Author: Worldman

U.S. President Donald Trump has assailed veteran Senator John McCain after the Arizona Republican disputed the administration’s claim that the recent military raid in Yemen was a “success.” …

A North Korean defector who has lived in Russia for nearly two decades is facing a possibly deadly deportation. …

In a region where manmade catastrophes can seem as likely as any natural disaster, the idea of mandatory military service was not necessarily well-received by everyone. (The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.) …

A Guatemalan Supreme Court judge was arrested on Wednesday accused of influence trafficking, prosecutors said, in the latest anti-corruption drive in the Central American country. Blanca Stalling was walking in the capital, Guatemala City, when she was arrested while wearing a red wig and sunglasses, according to Julia Barrera, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s …

Read more “Guatemala Arrests Supreme Court Judge in Corruption Probe”

Yemen said on Wednesday it had not suspended counterterrorism operations with the U.S. government, despite controversy over a U.S. commando raid on al-Qaida militants in which several civilians were also killed. The raid in al-Bayda province, approved by new U.S. President Donald Trump, resulted in a gun battle that left one Navy SEAL dead and …

Read more “Yemen Keeps Counterterrorism Operations With US Despite Raid”

Sri Lanka says it needs more time to fulfill promises given to the U.N. human rights body to investigate war crime allegations from the nation’s long civil war, which ended nearly eight years ago. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told foreign correspondents late Tuesday that the government will seek more time at the next U.N. human …

Read more “Sri Lanka to Ask UN for More Time to Probe War Crimes”

Elena is a human rights defender in a country where the government has not shown much regard for the rights of citizens for a quarter of a century. …

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL’s broadcast region and beyond for the sixth week of 2017. …

Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, Jr., who has been hospitalized in critical condition for the second time in two years in what his family and friends suspect was a deliberate poisoning, has awoken from a coma and improved noticeably, his lawyer and wife told RFE/RL. …

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has earned a rare rebuke by the Senate for quoting Coretta Scott King on the Senate floor. The Massachusetts Democrat ran afoul of the chamber’s arcane rules by reading a three-decade-old letter from Dr. Martin Luther King’s widow that dated to Sen. Jeff Sessions’ failed judicial nomination three decades ago. The chamber is debating the …

Read more “Warren Violates Arcane Rule, Sparking Senate Dustup”

China has emerged as the top single-country source of tourism for Vietnam over the past year, a status that could help broader relations hurt by a maritime dispute and historical distrust.  The number of Chinese tourists to the neighboring Southeast Asian country reached 250,000 in January, leading other countries with about a quarter of the …

Read more “Boom in Tourists Helping Stabilize China-Vietnam Relations”

A U.S. federal appeals court expects to issue a ruling sometime this week on the government’s request to end a temporary pause of President Donald Trump’s travel ban.  A lower federal court issued the temporary restraining order last week, saying the government could not enforce the 90-day entry ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries …

Read more “Supreme Court Likely Destination for Trump Travel Ban Case”

Russia is increasingly cracking down on Internet users as courts impose harsh jail sentences for posts expressing political views, a rights advocacy group warned. …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ratified a deal to build the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline to southern Europe, state media reported on February 7. …

President Vladimir Putin has put the Russian air force on high alert for a snap inspection, the latest in a series of drills amid tensions with the West. …