Month: September 2018

Hundreds of women gathered on the streets of Bamenda, an English-speaking town in northwestern Cameroon, to protest the violence afflicting their communities. In an emotionally charged event Friday, they called on the government and armed separatists to lay down their guns and engage in meaningful dialogue for peace. Thirty-seven-year old Etta Ernestine cried as she …

Read more “Cameroon Women Rally Demanding End to Violence”

Internet giant Google has reportedly removed from its YouTube website a paid advertisement placed by supporters of Russian opposition figure Aleksei Navalny urging Russians to participate in a protest set for September 9. …

Tropical storm Florence is strengthening over the Atlantic Ocean. Forecasters say Florence will become a hurricane by Sunday and then a major hurricane days later.   Swells generated by Florence are affecting Bermuda and are expected to reach portions of the U.S. East Coast.    The hurricane center cautions that the swells “are likely to …

Read more “Tropical Storm Florence Strengthening Over Atlantic”

Two Armenian children who were scheduled to be deported from the Netherlands have gone into hiding, a Dutch government spokesman said. …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, for talks with Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. …

Two major health scares at U.S. airports involving inbound flights are related to pilgrims returning from the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which ended in late August, U.S. health officials said on Friday. On Wednesday, U.S. health officials sent an emergency response team with mobile diagnostic equipment to …

Read more “Officials: 2 Health Scares at US Airports Tied to Mecca Pilgrims”

Hundreds of protesters stormed the Iranian consulate in Basra, Iraq, setting fire to it and chanting “Iran out, Iran out, free Iraq, free Iraq.”  Various sources say many residents of the predominantly Shi’ite city accuse political parties backed by Iran of interfering in Iraqi politics.  Arab media report that Iran closed its Shalamja border crossing …

Read more “Protesters in Basra Set Fire to Iranian Consulate”

The U.N. envoy for Syria warned Friday that all the ingredients exist for a “perfect storm” of a humanitarian catastrophe if the Syrian government, backed by Russia, carries out a large-scale military offensive on the northwestern province of Idlib. “The dangers are profound that any battle for Idlib could be — would be — a …

Read more “UN Syria Envoy Warns of ‘Perfect Storm’ for Disaster in Idlib”

Native Americans have expressed concern about President Donald Trump’s pick for Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh, whose confirmation hearings began this past week in Washington. Many believe that Kavanaugh does not recognize the sovereignty of tribes, which govern themselves as independent nations within the United States. Tribal nations, through hundreds of treaties with the government, …

Read more “Native Americans Worry Trump Supreme Court Pick Threatens Sovereignty”

We know that rferl.org isn’t the only website you read, and it’s possible that you may have missed some of our most interesting journalism from the past week. To make sure you’re up-to-date, here are some of the highlights produced by RFE/RL’s team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days. …

Russian high school students are unable to buy books needed for school by some of the country’s greatest writers, due to a profanity law signed by Vladimir Putin in 2014. …

Russia is wary as Armenia readjusts its foreign policy — and its relations with Moscow. …

Authorities in the U.S. and Britain are stepping up cooperation to tackle female genital mutilation, staging joint operations at airports in London, New York and elsewhere to raise awareness of an issue that affects millions of girls and women worldwide. Police and border security agencies on both sides of the Atlantic have signed a new …

Read more “US, UK Step Up Cooperation Against Female Genital Mutilation”

A Polish national who fled to the U.S. after being found guilty in a massive fraud case dating back to the country’s communist era is fighting his extradition while imprisoned in Florida. Dariusz Przywieczerski fled his home country to avoid incarceration. He was found guilty in 2005 of being involved in a scheme to illegally …

Read more “Polish National Fights Extradition From US in Fraud Case”

Law enforcement officers in Mexico have found 166 human skulls in burial pits in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. Veracruz state prosecutor Jorge Winckler said the bodies had been in the mass graves, one of the biggest found in Mexico, for at least two years.  Investigators also found 144 identity cards in the surrounding …

Read more “166 Human Skulls Found in Mexican Mass Graves”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Uzbekistan to end its harassment of bloggers covering social and religious issues and to release at least four people reportedly arrested for their writings on religious matters. …

Moldovan and international human rights organizations have criticized a decision by the country’s authorities to detain and expel seven Turkish citizens. …