Category: World

Current and past world leaders praised former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl as a “friend of freedom” and the “very essence of Europe.” …

Uzbek human rights defender and opposition activist Nuriddin Jumaniyazov died in prison last year, a human rights activist says. …

American tourists strolling the ample squares and narrow streets of colonial Havana may not know it, but from novelist Ernest Hemingway’s famed Floridita bar to Sloppy Joe’s eatery, they are probably patronizing businesses owned by Cuba’s military. It is that lucrative line of business that President Donald Trump will target when he rolls out his …

Read more “Military-linked Business Enterprises Dominate in Cuba”

A wide-ranging survey shows that public approval of the European Union has rebounded strongly compared with a year ago but that many people nonetheless think their own national governments — and not the EU — should have the say over trade and immigration. The poll results from the U.S.-based Pew Research Center show that majorities …

Read more “A Year After Brexit Vote, More People View EU Favorably”

Pakistan aims to tighten security for the thousands of Chinese nationals working in the country after a Chinese couple was abducted and later allegedly killed by Islamic State  raising safety concerns about major economic projects that Beijing has undertaken to benefit both countries. Pakistani officials said they will form thousands-strong police protection forces and keep …

Read more “Pakistan to Boost Security for Chinese Nationals After IS Killings”

Iranian forces have killed two suspected members of an armed Sunni Muslim group in southeastern Iran and arrested five others, a minister said, accusing Saudi Arabia of “sponsoring terrorists” in the country. …

Two Russian opposition figures from Aleksei Navalny’s party asked for political asylum at the Ukrainian border on June 15, Ukraine’s Border Guard Service said. …

Vladimir Putin’s annual call-in show is billed by the Kremlin as a way for the Russian president to connect with average Russians. So why did he take a question from a “some dude in Mesa, Arizona who’s angry?” …

Kosovo charged nine men on June 15 with plotting terror attacks in Kosovo and at a World Cup soccer match between Israel and Albania last year. …

Two men have been arrested in connection to a brawl between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s security guards and protesters in Washington and charges are planned against a dozen guards, officials said on June 14. …

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is set to appear on June 15 before a panel investigating allegations against his family’s offshore companies and money laundering. …

Somali security forces ended the al-Shabab siege of a Mogadishu restaurant early Thursday after battling the militants for almost 11 hours. Major Abdifatah Bashir Ali, commander of police in the Hodan district of the city, told VOA Somali that special security forces launched a major operation just before 6 a.m. local time and were able …

Read more “Mogadishu Restaurant Siege Ends, 19 Civilians Dead”

The real estate firm owned by the family of Jared Kushner has withdrawn a request for a big tax break for one its buildings in Jersey City, New Jersey, the latest setback for the company in the area.   The Kushner Cos. sent a letter withdrawing its application for a 30-year break from city taxes …

Read more “Kushner Company Drops Tax Break Request in New Jersey”

The special counsel investigating Russia’s influence on last year’s U.S. elections and possible links to the campaign of President Donald Trump has expanded to include looking at whether the president has obstructed justice. The revelation came late Wednesday in articles published by the Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal, based on accounts …

Read more “Reports: Special Counsel Investigating Trump for Possible Obstruction of Justice”

A suspect is in custody after gunfire erupted at a baseball field in Virginia, where Republican Representative Steve Scalise was shot and badly injured. The shooting took place shortly after 7am. as lawmakers were practicing for an annual Congressional baseball game set for tomorrow.  Colleagues of Scalise immediately took to Twitter to express their shock …

Read more “Republican Rep. Steve Scalise Shot – ‘Badly Hurt’ – at Congressional Baseball Practice in Virginia”

Firefighters on Wednesday continued to battle one of London’s biggest fire disasters in recent memory as a rapid-moving blaze raced through a 24-story apartment building in West London. Hours after the fire was first reported, crews worked to rescue people trapped inside and count the number of dead. …

Russia’s space agency says an unmanned supply ship has been launched and is on its way to the International Space Station (ISS). …

The ombudsman of Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, has accused city authorities of “provoking” unsanctioned protests. …

U.S. Congressman Stephen Scalise was shot Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia just south of Washington, according to local emergency response officials. Scalise is reported to be in stable condition after being shot in the hip as he and other Republican congressional lawmakers were practicing for an annual baseball game scheduled for Thursday. Reports say at least …

Read more “Congressman Scalise Shot Outside Washington”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to testify before a House panel on June 14, as Congress moves closer to cementing existing sanctions against Moscow and imposing new ones. …

Uber’s embattled CEO Travis Kalanick announced Tuesday that he is taking a leave of absence from the company for an unspecified amount of time. He made the announcement to employees over email saying he needed to mourn the loss of his mother, who died in a boating accident last month. He also said he need …

Read more “Uber CEO Takes Leave of Absence Amid Controversies”

Members of Army medic James McCloughan’s unit in Vietnam called him “Doc.” Now, those soldiers, several of whom McCloughan saved during the ferocious, dayslong Battle of Nui Yon Hill in 1969, will have a new name for him: Medal of Honor recipient. Army spokeswoman Valerie L. Mongello said Tuesday that the 71-year-old from South Haven, …

Read more “Michigan Vietnam Vet Is Trump’s 1st Medal of Honor Recipient”

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has defended President Donald Trump’s proposal to sharply cut spending on diplomacy and foreign aid while proposing large increases in military spending. The president’s 2018 proposed budget would cut spending at the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) by 32 percent and boost Defense Department spending …

Read more “Tillerson Defends Proposed Cuts to Diplomacy, Foreign Aid Programs”

A look at the best news photos from around the world. …