worldwide news
A youth named by China as the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, but reviled as a fake by many Tibetans, has praised the Communist Party’s religious policies in Tibet in a lunar new year message, saying they made him feel “very happy.” Although officially atheist, China selected Gyaltsen Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama in …
Read more “In New Year Message, China’s Panchen Lama Praises Religious Policy”
The Daily Vertical is a video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday. (The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.) …
At least 11 people were killed in airstrikes on Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province Monday, opposition activists said, in the latest spasm of violence to mar U.N.-brokered talks in Geneva between the Syrian government and the opposition. Separately, there were unconfirmed reports that a top al-Qaida official was killed in an airstrike, also in Idlib. The …
Read more “Jets Pound Northwest Syria as Geneva Talks Continue”
“If you trap a cat in a closet, he will fight like hell to get out,” says Ahmed Ghalibi as multiple car bombings send smoke billowing over a nearby Iraqi neighborhood. Standing Sunday on a rooftop with a view of the week-old fight for western Mosul, Ghalibi, a soldier with Iraq’s Emergency Response Unit — …
Read more “Islamic State in Western Mosul on the Offensive as Iraqi Forces Advance”
The U.S. Embassy in Croatia on Monday strongly denounced a march by far-right nationalists in the Croatian capital of Zagreb who also waved an American flag and reportedly voiced support for President Donald Trump. The embassy said in a statement it “rejects, in the strongest terms, neo-Nazi and pro-Ustasha views expressed during the demonstration of …
Read more “US Embassy Condemns Far-right March With US Flag in Croatia”
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi won raves ahead of winning his second Oscar, for the taut “neorealist” suspense film The Salesman, but the reviews have been more mixed for his long-distance acceptance speech. …
On February 27, 2015, Kremlin critic and former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov was murdered on a Moscow bridge. Thousands of people marked the second anniversary of his assassination. But with tributes to the slain opposition figure being dismantled, a group of volunteers are fighting to protect Nemtsov’s memory. (YouTube, RFE/RL’s Russian Service, Current …
Hundreds of Afghans remain stranded on the Pakistani side of the Torkham border crossing, which closed earlier this month. Those waiting on February 27 included women, children, and others needing medical attention, who were earlier told by authorities that they would be allowed to cross. (RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal) …
Cameras and cell phones at the ready, fans and members of the media have begun to gather outside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 89th Academy Awards celebration. Sunday night’s Oscars are shaping up to be one of the most turbulent and politically charged ceremonies in recent memory. The 3-hour-plus telecast is expected …
Read more “Fans and Film Stars Ready for Hollywood’s Big Night: Oscars”
Hind Safaa has returned to her hometown of Qaraqosh in northern Iraq after Islamic State fighters were pushed out of the town. She and her family left the area two years ago due to fears that Islamic State fighters will target them as religious minorities. Safaa was shocked to witness the destruction and ruins brought …
Read more “Mass Christian Immigration From Iraq Makes Future of Church Uncertain”
Sunday night’s Oscars are shaping up to be one of the most turbulent and politically charged ceremonies in recent memory. The three-hour-plus telecast, which begins at 8:30 p.m. on ABC, is expected to resemble one very glitzy protest against President Donald Trump, whom award-winners _-like Meryl Streep at the Golden Globes – have railed against …
Read more “Stars Arrive at Oscars, Where La La Land Could Shine”
Thousands of film fans gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square for a screening of a film by an Iranian director who was nominated for an Oscar but is boycotting the Academy Awards in protest over U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban policies. …
Besides a march held on February 26 in Moscow commemorating former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, who was killed two years ago, events in his memory also took place in others cities on the same day. While marches were staged in St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk, people in Krasnoyarsk laid flowers beside photos of Nemtsov …
Read more “Commemorations Of Slain Kremlin Critic Nemtsov Held In Russian Cities”
Iran’s navy has begun an annual drill near the strategic Strait of Hormuz — its first major exercise in the area since the January 20 inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump. …
Kyrgyzstan’s state security service said it detained opposition politician Omurbek Tekebayev on Sunday on charges of corruption and fraud, a move that may eliminate him as a contender for presidency in the upcoming election. Tekebayev, 58, leads the Ata Meken (Fatherland) party’s parliamentary faction and is one of the most outspoken critics of President Almazbek …
French President Francois Hollande fired back at Donald Trump on Saturday after the U.S. president remarked in a speech that a friend thought “Paris is no longer Paris” after attacks by Islamist militants. Hollande said Trump should show support for U.S. allies. “There is terrorism and we must fight it together. I think that it …
Read more “French President Asks Trump for Support, not Criticism”
Pope Francis has quietly reduced sanctions against a handful of pedophile priests, applying his vision of a merciful church even to its worst offenders in ways that survivors of abuse and the pope’s own advisers question. One case has come back to haunt him: An Italian priest who received the pope’s clemency was later convicted …
Read more “Pope Trims Sanctions for Some Pedophile Priests Seeking Mercy”
Japan is ready to propose a specific plan to Russia for the joint economic development of an island chain that both countries claim, The Nikkei Asia Review reports. …
Pakistan is scheduled to host a multination conference in Islamabad next week aimed at increasing trade and cooperation between regional countries. …
The Macedonian opposition Social Democratic Union (SDSM) has formally nominated Zoran Zaev to be its candidate for prime minister after securing enough support for a parliamentary majority. …
Afghan officials say 10 police officers and the wife of a police commander have been killed in an attack in the northern province of Zawzjan. …
The White House has barred several major news organizations from attending an informal press briefing. …
Turkey’s prime minister has officially launched his ruling party’s campaign for a “yes” vote in a referendum on ushering a presidential system, which critics fear will concentrate too many powers in the hands of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Binali Yildirim formally got campaigning going on Saturday telling supporters in a sports arena that the …
Read more “Turkish PM Launches ‘Yes’ Campaign to Boost Erdogan Powers”
The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East made a secret trip to northern Syria on February 24 to meet with allied Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State (IS) group. …