Category: World

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 …

Read more “Xi Pledges to Open Chinese Market”

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 …

Read more “US, S. Korea Set Delayed Military Drills”

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. …

Russian police have detained at least eight protesters during an antigovernment rally coinciding with celebrations of Russia’s National Unity Day holiday, according to a monitoring group. …

Brexit is undermining Northern Ireland’s hard-won peace by creating tensions between Catholic and Protestant communities, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Saturday, even as hopes rose for a solution to the Irish border problem that has deadlocked negotiations.  “Brexit has undermined the Good Friday Agreement” — the 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of violence …

Read more “Irish PM: Brexit Is Undermining N. Ireland’s Peace Accord “

Russia says the Afghan government and the Taliban have agreed to take part in international talks in Moscow next week on the Afghan peace process. …

A Russian-made MiG-29 fighter plane crashed during a training flight in Egypt, Russia’s state-controlled aircraft manufacturer was quoted by RIA news agency as saying on Saturday. The Egyptian military confirmed that a fighter jet crashed while training due to a “technical glitch in the control tools”, adding the pilot managed to eject safely. “We are …

Read more “Report: Russian-Made Fighter Plane Crashes in Egypt”

Hundreds of mourners turned out for funeral services Saturday, after seven people were killed when their minibus was attacked by terrorists outside the Saint Samuel the Confessor Monastery in the southern Egyptian city of Minya a day earlier.   Families of the victims wailed and sobbed as the coffins of their loved ones were carried …

Read more “Christians in Egypt Bury Their Dead After Attack”

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew signed an agreement on November 3 in Istanbul, outlining cooperation between Kyiv and the Patriarchate of Constantinople that paves the way for the establishment of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a plan that has angered Moscow. …

An Uzbek businessman with alleged ties to organized crime has been elected president of the amateur boxing federation (AIBA), despite fears that his appointment could lead to the sport’s ejection from the Olympics. …

Twitter Inc. deleted more than 10,000 automated accounts posting messages that discouraged people from voting in Tuesday’s U.S. election and wrongly appeared to be from Democrats, after the party flagged the misleading tweets to the social media company.  “We took action on relevant accounts and activity on Twitter,” a Twitter spokesman said in an email. The removals took place in late September …

Read more “Twitter Deletes 10K Accounts That Sought to Discourage US Voting “

The arrival of more than a million Venezuelans fleeing a deep social and economic crisis in their country could lead to economic growth in Colombia, if the country takes the right steps to manage the migrant crisis, the World Bank said in a report released Friday. More than 2 million Venezuelans have emigrated amid food …

Read more “Venezuelan Migrants Could Be Good for Colombia Economy”

Time marches ahead, usually. It’s in retreat this weekend in the United States. At 2 a.m. local time Sunday, daylight saving time is ending, and standard time returns for most people across the country. It means an extra hour of sleep, perchance to dream, for one night. The shift means it’s lighter earlier in the …

Read more “Time on Retreat This Weekend in US With Standard Time Return”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the order to kill Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi “came from the highest levels of the Saudi government,” but he said he did not believe the king himself was involved. …

A Pakistani Islamist party says it will call off protests over the acquittal of a Christian woman in a blasphemy case, after the party reached a deal with the government on November 2. …