Former Armenian President’s Son-in-Law Recalled From Ambassador Posts
Yerevan has recalled Mikayel Minasian, the son-in-law of former Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, from his ambassador posts in the Vatican and Portugal. …
Palau to Ban Sunscreen in Fight to Save Coral Reefs
In an attempt to protect the coral reefs that divers so admire they have dubbed them the underwater Serengeti, the Pacific nation of Palau will soon ban many types of sunscreen. President Tommy Remengesau Jr. last week signed legislation that bans “reef-toxic” sunscreen from 2020. Banned sunscreens will be confiscated from tourists who carry them …
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Lodi Gyari Testifying Before Senate Foreign Relations 2008
Lodi Gyari testifies in 2008 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee why relinquishing the notion of armed resistance and embracing non-violent dispute resolution is difficult but necessary. As an adult, he co-founded an influential Tibetan rights organization, and became the special envoy of the Dalai Lama in Washington. …
Paraplegics Learn to Walk Again Thanks to Spinal Cord Stimulation
A paralyzed man you’re about to meet didn’t have much hope that one day he’d be able to walk again. But thanks to a new medical device, things are looking up for him. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports. …
Islamists Protest Acquittal In Blasphemy Case For Third Day After Talks Fail
Hard-line Pakistani Islamists blocked roads in major cities for a third day on November 2 in protest against the acquittal of a Christian woman on death row for blasphemy allegations. …
Pakistani Leader Goes To China Seeking Aid To Deal With Debt Crisis
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chinese President Xi Jinping are due to meet in Beijing on November 2 as Pakistan faces a debt crisis and is looking to Beijing for additional financial support. …
Pashinian Says He Made ‘Clear’ To U.S. That Armenia Will Maintain Ties With Iran
Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian says he made clear to U.S. national-security adviser John Bolton last week that Armenia will pursue its national interests and maintain “special relations” with its neighbor Iran. …
Yerevan Likely To Recall CSTO Chief After He Was Charged At Home
Armenia says it may recall Yuri Khachaturov, the head of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty (CSTO) from his post, after he was charged earlier this year with overthrowing Armenia’s constitutional order when he was deputy defense minister. …
Google Workers Set to Launch Worldwide Protests
Hundreds of Google employees in Asia walked off the job briefly Thursday as part of a worldwide protest of the company’s handling of sexual harassment cases and its workplace culture. Hundreds of other Google workers and contractors, most of them women, are also expected Thursday to walk out of nearly two dozen company offices around …
Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Due in Court Thursday
The man accused of killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue is due to appear in a U.S. federal court Thursday to be arraigned on 44 charges that include murder and hate crimes. A grand jury indicted 46-year-old Robert Bowers on Wednesday in connection with the October 27 attack at the Tree of Life synagogue. …
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Armenia’s Parliament Triggers New Elections
Armenian lawmakers have triggered early parliamentary elections by failing for a second time, in accordance with a prior political agreement, to elect a new prime minister. …
Internet Freedom Still Sliding Globally, Democracy Watchdog Says
Internet freedom continues to wane worldwide under pressure from attacks on informed democratic debate and notions of privacy, with “a cohort of countries…moving toward digital authoritarianism,” U.S.-based democracy monitor Freedom House has warned. …
Female Afghan Graffiti Artist Seeks Change Through Murals
Shamsia Hassani is widely recognized as Afghanistan’s first female graffiti artist. Being a graffiti artist anywhere in the world is a challenge and that is especially true for a woman living in war-torn Kabul. Dorian Jones caught up with the 30-year-old Hassani at an international street art festival in Istanbul and has more on her …
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October 31, 2018
A look at the best news photos from around the world. …
Why Is It So Hard to Text 911?
People can livestream their every move on Facebook and chatter endlessly in group chats. But in most parts of the U.S., they still can’t reach 911 by texting — an especially important service during mass shootings and other catastrophes when a phone call could place someone in danger. Although text-to-911 service is slowly expanding, the …
Corporate Pledge to Deal With Plastic Draws Mixed Reaction
More than 250 corporate signatories joined together to try and deal with plastic pollution in an announcement timed to coincide with the 5th Annual “Our Ocean Conference” in Bali, Indonesia. Under terms of the agreement, the companies agreed to, among other things, make all of the plastics they produce recyclable by 2025. The signatories, …
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Iran Warns Against ‘Hasty’ Actions As Tensions Rise Over Danish Murder Plot Allegations
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the Danish ambassador to Tehran to issue a “strong protest” over Copenhagen’s allegations about an Iranian plot to kill an opposition activist on the Scandinavian country’s territory. …
‘Tug-Tooth’ Strikes Again: Ukrainian Takes Bite Out Of Record Book
A man from Ukraine has successfully pulled a 614-ton cargo ship — with his teeth. It’s just the latest bite at world fame by “Tug-Tooth” Skavysh. …
Istanbul Prosecutor: Khashoggi Strangled, Dismembered Immediately Upon Entering Saudi Consulate
Istanbul’s chief prosecutor says Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled and his body “cut in pieces” in a premeditated killing immediately upon entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. …
Republicans Focus on Defending Senate in Campaign’s Last Week
Republican campaigns took a defensive approach a week before elections to determine control of the U.S. Congress, with the party spending more to try to hold on to previously secure House seats and President Donald Trump preparing a six-day trip focused on Senate races. The National Republican Congressional Committee on Tuesday launched a wave of …
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Kepler Telescope Kaput After ‘Stunningly Successful’ Mission
NASA’s elite planet-hunting spacecraft has been declared dead, just a few months shy of its 10th anniversary. Officials announced the Kepler Space Telescope’s demise Tuesday. Already well past its expected lifetime, the 9½-year-old Kepler had been running low on fuel for months. Its ability to point at distant stars and identify possible alien worlds worsened …
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Guitarist Jimmy Page Looks Back at 50 Years of Led Zeppelin
Jimmy Page once painted a dragon, and used it to slay. The guitar guru was so bursting with creative inspiration 50 years ago that he felt compelled to pick up a brush and use his skills from art school to take poster paints to his favorite instrument, a 1959 Fender Telecaster, and decorate it with …
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Pakistani Court To Announce Verdict On Christian Woman’s Death-Row Blasphemy Appeal
Pakistan’s Supreme Court is set to announce its decision on what media described as the final appeal of a Christian woman who has been on death row since 2010 on a blasphemy conviction. …
Accusations Of Campaign To Smear Russia Probe Chief Mueller Referred To FBI
The office of U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller says it has referred to the FBI allegations that women were offered money to make up false claims about the investigator. …