Category: World

At least 2 million people are at risk of severe food insecurity because of a devastating drought in Afghanistan, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says. …

A leading anti-abortion group said Saturday that Ireland’s historic abortion referendum has resulted in a “tragedy of historic proportions” in a statement that all but admits defeat, as two exit polls predict an overwhelming victory for those seeking to overturn the country’s strict ban on terminations. Official counting for Friday’s referendum on whether or not …

Read more “Exit Polls Predict Ireland’s Abortion Ban Will End”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has expressed hope that Greece and Macedonia can find a solution to a decades-old dispute over the name of the former Yugoslav republic so that an invitation to join the alliance can be issued to Skopje. …

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with VOA Persian Director Setareh Derakhshesh Thursday afternoon to discuss the Trump administration’s plans for a new security framework aimed at ending Iran’s nuclear program. They also discussed recent protests in Iran, and the administration’s efforts to free Americans being held by the government. Setareh: Secretary Pompeo, thank you …

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A coalition of conservation groups sued the Trump administration on Thursday, accusing the government of slashing protections for migratory birds. At issue is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which the National Audubon Society and other plaintiffs say has been undermined. In the past, the act helped hold parties responsible for actions that killed or injured …

Read more “US Conservationists Sue Trump Administration Over Migratory Bird Policy”

Pakistan rejected Friday U.S. assertions American diplomats in the country are being mistreated as relations between the two uneasy allies in the “war on terrorism” continue to deteriorate. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised the issue Wednesday about the treatment of U.S. diplomats serving in Pakistan during a Senate panel hearing. “My officers, our state …

Read more “Pakistan Denies Mistreating US Diplomats”

Many governments worry about what to do with citizens returning from combat abroad in the ranks of extremists. Kyrgyzstan, which suddenly ramped up its roundups of returning “jihadists,” thinks it has an answer. …

The remote Pankisi Gorge in northeastern Georgia, home to a Muslim minority, was once the site of a military crackdown against Chechen fighters. More recently, the region has seen some of its young men leaving to fight in Syria and Iraq. But many residents are trying to shake the association with militancy and say all …

Read more “Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge Struggles With Stigma Of Extremism”

Two dying Ebola patients were spirited out of a Congo hospital by their relatives on motorcycles, then taken to a prayer meeting with 50 other people, potentially exposing them all to the deadly virus, a senior aid worker said Thursday. Both patients were vomiting and infectious and died hours after the prayer session in the …

Read more “Dying Ebola Patients Flee to Congo Prayer Meeting”

Nations that remain in the Iran nuclear deal meet on Friday for the first time since U.S. President Donald Trump left the pact, but diplomats see limited scope to salvage it after Washington vowed to be tougher than ever on Tehran. British, Chinese, French, German and Russian officials will try to flesh out with Iran’s …

Read more “‘No Illusions’ as Iran Nuclear Deal Countries Set to Meet Friday”

A jury has decided Samsung must pay Apple $539 million in damages for illegally copying some of the iPhone’s features to lure people into buying its competing products. The verdict reached Thursday is the latest twist in a legal battle that began in 2011. Apple contends Samsung wouldn’t have emerged as the world’s leading seller …

Read more “Jury: Samsung Owes Apple $539M for Copying iPhone”

Syrian state media says a military airport near Homs has come under missile attack from “enemy” fire. …

The Siberian village of Loschinka is plagued by alcoholism and unemployment, all-too-common symptoms of Russia’s crumbling countryside. So why did Russian President Vladimir Putin get every vote here during the recent presidential election? …

U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Jon Huntsman says he has experienced “frustration” due to the reluctance of some Russian officials to meet with him because of the state of affairs between the two countries. …

Opposition politicians and watchdog groups have criticized Kosovo’s parliament for nominating a man convicted of corruption in neighboring Serbia to be a judge on Kosovo’s Constitutional Court. …

VOA Contributor Greta Van Susteren interviews former US Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan Crocker, who explains why Pakistan sees everything through an India prism and why China’s investment in Pakistan may turn out to be helpful for the United States. …

VOA Contributor Greta Van Susteren interviews former Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who said Pakistan has been a “most loyal ally” of the United States, but the US “ditches” Pakistan when it’s politically convenient and favors Pakistan’s enemy, India. …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on May 24 met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing, highlighting the importance of dialogue between China and Germany amid shared concerns over trade with the United States and Washington’s withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran. …

Senior U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials are set to give separate briefings to two sets of lawmakers Thursday in connection with the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. In the first session, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and FBI Director …

Read more “US Lawmakers to Receive Intelligence Briefing on FBI Informant Trump Calls ‘Spy’”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, are scheduled to meet on May 24 in St. Petersburg to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, as well as the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine. …

The war that Cameroon’s government declared on armed separatists fighting for the independence of the English-speaking regions from the bilingual English/Francophone country is leaving many casualties among both the military and the insurgents. Hundreds have died in the fighting that is now in its sixth month — and hundreds more are missing. A military ambulance …

Read more “Cameroon’s Civil War Intensifies, Casualties Mount”

A Macedonian court has sentenced former conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski to two years in jail for unlawfully influencing officials over the purchase of a luxury bulletproof vehicle. …

She’s young, has super powers and is indigenous! This week, a new superhero makes her debut in Marvel Comics’ Champion series: Amka Aliyak, alias Snowguard, an Inuit teenager who hails from the town of Pangnirtung, in Nunavut, one of the four regions that comprise the homeland for the Inuit population of Canada. She debuted in …

Read more “Marvel Comics Introduces Indigenous Superhero”

The latest search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 will end next week, keeping alive one of the world’s biggest aviation mysteries. U.S.- based Ocean Infinity agreed with the Malaysian government in January to launch a 90-day hunt for the plane, which vanished on March 8, 2014 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to …

Read more “Latest Search for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 to End Next Week”