Category: World

Syrian government forces captured new areas from insurgents in their efforts to control a key highway in the northwest Saturday, as Turkey sent more reinforcements into the war-torn country, state media and opposition activists said.The weekslong government offensive has created a humanitarian crisis with about 600,000 people fleeing their homes in Syria’s last rebel stronghold …

Read more “Syrian Troops Gain Territory in Push to Control Key Highway”

Cyborgs, trolls and bots can fill the internet with lies and half-truths. Understanding them is key to learning how misinformation spreads online.As the 2016 election showed, social media is increasingly used to amplify false claims and divide Americans over hot-button issues including race and immigration. Researchers who study misinformation predict it will get worse leading …

Read more “Cyborgs, Trolls and Bots: A Guide to Online Misinformation”

Ireland began voting in a general election Saturday, with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar hoping to secure a new term on the back of Brexit but voters likely to judge him more on his domestic record.Polls opened across the country at 0700 GMT, although a small number of islands off the west coast voted Friday to …

Read more “Ireland Votes in ‘Three Horse Race’ to Form Next Government”

Photographer  Olivier Toscani made a career out of provocative advertising campaigns for Benetton, the Italian clothing maker famed for its colorful knitwear. But that decades-long relationship has been severed after Toscani outraged relatives of victims in the deadly 2018 Genoa bridge collapse. Toscani told RAI television this week, “Who cares about a bridge collapse?He was responding to a public flap …

Read more “Benetton Fires Famed Photographer Over Bridge Collapse Remarks”

The European commissioner for human rights urged Moscow Friday to investigate a violent assault on a journalist and a lawyer in Russia’s province of Chechnya.Elena Milashina, from the independent Novaya Gazeta, said she and Marina Dubrovina, a lawyer accompanying her on a trip to Chechnya, were pushed and beaten by a dozen people in the …

Read more “Europe’s Rights Body Decries Assault in Russia’s Chechnya”

The alleged rape of three American women by Afghan migrants is prompting a public examination of Spain’s legal system, with media commentators and politicians debating the veracity of the charges and the competency of Spanish authorities to handle the case appropriately.The Spanish press has delved into intimate details of the case, including speculation that the …

Read more “Alleged Rape of US Women Roils Spanish Politics”

A gritty tale set in France’s disenfranchised suburbs, or banlieues, ranks among the finalists for the best foreign language film at Sunday’s Academy Awards in Los Angeles. However, Les Miserables has also unleashed a debate about what has changed in France and what has not.  For VOA, Lisa Bryant reports from the Paris suburb of …

Read more “French Movie Les Miserables Unleashes Debate in France”

Britain is set for another royal wedding. Buckingham Palace announced Friday that Queen Elizabeth II’s granddaughter Princess Beatrice will marry in London on May 29.The palace says 31-year-old Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 37, will wed in the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace. The chapel was the location for the wedding of Beatrice’s great-great-great-great …

Read more “Prince Andrew’s Daughter Princess Beatrice to Marry in May”

Russian authorities have added more than 200 Jehovah’s Witnesses to a register of extremists and terrorists, the organization said in a statement Friday.The latest move in a crackdown on the religious group effectively cuts the believers off from the country’s financial system, because being on list leads to one’s bank accounts being frozen and to …

Read more “Russia Blacklists More Than 200 Jehovah’s Witnesses”

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti pledges to abolish the 100% tariffs on Serbian imports, an impediment in normalization efforts between the two countries since 2018.Kurti, who was confirmed as prime minister by the Kosovo Assembly on Monday, said in an interview with Voice of America that the objective of the ruling coalition composed of his party, …

Read more “New Kosovo Prime Minister Pledges to Remove 100% Serbian Import Tariffs”

Britain is letting European Union citizens stay once the country completes its transition out of the EU at the end of 2020. But some are choosing to leave and move back to the continent.Hanneke van der Werf is a Dutch herbalist and garden designer living on the border of Wales and England. Britain has been …

Read more “As Britain Leaves the EU, Some Leave Britain”

Lawyers for former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo urged International Criminal Court judges Thursday to lift conditions they imposed on him last year when he was released following his acquittal on crimes against humanity charges.Gbagbo and former youth minister Charles Ble Goude both were cleared early last year of involvement in deadly post-election violence in …

