Author: Worldman

Scores of nationalist protesters in Macedonia broke through a police cordon and stormed parliament in Skopje after an alliance of Social Democrats and ethnic Albanian parties approved an ethnic Albanian politician as the speaker of parliament. Protesters severely beat Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev, the head of a proposed governing coalition that includes ethnic Albanian …

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About 200 protesters stormed into Macedonia’s parliament building on April 27 and beat leading lawmakers after an alliance of Social Democrats and ethnic Albanian parties approved a new speaker of parliament. …

Russian antigovernment protesters are planning more mass demonstrations this weekend, after hundreds were arrested in rallies at the end of March. One activist has created a new smartphone app aiming to keep protesters connected if they are detained — with one touch of the “Red Button.” (Reuters, RFE/RL’s Russian Service, and RFE/RL’s Belarus Service) …

Arkansas will reach the end of an aggressive execution schedule Thursday as it prepares for a fourth lethal injection in a week after initially planning twice as many over an 11-day period.   Kenneth Williams, 38, is set to die for killing a former deputy warden following an escape. Each of several stay requests has …

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A large explosion has rocked the Syrian capital early, followed by a fire near Damascus airport, members of the Syrian opposition and a monitor said. …

On a scaffold several stories high beneath the dome of a Cairo church, Ayman William paints for the glory of God, unfazed by recent attacks against his fellow Coptic Christians in Egypt.   The church, deep within the dusty alleyways of one of the many informal neighborhoods that have sprung up to accommodate the capital’s …

Read more “Egyptian Artist Shrugs off Violence, Paints Church Murals”

A low-cost and widely available drug could save the lives of 1 in 3 mothers who would otherwise bleed to death after childbirth, according to a new study. Severe bleeding, known as postpartum hemorrhage, or PPH, is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide, killing more than 100,000 women every year.  Even for mothers who …

Read more “Low-cost Drug Could Save Thousands of Mothers’ Lives Across Developing World”

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova marked her return from a 15-month doping ban on April 26 with a win over Roberta Vinci in Stuttgart and described her comeback as the “best feeling in the world.” …

Ten Iranian border guards were killed by Sunni militants in a cross-border attack on the frontier with Pakistan on April 26, Iranian media reported. …

China unveils its second aircraft carrier, but will they stop there? South Korea took its first steps to deploy a controversial missile system. Plus, Hong Kong arrests two disqualified lawmakers. VOA’s Steve Miller has your Asia news, in a minute. …

Russia, the third-largest military spender after the U.S. and China, increased its defense budget by 5.9% in 2016 to $69 billion. But how does it compare to NATO’s European members? …

Jehovah’s Witnesses said they would fight a ruling that bans them from worshiping in Russia. A decision by Russia’s Supreme Court on April 20 banned their activities and called the organization an extremist group. (RFE/RL’s Current Time TV) …

South Korean presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in outraged persecuted sexual minority groups by saying during a television debate that he opposes homosexuality, something his supporters say he had to do to win office in the deeply conservative country.   Moon, a liberal candidate and former human rights lawyer, made the comments Tuesday night while responding to …

Read more “S. Korean Presidential Hopeful Accused of Anti-gay Comments”

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has compared the April 26, 1986, Chernobyl nuclear disaster with the ongoing crisis in Ukraine’s east, adding that “Russia is conducting an undeclared war against his country.” …

China has released new restrictions on the naming of children in the far western and mostly Muslim region of Xinjiang, banning ethnic minority Uighur parents from naming their newborns “Muhammad” or names that authorities say have “extremely religious” meanings.   The move is the latest in sweeping controls instituted in Xinjiang that authorities say are …

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The number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally fell to 11 million since 2009, largely because of a drop-off in the number of Mexicans without legal status, according to a study released Tuesday. The report by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center — using survey data from 2015 — showed the number of immigrants lacking legal …

Read more “Fewer Immigrants Without Status in US Since 2009 Report”