Category: World

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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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A Russian court has rejected an appeal by Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny against a 30-day jail term that was handed to him for organizing nationwide protests against President Vladimir Putin. …

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is holding a hearing on May 23 in the case concerning the 2008 armed conflict between Georgia and Russia and its aftermath. …

South Africa’s investigation into the influential Gupta family has cut a wide swath through the country.The family, which fled South Africa earlier this year, stands accused of high-level corruption going up all the way to the office of former President Jacob Zuma. But their business activities in poor communities have also left deep wounds, residents …

Read more “Gupta Family Flight Hangs Over South African Mine”