Worldwide news. The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a “plurality of worlds”
The Pacific island of Tonga is in a state of emergency as it prepares for Cyclone Gita. The storm is currently a Category 4, and forecasters expect it could grow to a Category 5 by the time it strikes Tonga Monday night. Residents can expect soaking rains and winds that can exceed 200 kilometers per …
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says the United Nations must supervise the return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar because many are scared to come home on their own. Johnson spoke to reporters Sunday after his meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, de facto leader of the country formerly known as Burma “I saw real apprehension …
Read more “British Foreign Secretary Wants UN to Supervise Return of Burmese Refugees”
Iraq’s oil minister says Baghdad has asked British energy giant BP to draft a study on boosting production in the Kirkuk oil fields in Iraq’s Kurdistan region that were reclaimed by Baghdad late last year. …
Teams of specialists from Russia’s Emergencies Ministry were sent to the location of an airliner crash east of Moscow on February 11. An Antonov An-148 operated by Saratov Airlines crashed en route from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport to Orsk, killing all 71 people aboard. (Reuters) …
Asma Jahangir, one of Pakistan’s most prominent right activists and lawyers, has died at the age of 66. …
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s invitation to South Korean President Moon Jae-in to visit Pyongyang could complicate the Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts to pressure the reclusive communist state to abandon its nuclear weapons program, analysts say. Kim extended the rare invitation to the South Korean leader through his closest confidante: his only sister Kim …
Read more “North Korea’s Summit Offer Could Test US-South Korea’s United Nuclear Front”
For years, doctors have been warning of a post-antibiotic age with resistant mutations leading to so-called superbugs — multidrug-resistant infections that can evade the medicines designed to kill them. Faith Lapidus reports that the race is on to develop new drugs to treat these emerging, mutating infections. …
Billionaire CEO Elon Musk is off to a big 2018. He’s chief executive of both SpaceX and Tesla. His space-travel company launched off the planet and into orbit a roadster from his electric car company. It was the latest milestone for an executive who looks to revolutionize space travel and technology. Arash Arabasadi reports. …
A 39-year-old Uzbek asylum seeker charged with carrying out the deadly truck attack in Stockholm in April 2017 is scheduled to go on trial on February 13 on terrorism charges. …
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate de-escalation in Syria after Israel carried out air strikes inside the country that has been ravaged by civil war since 2011. …
Estonia and Russia have swapped two convicted spies after both men received presidential pardons, Estonian authorities say. …
While his seven sisters and brother undoubtedly have good lives, the member of the family who seems to be having the most fun lately is President Emomali Rahmon’s second son. (The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.) …
Two soldiers have been killed and three others wounded in Indian-controlled Kashmir as troops traded fire with armed militants who were holed up inside an army camp, officials said. …
Norway’s Marit Bjoergen entered the history books Saturday at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. She became the most decorated female winter Olympian of all time when she won a silver medal in the 15K skiathlon. It was her 11th medal – six gold, four silver and a bronze. Charlotte Kalla of Sweden won …
The Moldovan Defense Ministry says its troops will participate in military exercises in Romania along with troops from the United States, Georgia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and the host country. …
American cities are becoming safer as violent crime decreases nationwide. But the city of Baltimore is an exception. Amy Berbert, a local artist whose photography project ‘Remembering the Stains on the Sidewalk’ aims to bring awareness and compassion to the frequently forgotten victims of Baltimore’s homicides. …
One day after Danang authorities issued guidelines requiring the local press to obtain official approval before disseminating content, city officials rescinded the order in the face of public outcry. Vietnamese media reported that along with the withdrawal of the censorship request, the Danang Department of Information and Communications also “sincerely apologized to the press.” The …
Read more “Vietnamese City Rescinds Directive Curtailing Press Freedom”
U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster is due in Turkey this weekend, as a potential military confrontation looms between the two countries over Syria. The NATO allies disagree over Turkey’s military intervention in Syria against a Kurdish militia which is a key U.S. ally in the war against Islamic State. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu …
Read more “US Steps Up Effort to Avert Confrontation With Turkey Over Syrian Kurdish Militia”
Refugees in Rwanda will soon have a chance to work, open a bank account, access government services and move more freely, thanks to a new initiative launched by the government and the U.N. refugee agency. Rwanda and UNHCR on Wednesday began a program to verify refugees’ identities in order to collect accurate and updated information …
Read more “Program to Verify Identities of Refugees in Rwanda”
Reuters released a report Thursday on ethnic killings in Myanmar, detailing research done by two of its reporters currently jailed in the Southeast Asian country. The news agency details the slaughter of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din, where Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo spoke with Buddhist neighbors who …
Read more “Reuters Report Details Work of Journalists Detained in Myanmar”
A Russian billionaire has warned of legal action after an exposé of his meeting with a senior government official on a yacht, while his alleged ex-lover at the center of the scandal has left political watchers perplexed. …
A court in Paris has prolonged the pretrial detention of the Russian protest artist Pyotr Pavlensky, who was detained in October after setting fire to an entrance of the Bank of France in the French capital. …
Employees at a Russian top-secret nuclear facility have reportedly been detained after trying to use one of Russia’s most powerful supercomputers to mine Bitcoin. …
The United States does not plan to contribute any money at a conference in Kuwait next week to fund Iraq’s reconstruction drive after the war against Islamic State forces, U.S. and Western officials said, a move critics say could deal a new blow to American standing internationally. “We are not planning to announce anything,” a …
Read more “Officials: US Not Planning to Contribute Money at Iraq Reconstruction Conference”