Sources: Four Arrested in France for Planning Attack

Four people have been arrested in and around Montpellier, southern France, on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack, police and justice sources said on Friday. Those in custody included a 22 year-old man and his 16 year-old girlfriend, both known to authorities for connections with radical Islam, after authorities found TATP explosives and other bomb-making …

Zimbabwe Authorities Release Detained Pastor on Bail

Authorities in Zimbabwe Thursday released a pastor facing a charge of trying to subvert President Robert Mugabe’s government, a day after the country’s High Court had granted him release on $300 bail. Upon pastor Evan Mawarire’s release, journalists outside Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison were begging him to get out of the vehicle he was in …

Sessions: US Needs ‘Lawful’ Immigration System

Senator Jeff Sessions was sworn in as the next U.S. attorney general Thursday at the White House, where he stressed that the U.S. needs a “lawful system of immigration” that serves the interest of the American people. President Donald Trump lauded Sessions with praise as he congratulated him on being sworn in, calling the new …

Tribe Files Legal Challenge to Stall Dakota Access Pipeline

Construction of the Dakota Access pipeline under a North Dakota reservoir has begun and the full pipeline should be operational within three months, the developer of the long-delayed project said Thursday, even as an American Indian tribe filed a legal challenge to block the work and protect its water supply. The Army granted Energy Transfer …

Guatemala Arrests Supreme Court Judge in Corruption Probe

A Guatemalan Supreme Court judge was arrested on Wednesday accused of influence trafficking, prosecutors said, in the latest anti-corruption drive in the Central American country. Blanca Stalling was walking in the capital, Guatemala City, when she was arrested while wearing a red wig and sunglasses, according to Julia Barrera, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s …

Yemen Keeps Counterterrorism Operations With US Despite Raid

Yemen said on Wednesday it had not suspended counterterrorism operations with the U.S. government, despite controversy over a U.S. commando raid on al-Qaida militants in which several civilians were also killed. The raid in al-Bayda province, approved by new U.S. President Donald Trump, resulted in a gun battle that left one Navy SEAL dead and …

Sri Lanka to Ask UN for More Time to Probe War Crimes

Sri Lanka says it needs more time to fulfill promises given to the U.N. human rights body to investigate war crime allegations from the nation’s long civil war, which ended nearly eight years ago. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told foreign correspondents late Tuesday that the government will seek more time at the next U.N. human …

Top Shots

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL’s broadcast region and beyond for the sixth week of 2017. …

Warren Violates Arcane Rule, Sparking Senate Dustup

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has earned a rare rebuke by the Senate for quoting Coretta Scott King on the Senate floor. The Massachusetts Democrat ran afoul of the chamber’s arcane rules by reading a three-decade-old letter from Dr. Martin Luther King’s widow that dated to Sen. Jeff Sessions’ failed judicial nomination three decades ago. The chamber is debating the …

Boom in Tourists Helping Stabilize China-Vietnam Relations

China has emerged as the top single-country source of tourism for Vietnam over the past year, a status that could help broader relations hurt by a maritime dispute and historical distrust.  The number of Chinese tourists to the neighboring Southeast Asian country reached 250,000 in January, leading other countries with about a quarter of the …

Supreme Court Likely Destination for Trump Travel Ban Case

A U.S. federal appeals court expects to issue a ruling sometime this week on the government’s request to end a temporary pause of President Donald Trump’s travel ban.  A lower federal court issued the temporary restraining order last week, saying the government could not enforce the 90-day entry ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries …

Homeland Security Chief Makes First Public Trip to Congress

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is heading to Capitol Hill for his first public appearance before lawmakers who are sure to press him for details about the Trump administration’s contentious rollout of a travel and refugee ban. He will testify before the House Homeland Security Committee.   Kelly has said the ban was intended to …

Melania Trump Lawsuit Says ‘Daily Mail’ Article Cost Her Millions in Business

U.S. First Lady Melania Trump has re-filed a defamation lawsuit against the company that publishes the Daily Mail’s website, saying an article posted there in August 2016 harmed her ability to earn millions of dollars during a time when she would be “one of the most photographed women in the world.” The article discussed false …