worldwide news
U.S. President Donald Trump has again vowed to keep Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and has criticized the landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers. …
If elected president, Serbian Prime minister Aleksandar Vucic might well seek to maintain his balancing act between Moscow and Brussels. (The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.) …
Venezuelan authorities raided the Caracas offices of Odebrecht on Tuesday, as prosecutors deepened a probe into the Brazilian construction firm that has admitted paying some $98 million in bribes to obtain government contracts in Venezuela. “The investigation is aimed at clarifying the situation and determining if the projects for which this company was contracted were …
Read more “Venezuela Prosecutors Raid Odebrecht Offices in Bribe Probe”
Michelle Obama’s garden stays. First lady Melania Trump says through a spokeswoman that she is committed to preserving gardens at the White House, including the bountiful one planted by her immediate predecessor. “As a mother and as the first lady of this country, Mrs. Trump is committed to the preservation and continuation of the White …
Read more “Melania Trump Says She’ll Keep Predecessor’s Produce Garden”
Less than six month after Rio de Janeiro hosted the first-ever Olympics in South America, game venues sit idle and already in disrepair, raising questions about a legacy that organizers promised would benefit the Brazilian city and its residents. “We thought this would be for us,” said Alex da Silva Ferreira, a mechanic who walked …
Read more “Brazil’s Olympic Legacy Far from Fulfilled at Idle Game Venues”
Human rights workers say a Russian LGBT activist and an associate have returned to Russia after they were detained by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. …
Russia’s embassy in Ankara has expressed anger about the awarding of the prestigious World Press Photo Award to a photographer who shot an image of an off-duty Turkish policeman assassinating Russia’s envoy to Turkey. …
Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic says Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic will be the presidential candidate for the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in elections later this year. …
From requiring constitutional changes to pushing for unity in the divided country and reshaping the royal household, Thailand’s new king is putting an assertive stamp on his rule. King Maha Vajiralongkorn has made it clear to the generals running the country that he will not just sit in the background as a constitutional figurehead since …
Romania’s parliament has agreed to hold a referendum on public support for fighting corruption. The move on February 13 failed to appease antigovernment demonstrators, however, who gathered for a 14th consecutive night of protests in the capital, Bucharest. …
Cocaine is probably the last thing most people think about when buying roses. But every year, police and growers in Colombia must work around the clock to make sure that the romance of Valentine’s Day isn’t spoiled by the drug, the nation’s other major export along with flowers. As much as 330,000 pounds (150 metric …
Read more “Colombia Keeps Cocaine From Spoiling Valentine’s Day Flowers”
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron’s party chief said Macron is being targeted by Russian media and internet attacks with the goal of helping the election campaigns of his pro-Moscow rivals. …
Japanese officials have said they lodged a protest with Russia over Moscow’s decision to give names to five formerly unnamed islands of a disputed chain known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia. …
National security adviser Michael Flynn has resigned after reports he misled Trump administration officials about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. Flynn’s departure less than one month into the Trump administration marks an extraordinarily early shakeup in the president’s senior team of advisers. Flynn was a loyal Trump supporter throughout the campaign, but …
After he was denied asylum in the U.S., Seidu Mohammed’s fear of being deported to his native Ghana, where he believes he’d be killed or jailed, became so great that he set out in brutal winter conditions to cross illegally into Canada. Mohammed and his friend lost all their fingers to frostbite after a 10-hour …
Read more “Desperate Immigrants Risk Perilous Winter Trek to Canada”
The Kremlin has weighed in on a heated discussion in the United States over telephone conversations President Donald Trump’s national security adviser held with the Russian ambassador to Washington in late December. …
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stressed that Moscow is hoping for closer cooperation with the United States on Syria under new U.S. President Donald Trump. …
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL. …
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday he regrets the U.S. rejection of his pick to be the world body’s next envoy for Libya. He called former Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad “the right person for the right job at the right time.” The United States blocked Fayyad’s appointment Friday, with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. …
Read more “UN Chief: Rejected Libya Envoy ‘Right Person for the Job’”
President Donald Trump’s carefully worded and measured condemnation of North Korea’s missile test on Sunday leaves unclear what new policies he may pursue to halt the Kim Jong Un government’s advancing nuclear program. Standing alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who called North Korea’s missile launch “absolutely intolerable,” Trump said, “The United States of America …
Read more “Trump’s Response to North Korea’s Missile Launch Raises Concerns”
A Kenyan judge has jailed officials of a national doctors’ union for a month because of an ongoing strike. The public hospital doctors are seeking better pay and working conditions. They have been on strike since December 5. The doctors want the government to implement a 2013 salary and working conditions agreement, and have rejected …
Read more “Judge Jails Officials From Kenya’s Medical Union”
The United Nations said Sunday that last week’s U.S. airstrikes in southern Afghanistan could have killed at least 18 civilians. The strikes targeted insurgent positions on Thursday and Friday in Sangin, an embattled district in the province of Helmand, according to a statement by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA. “UNAMA’s initial enquiries …
Read more “UN: Recent US Airstrikes Could Have Killed Afghan Civilians”
The parliament of the break-away republic of Somaliland has overwhelming approved a deal to allow the United Arab Emirates to establish an air and naval base in the port town of Berbera. Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo presented the motion on Sunday to a joint session by both houses of the parliament, saying “it …
Read more “Somaliland Approves Naval, Air Base Deal with UAE”
A look at the best news photos from around the world. …