Read more “Lawyers to ICC: Free Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo Unconditionally”

FBI Director Chris Wray said Wednesday that Russia is engaged in “information warfare” heading into the 2020 presidential election, though he said law enforcement has not seen ongoing efforts by Russia to target America’s election infrastructure.Wray told the House Judiciary Committee that Russia, just as it did in 2016, is relying on a covert social …

Read more “FBI Director Warns of Ongoing Russian ‘Information Warfare’”

Companies make bigger profits investing in Africa than in any other region of the world, according to a new report from the Overseas Development Institute — which urges global firms to seek profits on the continent rather than seeing it as a place to do charitable work. Henry Ridgwell spoke to African business leaders and …

Read more “Report: Africa Delivers Largest Profits on Investment”

U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said Wednesday that China should join the United States in trilateral arms talks with Russia.  “The president believes that it shouldn’t just be the U.S. and Russia. We think that China is going to need to become involved in any serious arms control negotiation, so we’re going to work …

Read more “White House Official: China Should Join Nuclear Arms Talks With Russia”

The United States has imposed sanctions on a Bulgarian judge who the State Department says is involved in “significant” corruption in the Balkan country. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday in a statement that he was blacklisting Specialized Criminal Court Judge Andon Mitalov because of his involvement in “corrupt acts that undermined the rule of law and severely compromised the …

Read more “US Blacklists Bulgarian Judge Over Alleged Involvement In ‘Significant’ Corruption “

Journalists and free speech advocates say proposed laws to regulate Ukraine’s media pose a threat to free expression and independent reporting in the eastern European country.Before ascending to Ukraine’s highest office last year, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had campaigned on a pledge to limit the influence of oligarchs over national news outlets while safeguarding all media …

Read more “Journalists See Specter of Censorship in Ukraine’s Proposed Media Laws”

German sportswear company Adidas on Wednesday said it was temporarily shutting a “considerable” number of its stores in China due to the coronavirus outbreak which has killed nearly 500 people and infected thousands.The company said the fast-spreading virus was having a negative impact on its business but added that it could not yet assess to …

Read more “Adidas Closes ‘Considerable’ Number of Stores in China Due to Coronavirus”

Britain’s government announced Wednesday that it is considering a change in the way the BBC is funded that would hit the coffers of the nation’s public broadcaster.      Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative administration, which is increasingly at odds with the country’s news media, said it would hold a “public consultation” on whether to …

Read more “UK Government, At Odds With Media, Set to Review BBC Funding”

Russia’s government took additional measures to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus across the border from China, with a Kremlin task force announcing a quarantine location for at-risk patients just days after two cases were reported. Both of the infected are Chinese nationals living inside Russia. “We’re all interested in the results of our fight with the new …

Read more “Russia Establishes Siberian Quarantine Center for Coronavirus “

Questions about the future of Turkey’s rapprochement with Russia are growing as fallout continues from Monday’s killing of at least five Turkish soldiers by Russia-backed Syrian government forces.  The rising Russia-Turkey tension over Syria is now seen as offering an opportunity to the United States to improve strained ties with Turkey.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used …

Read more “Turkish-Russian Tension Over Syria Opens Door to Washington”

U.N.-sponsored military and security talks aimed at achieving a lasting cease-fire in Libya are underway in Geneva. The negotiations are held as Libya’s warring parties continue to violate a temporary truce agreed to in mid-January.Five high-ranking officers appointed by the Government of National Accord in Libya and five other high-ranking military officers appointed by rebel …

Read more “Military Talks to End Libya Fighting Underway”

The World Health Organization is warning that false information circulating on social media about the new coronavirus is hampering efforts to tackle the epidemic.  This fast moving disease so far has infected more than 20,000 people and killed at least 427. The overwhelming number of cases and all but two deaths have occurred in China.Health …

Read more “WHO’s SOS Alert Aims to Shut Down Coronavirus Rumor Mill”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that a nationwide vote on constitutional changes he proposed wouldn’t be used to extend his current term in office, but remained tight-lipped about his future political plans. Kremlin critics have seen Putin’s amendments as part of his efforts to stay at the helm after his current presidential term expires …

Read more “Putin Remains Coy on Future Political Plans”