Category: World

U.N. human rights investigators said in a report Wednesday that Syrian government forces were responsible for 20 chemical weapons attacks primarily against civilians during the past four years. The Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria said some of those attacks happened between March and July of this year in Khan Sheikhoun, Al-Latamneh and eastern Ghouta. …

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Authorities in Ukraine say three political analysts, a journalist, and an activist died in a traffic accident in the western region of Rivne on September 6. …

President Donald Trump says he will revisit the decision to end a program that shielded nearly 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants from deportation if Congress doesn’t act on the issue. Hours after administration officials said new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, will no longer be accepted, Trump tweeted late …

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South Korea is planning to deploy additional launchers of a controversial U.S.-built missile defense system, a further sign of escalating tensions and a diplomatic stalemate over North Korea’s growing nuclear weapons program. The Defense Ministry announced Wednesday that four more rocket launchers that make up the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system will be installed along …

Read more “Seoul Turns to Diplomatic, Military Means to Solve North Korea Crisis”

Syria Fest debuted in Washington on Sept. 3, bringing to the nation’s capital an immersive outdoor cultural experience promoting Syrian food, music, art, dance, history and culture. …

Human Rights Watch says in a new report Tuesday that China has tried to intimidate, blacklist and squelch the voices of rights advocates who operate within the U.N. system, calling on Beijing to stop such pressure and urging U.N. agencies to resist. Announcing the report, HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth said that China’s influence and …

Read more “Rights Group: China Must Stop Pressuring Advocates at UN”

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

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has congratulated his counterpart Bashar al-Assad after Syrian state media said government troops broke a three-year long siege of the eastern city of Deir Al-Zour by Islamic State forces. …

A family of four in Iran has launched a symbolic protest against the cancellation of concerts around the country on religious grounds. …

Afghan officials say an air strike by “foreign forces” killed two people and wounded three others attending a wedding in the province of Kabul. …

The world’s poorest continent continued to grow more generous according to a yearly index of charitable giving released on Tuesday, bucking the trend of otherwise declining signs of charity worldwide. Africa was in a 2016 survey the only continent to report a continent-wide increase of its index generosity score when compared to its five-year average. …

Read more “Global Survey Shows Generosity Declines Worldwide But Africa Saves Day”

Chinese millennials with a dim view of their career and marriage prospects can wallow in despair with a range of teas such as “achieved-absolutely-nothing black tea,” and “my-ex’s-life-is-better-than-mine fruit tea.” While the drink names at the Sung chain of tea stalls are tongue-in-cheek, the sentiment they reflect is serious: A significant number of young Chinese …

Read more “For Chinese Millennials, Despondency Has a Brand Name”

Winds wreaked havoc on wildfires that were threatening two crown jewels of the National Park Service on Monday, pushing the flames toward man-made and natural icons in and around Glacier and Yosemite national parks. The wind-driven fires, combined with high temperatures and dry conditions, have disrupted holiday travel and hampered firefighters across the West during …

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A coalition headed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has agreed to a deal with the junior New Alliance for Kosovo party to form a government, ending three months of political gridlock sparked by inconclusive elections. …

Armenia says it never confirmed its participation in a multinational military drill under way in neighboring Georgia. …

Five of the world’s leading emerging economies have issued a statement that includes for the first time Pakistan-based militant groups as a regional security concern and calls for their patrons to be held accountable. …

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi is in Myanmar for meetings Monday with leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as the country’s military commander and national security adviser to discuss the ongoing crisis in Rakhine state. The U.N. refugee agency says 87,000 Rohingya have fled from Rakhine to neighboring Bangladesh since an eruption of violence …

Read more “Indonesia Urging Myanmar to Prevent Further Rakhine Violence”

Georgian troops have joined counterparts from the United States and other countries for the start of the Agile Spirit 2017 military drills — the seventh time the maneuvers have been held. …

Globally, around one-third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted or lost before it can reach consumers. The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization says even if just one-fourth of that food could be saved, it would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people.For VOA, Faiza Elmasry reports, while Faith Lapidus narrates. …

Here’s a statistic for you to consider: the U.N. estimates that over 30 percent of the food that is produced every year never gets eaten. Now one enterprising Nigerian entrepreneur has built an app to help get some of that food to those who need it. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on fellow BRICS nations to unite in the battle against growing trade protectionism across the world and play a “more active role in world governance” in a summit overshadowed by renewed tensions on the Korean Peninsula. …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she wants to end European Union membership talks with Turkey, amid rising tensions between the two NATO countries. …

North Korea’s claim of a successful hydrogen bomb test marks a major step in the isolated country’s long-stated goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that puts the U.S. mainland within range, experts say. North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sunday, which it said was a successful detonation of an advanced …

Read more “ANALYSIS – Possible Two-Stage Hydrogen Bomb Seen ‘Game Changer’ for North Korea”

Pope Francis travels to Colombia this week to encourage a fledgling peace process that ended half a century of war between a succession of governments and the guerrilla group FARC but has left the country deeply divided. Francis, making his 20th foreign trip as pontiff and his fifth to his native Latin America, will spend …

Read more “Pope Visits Colombia to Boost Peace Process after 50 Years of War”