Month: October 2018

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted a senior White House envoy on Tuesday as the U.S. and Russia sought to minimize the fallout over Donald Trump’s intention to exit a landmark nuclear treaty amid charges of violating the agreement.  US National Security Advisor John Bolton’s meeting with the Russian leader capped two days of talks with …

Read more “US Security Advisor Signals Washington will Abandon Key Nuclear Pact with Russia”

The White House says it is pushing ahead with plans to establish a new U.S. space force, but the first steps will stop short of creating a sixth branch of the military as touted earlier this year by President Donald Trump. …

Excessive speed was the main cause of the derailment of a train in Taiwan that killed 18 people and injured scores of others, a district court said Tuesday.   The train entered a curve in eastern Taiwan on Sunday afternoon at 140 kilometers (87 miles) per hour, almost twice the speed limit for that section …

Read more “Taiwan Court: Excessive Speed Caused Deadly Train Derailment”

Vietnam’s rubber stamp National Assembly elected Communist Party General-Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as the country’s president on Tuesday, consolidating his influence as the most powerful man in the Southeast Asian nation. The 74-year-old Trong is the first Vietnamese leader to hold the two positions since founding President Ho Chi Minh in the 1960s.   He …

Read more “Vietnam Parliament Elects Communist Party Chief as President”

The Yelk political alliance in the Armenian parliament has nominated acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian for the post of prime minister. …

France’s Presidential Press Association has called on President Emmanuel Macron to reconsider his decision to close the press room inside the presidential palace, an action that comes as the French leader faces declining popularity.   In a statement Tuesday, the association that represents French and foreign media accredited with the presidency said the press room’s …

Read more “French Media Calls on Macron Not to Close Palace Press Room”

Seventeen Tajiks have gone on trial on suspicion of involvement in the killing of four foreign cyclists on a southern mountain road in late July. …

Six people were killed when a truck and a van carrying gasoline collided in southwestern Pakistan and ignited the fuel, local officials say. …

The head of the Russian human rights group Memorial says an agreement has been reached with municipal authorities in Moscow to go ahead with an annual remembrance ceremony near the former KGB headquarters for the victims of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s purges. …

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

A soldier in the NATO-led Resolute Support mission was killed and two others wounded on October 22 by an apparent insider attack in the western province of Herat. …

The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group has targeted a second mosque in eastern Syria in less than a week, saying the normally protected religious building was used as an insurgent command and control center. Pentagon spokesman Navy Cmdr. Sean Robertson told VOA the strike Monday killed Islamic State fighters who “were actively firing …

Read more “Coalition Targets Islamic State in 2nd Mosque in Less than a Week”

An independent Pakistani cricket tribunal has upheld a 10-year ban from the sport against Pakistani player Nasir Jamshed over his role in Pakistan Super League fixing scandals. …

The tiny, red pomegranate seed may not look like much but it helps explain why Yemen’s civil war has brought millions of people to the brink of famine. Pomegranate exports were a key source of income for people in Saada in northwest Yemen, a province under the control of the Houthi movement aligned with Iran. …

Read more “Humble Pomegranate Seed Provides Clue to How Yemen’s War Fuels Hunger”

The killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul is unlikely to halt Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s rise to power, but could cause irreparable harm to relations with Western governments and businesses, potentially endangering his ambitious reform plans. International outrage over Khashoggi’s Oct. 2 slaying at the hands of Saudi …

Read more “AP Analysis: Saudi Prince Likely to Survive Worst Crisis Yet”

U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan have agreed in a phone call that the killing of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul must be fully explained, the Turkish presidency has said. …

The Pentagon has acknowledged for the first time that U.S. Army Brigadier General Jeffrey Smiley was wounded in the attack in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar Province on October 18 that killed two senior Afghan officials. …