Crossing A Blue Line: Belarusian Teen Forced To Apologize For Slapping Police Statue
A Belarusian youth, caught on camera slapping a statue of a police officer in Minsk, has been forced to apologize. …
Art and the Meaning of Jewelry: New Exhibit Opens at the Met
Fashion changes, trends come and go, but jewelry is always present in people’s lives in one way or another. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art just opened a new exhibition dedicated to the history of jewelry and the role it plays in people’s lives. Headdresses and earrings, brooches and belts, necklaces and rings, old and …
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Washington Under Pressure to Ease North Korean Sanctions
Washington faces mounting pressure from China, Russia and South Korea, as well as humanitarian groups, to ease sanctions on North Korea as the Trump administration’s denuclearization talks with Pyongyang have hit a snag. Washington’s talks with Pyongyang stalled last week when North Korea abruptly canceled a scheduled meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo amid …
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Judge: Hinckley is Well Enough to Live on His Own
A federal judge has ruled that John Hinckley, the man who shot President Ronald Reagan in a failed assassination attempt, is well enough now to live on his own. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity for shooting and wounding the president and three others in 1981. He had been confined for 35 …
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Iraq Resumes Oil Exports From Kirkuk Under U.S. Pressure
Under pressure from Washington, Iraq has restarted exports of oil from Kirkuk that were halted a year ago due to a standoff between the central government and Iraq’s Kurdish semiautonomous region. …
Russia, China Warn Against Protectionism As U.S. Threatens More Tariffs
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev joined with Chinese President Xi Jinping in warning against growing protectionism and urging adherence to global trade rules. …
Finland Summons Russian Envoy Over Blocked GPS Signals
Russian Ambassador to Finland Pavel Kuznetsov has been summoned to a meeting with Finnish State Secretary Matti Anttonen on November 19 over the disruption of Finland’s global positioning system (GPS) signals during recent NATO war games. …
Experts Blame Multiple Causes for California Fires
Two devastating wildfires have ravaged parts of California, and the death toll Thursday reached 66, officials said. Experts suggest many causes for the fires, from population growth to equipment failures to climate change. They say this year’s deadly blazes may point to worse to come. Jennifer Balch, director of Earth Lab at the University of …
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Experts See Multiple Causes of California Fires
With a death toll of at least 66, two devastating wildfires have ravaged parts of California. Experts suggest many causes for the fires, from population growth and equipment failures to climate change. Mike O’Sullivan reports that this year’s deadly fires may signal there is worse to come. …
With the Midterms Over, Both Parties Look to 2020
Even as vote-counting continues in a handful of races from this year’s midterm U.S. elections, both major political parties are focused on the next challenge — the 2020 presidential contest. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington. …
Tajikistan’s Roghun Dam, Which For Years Generated Only Controversy, Begins Producing Electricity
The first unit of Tajikistan’s Roghun hydropower plants is set to go into operation on November 16, decades after the multi-billion-dollar project was dreamt up by Soviet planners. …
Building The World’s Tallest Dam
Once completed, in 2028, the plant will be equipped with six 600 MW turbines (3,600 MW total), which will double Tajikistan’s capacity to produce electricity. …
U.S. Documents Suggest Charges Filed Against WikiLeaks Founder Assange
U.S. court documents suggest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been criminally charged by prosecutors in a case that could be related to the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the U.S. elections. …
Finland: GPS Signal Disruption During NATO War Games Came From Russia
The disruption of Finland’s global positioning system (GPS) signal during recent NATO war games came from Russian territory, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Thursday. The Kremlin on Monday dismissed an earlier allegation from Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila that Russia may have intentionally disrupted the signal during the war games. Finland’s air navigation services …
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5 UN Soldiers Killed in DRC
Five U.N. military personnel have been killed since Wednesday during operations in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a U.N. official. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told VOA News Thursday that the fatalities occurred “near Beni,” a city close to the offensive, during joint operations with the Congolese military against …
US Flexes New Muscle in Asia
The United States flexed new muscle in Asia Thursday with pledges to counter China’s expansion in a contested sea and set up a second summit with the leader of North Korea, which Washington regards as a military threat to Western allies. “We all agree that empire and aggression have no place in the Indo-Pacific,” U.S. …
Protests At Police Official Killing In Pakistan
Protests took place in Pakistan following the apparent abduction and killing of a high-ranking police official. Protesters gathered November 15 in the capital, Islamabad, and in the northwestern city of Bannu after authorities said they found a body believed to be that of Tahir Khan Dawar in eastern Afghanistan. …
Dozens Killed In Taliban Attack On Afghan Security Forces
Taliban insurgents attacked a joint police and army outpost in Afghanistan’s western Farah Province, killing at least 38 officers and soldiers, as the onslaught against the country’s security forces mounts, officials say. …
European Court: Russia Arrested Navalny For Political Reasons
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled that Russian authorities’ repeated arrests of opposition leader and anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny have been politically motivated. According to the decision announced on November 15, Russia violated the European Convention on Human Rights of which it is a signatory — mainly its Article 18 stating that …
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Official: Citizenship Query Will Not Cause US Census Undercount
The U.S. Census Bureau’s top scientist on Wednesday insisted the bureau can get a full count of American residents during the 2020 census, despite the Trump administration’s addition of a question on citizenship. The agency’s chief scientist, John Abowd, made the comments in testimony in federal court in New York, where a group of U.S. …
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Draft Brexit Deal Ends Britain’s Easy Access to EU Financial Markets
The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed on a deal that will give London’s vast financial center only a basic level of access to the bloc’s markets after Brexit. The agreement will be based on the EU’s existing system of financial market access known as equivalence — a watered-down relationship that officials in …
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Florida’s Bitter Recount Battle Lurches Toward Deadline
With time running out, Florida’s election recount drama lurched forward Wednesday amid a maelstrom of courtroom arguments, broken machines, allegations of irregularities and President Donald Trump’s ongoing criticism. Many counties have wrapped up their machine recount ahead of a Thursday deadline to complete reviews of the U.S. Senate and governor races, but larger Democratic strongholds …
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U.S. Energy Secretary Warns Czechs Against Cooperating With Russia
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has warned the Czech government not to choose Russia as a partner for a lucrative nuclear-energy plan. …
EU Official Names Russia As Main Disrupter Of Elections In Europe
A top EU official has named Russia as the main source behind activities interfering with elections in Europe but noted that others are also learning from Moscow. …