worldwide news
Shouts of “Beto 2020!” filled the air in El Paso’s 7,000 seat-capacity baseball stadium, after their underdog candidate for U.S. Senate — Beto O’Rourke — had already lost the race. On Tuesday night, “Beto,” a 46-year-old congressman from Texas’ 16th district, lost his bid to unseat the incumbent Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, by …
Read more “Despite Loss in Senate Race, A National Star Emerges in Texas”
The United Nations has rejected a claim that it forced a Pakistani lawyer to leave the country after successfully defending a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy. …
Authorities in Somalia are investigating the deaths of four civilians reportedly killed by African Union troops Tuesday, after a roadside bomb targeted the peacekeepers’ convoy. The bombing occurred in Mogadishu’s northern Huriwaa district, near Ex-Control Balad Junction, and damaged a water truck. Witnesses tell VOA’s Somali Service that afterward, AU troops looking for the …
Read more “AU Peacekeepers Accused of Killing 4 Somali Civilians”
People magazine has named Idris Elba as 2018’s Sexiest Man Alive, and the British actor says the honor has given him a boost of self-confidence. Elba, who starred in “The Wire” and “Luther,” was surprised after being crowned this year’s winner, the magazine said. “I was like, ‘Come on, no way. Really?’” he told …
Read more “People Magazine Names Idris Elba 2018’s Sexiest Man Alive”
Advocates of a monument to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in the center of Novosibirsk believe they have an ally in the city’s communist mayor, while opponents say the proposal is being pushed through without considering the feelings of relatives of his millions of victims. …
Despite concerns about foreign interference, the 2018 U.S. midterm election launched to a relatively uneventful start Tuesday morning with federal monitors reporting no attempted disruptions. While still early in a pivotal voting day that will shape the direction of the country for the next two years, absent were reports of a much-feared cyber assault …
Read more “Officials: No ‘Coordinated Campaign’ to Disrupt US Vote”
French President Emmanuel Macron is calling for a “real European army” to allow the European Union to defend itself against Russia and even the United States. …
Britons would vote to stay in the European Union if there were another ballot as those in the biggest “leave”-voting areas change their minds, a survey for Channel 4 published on Monday showed. Britain would back “remain” by 54 percent to 46 percent, the study by Survation for the broadcaster showed. It estimated that more …
Read more “Channel 4 Poll: Britons Would Back ‘Remain’ in New Brexit Vote”
The German military has received a hefty boost in a revised budget plan from 2020 after Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen refused to sign off the previous draft. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Monday proposed adding 5.7 billion euros ($6.5 billion) to the planned military budget from 2020, to buy more ships, fighter jets …
Read more “Military Gets a Boost in Revised German Spending Plan”
Venezuela has reinforced its border with Colombia with more troops after three Venezuelan soldiers died in an attack by an armed group over the weekend, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said Monday. Ten other soldiers were injured in the attack in Amazonas state, which Padrino said was retribution for Venezuela’s capture of “nine Colombian paramilitary members,” …
Read more “Venezuela Adds Troops Near Colombian Border After 3 Soldiers Killed”
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he “probably” won’t be meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin when he travels to the French capital later this week. …
Twelve newborns have died at a health center in northeastern Afghanistan amid an outbreak of “an unknown and as yet not determined origin,” the Italian nongovernment organization running the facility says. …
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev hopes to use French cuttings to create world-class wine — which actually has a long history in Central Asia’s Ferghana Valley. …
Britain says it will press UN Security Council members to take fresh action to end the hostilities in Yemen. …
Fresh U.S. sanctions against Iran, labeled by President Donald Trump as the “strongest ever,” have taken effect against the country’s energy, shipping, shipbuilding, and financial sectors. …
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday that China would take steps to widen access to its markets as he opened a huge trade fair amid criticism from other countries about China’s economic and business practices. Xi said China would lower tariffs, take more action to punish violations of intellectual property rights, and work to boost …
Thousands of bone-tired Central Americans set their sights on Mexico City on Sunday after undertaking a grueling journey through a part of Mexico that has been particularly treacherous for migrants seeking to get to the United States. An estimated 4,000 migrants are in the Gulf state of Veracruz, where hundreds of migrants have disappeared in …
Read more “Migrant caravan sets sight on getting to Mexico City”
Sweeping accusations that the Kremlin tried to sway the 2016 U.S. election haven’t chastened Russian trolls, hackers and spies — and might even have emboldened them. U.S. officials and tech companies say Russians have continued online activity targeted at American voters during the campaign for Tuesday’s election, masquerading as U.S. institutions and creating faux-American social …
Read more “Why It’s Still in Russia’s Interest to Mess With US Politics”
Russia’s Karen Khachanov scored a major upset victory over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic to win the Paris Masters men’s tennis title, calling it the “biggest achievement” of his career. …
The United States and South Korea will begin small-scale military drills on Monday that were delayed during talks with North Korea, days after Pyongyang threatened to restart work on its nuclear program if international pressure does not ease. The Korean Marine Exchange Program was among the training drills that were indefinitely suspended in June after …
The British government says Jeremy Heywood, who ran the country’s civil service until illness forced him to step down, has died of cancer. He was 56. British Prime Minister Theresa May said Heywood, who died early Sunday, “worked tirelessly to serve our country” She called his death “a huge loss to British public life.” …
Read more “Jeremy Heywood, Who Ran Britain’s Civil Service, Dies at 56”
The UN Migration Agency has begun providing life-saving health care to two Somali towns previously inaccessible because of war and conflict. Tens of thousands of people in the towns of Gobweyn and Bulla Gaduud have been deprived of life-saving health care for nearly three decades. These areas have been too dangerous for aid workers to …
Read more “Somali Towns Get Health Care After 30 Years of War”
Pakistani police have filed charges against hundreds of people for arson, vandalism, and violence during the protests that erupted after a Christian woman was acquitted of blasphemy charges that carried the death penalty. …
Every year, some of the best and brightest in the field of Central Asia Studies gather for the Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) conference. …