained at least six more journalists in Minsk, including a freelance correspondent for Deutsche Welle, in a crackdown on independent media, ostensibly over unauthorized access to a state news agency.  The ex-Soviet country led by strongman Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday detained at least four journalists from two popular news sites, accusing them …

Read more “Belarus Detains More Journalists”

The organizers of the Oscars said on Wednesday they would create a new award category for popular movies and limit the annual, televised ceremony to three hours. In a letter to members, the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures also said it would present some of the 24 Academy Awards during commercial …

Read more “Oscars to Create Award for Popular Movies, Limit Televised Ceremony”

Scattered protests, along with a heavy police presence in many places were reported Wednesday across Iran, one day after the first round of new U.S. economic sanctions went into effect. The Iranian parliament voted to remove Labor Minister Ali Rabie during a raucous debate Wednesday on new economic policies to tackle unemployment and bolster the …

Read more “Scattered Protests, Heavy Security Across Iran After New Sanctions”

U.S. Republican Senator Rand Paul says he delivered a letter from President Donald Trump intended for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin during the Kentucky politician’s trip to Moscow. …

Rick Gates, the U.S. government’s star witness in its financial-fraud prosecution of Gates’ former boss, Paul Manafort, has concluded three days of testimony and often withering cross-examination, detailing how a Ukrainian political party failed to pay $2.4 million in 2015, pushing Manafort into dire financial straits. …

The Trump administration says it is concerned about the whereabouts of retired Chinese university professor Sun Wenguang, who has not been heard from since he was detained during a live VOA interview last week. “We condemn China’s ongoing abuse of human rights, in particular, the suppression of the fundamental freedoms of expression, association and peaceful …

Read more “US Concerned for Chinese Professor, Arrested During Live VOA Interview”

Britain will always be a “tier one” military power, British Defense Minister Gavin Williamson told the Atlantic Council think tank Tuesday in Washington, contradicting recent comments by British Prime Minister Theresa May. In June, the prime minister asked Williamson to justify Britain’s role as a tier one military power at a Downing Street meeting, challenging …

Read more “UK Defense Chief: Post-Brexit Britain to Remain Strong”

Colombia’s youngest elected president was sworn in to office Tuesday, promising to “make corrections” to a peace deal with leftist rebels that has divided the country and to crack down on lingering armed groups still roaming the countryside. Ivan Duque, the 42-year-old protege of a powerful right-wing former president, now faces the task of implementing …

Read more “New Colombian President Promises ‘Corrections’ to Peace Deal”

The defense lawyer for President Donald Trump’s ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort in a searing cross-examination has sought to undermine the credibility of the U.S. government’s star witness by accusing Rick Gates of stealing millions not only from Manafort but also possibly from Trump’s inauguration committee. …