November 23, 2017
A look at the best news photos from around the world. …
Three Georgian Soldiers Wounded In Attack Outside Kabul
Three Georgian soldiers were injured when their vehicle came under attack near Bagram Airfield outside the Afghan capital, Kabul. …
Opposition Calls for Direct Talks With Syria Government
Syria opposition representatives meeting in the Saudi Arabian capital called Thursday for direct and unconditional negotiations with the Syrian government over the more than 6-year civil war that would lead to the launch of a transitional period. The opposition didn’t condition its participation in upcoming U.N-based negotiations on the departure of President Bashar Assad …
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Iran Reportedly Sets Date For New Trial Of Imprisoned British-Iranian Woman
The British daily The Guardian has reported that authorities in Iran have set a date for the trial of British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, citing the woman’s husband. …
Old Monastery Symbolizes Iraqi Christians’ Resilience After IS Destruction
The 14-century-old Rabban Hormizd Monastery in northern Mosul has become a popular destination for thousands of Iraq’s Christians who were targeted by the Islamic State group. Visitors say the monastery represents the ability of Christians to survive during one of the most turbulent times in Iraq. VOA’s Kawa Omar reports. …
Saudi-led Coalition to Begin Allowing Aid Into Yemen
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen said Wednesday that it would reopen the country’s main international airport and a vital Red Sea port to humanitarian traffic. The easing is supposed to begin Thursday. The airport in the capital of Sanaa will reopen to U.N. aircraft, and the seaport of Hodeida will be …
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Attorney General: Feds Must Do More to Keep Guns From Criminals
The U.S. Attorney General says federal agencies must do a better job of keeping track of criminals who are not supposed to be able to buy guns. On Wednesday, Jeff Sessions ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to investigate an administrative foul up that allowed felon Devin …
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Pakistan Orders Release Of Suspected Mastermind Of Deadly Mumbai Attacks
A court in Pakistan has ordered the release from house arrest of an Islamist leader accused of masterminding the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people, his lawyer and a prosecutor say. …
Local Washington Officials Eye Renaming Russian Embassy Street After Nemtsov
City lawmakers in Washington are considering renaming the street in front of the Russian Embassy in the U.S. capital to honor slain Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. …
Facebook To Let Users See If They Followed Russian ‘Troll Farm’ Pages
Facebook says it is creating a portal enabling users to learn whether they liked or followed pages or accounts linked to a shadowy Russian company that U.S. officials accuse of trying to influence last year’s presidential election with socially divisive posts. …
Zimbabwe Awaits New President
Zimbabwe could have a new president as early as Wednesday following the resignation of longtime leader Robert Mugabe. Top officials in the ruling ZANU-PF party said former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa will be sworn in either Wednesday or Thursday. Mnangagwa abruptly fled the country November 6 after Mugabe fired him, but he was expected to …
Trailblazing Yugoslav War Crimes Court Nears End Of The Road
While the International Criminal Tribunal on Yugoslavia blazed a trail of firsts, shortcomings such as failing to prevent the early release of those found guilty of war crimes have planted lingering doubts over its success in bringing justice and reconciliation to a region where ethnic tensions continue to simmer. …
Returning PM Attends Lebanon’s Military Parade
Lebanon is celebrating its Independence Day with a military parade attended by the president and the prime minister who resigned from Saudi Arabia earlier this month in a move that stunned the country. Wednesday’s parade comes hours after Prime Minster Saad Hariri returned to Lebanon after a three-week absence that was described by Lebanese officials …
UN Tribunal To Hand Down Historic Verdict Against Bosnian Serb Commander Mladic
The UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia will complete its work on November 22 by handing down the verdict in the five-year war crimes trial of Bosnian Serb wartime commander Ratko Mladic. …
U.S. Says Charges Iran Sanctions Case ‘Politically Motivated’ Are ‘Ridiculous’
The top U.S. prosecutor in a high-profile Iran sanctions case has denied charges from top Turkish officials that the case is “fabricated” and “politically motivated,” calling those allegations “ridiculous.” …
Dramatic Video Shows Escape, Shooting of N. Korean Defector
A North Korean soldier made a desperate dash to freedom in a jeep and then on foot, being shot at least five times as he limped across the border and was rescued by South Korean soldiers, according to dramatic video released by the U.S.-led U.N. Command Wednesday. Colonel Chad G. Carroll, a spokesman for the …
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China Sentences Rights Lawyer to 2 Years in Prison
A court in China’s southern Hunan province has sentenced prominent rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong to two years in prison on the charge of inciting state subversion. Jiang is the twelfth lawyer to be sentenced since China began a sweeping crackdown more than two years ago that has seen more than 300 lawyers targeted. Two …
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Lukashenka To Skip Upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit In Brussels
Belarus says President Alyaksandr Lukashenka will not attend the European Union’s Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels on November 24. …
Rosneft Chief Sechin To Skip Ulyukayev’s Trial Again, Citing Siberia Trip
Russian state oil company chief Igor Sechin, who was summoned twice last week to testify in a former economy minister’s extortion trial but failed to show up, says he will also skip a November 22 hearing, despite a third summons. …
The Daily Vertical: Putin And The Paradox Of The Polls
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL. …
Bleak Outlook for Indonesia’s Long-Persecuted Ahmadiyya
Many of Indonesia’s religious minorities celebrated last week when the government allowed citizens to list faiths outside the six state-sanctioned religions on their national ID cards. But the ruling changed little for Muslim Indonesians who identify with minority strains of Islam, like Ahmadiyya, and still face discrimination in the world’s largest Muslim country. The Ahmadiyya …
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Suicide Bomber Kills At Least 50 in Nigeria
A suicide bombing early Tuesday at a mosque in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 50 people. The attack happened as people arrived for morning prayers at the mosque in the town of Mubi, located in Adamawa state. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the bombing resembled numerous prior suicide attacks carried out by …
Russia Says Ukraine Detained Man Allegedly Involved In 2004 Klebnikov Killing
Russia says Ukrainian authorities acting on its request have detained a man accused of involvement in the assassination of an American journalist in Russia 13 years ago. …
Merkel Signals Readiness for New Election After Coalition Talks Collapse
Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would prefer a new election to ruling with a minority after talks on forming a three-way coalition failed overnight, but Germany’s president told parties they owed it to voters to try to form a government. The major obstacle to a three-way deal was immigration, according to Merkel, who was forced …
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