Survivor Challenges Duterte’s Drug Crackdown in Court

A survivor of a Philippine police raid that killed four other drug suspects asked the Supreme Court Thursday to stop such operations and help him obtain police records to prove his innocence in a test case against the president’s bloody crackdown.   Lawyer Romel Bagares said his client Efren Morillo and other petitioners also asked …

Spain’s Jobless Rate Falls to 7-Year Low of 18.6 Percent

Spain’s unemployment rate edged down to a seven-year low of 18.6 percent at the end of 2016, the National Statistics Institute said Thursday.   The number of people out of work fell by 83,000 in the October-December period, to 4.2 million. Over the year, the unemployment rate dropped by 2.3 percentage points, the institute said.  …

Manager at Top Russian Cybersecurity Firm Arrested

The largest Russian cybersecurity company has confirmed that one of its top managers was arrested in December. The company confirmed a report published Wednesday by the newspaper Kommersant that the head of its computer incidents investigations unit, Ruslan Stoyanov, was arrested last month along with a senior official of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s …

Trump Reviewing US Terrorist Interrogation Rules

U.S. President Donald Trump is moving to review how America interrogates suspected terrorists and possibly reopen secret “black site” prisons outside the United States run by the Central Intelligence Agency that former President Barack Obama shut down. A draft Trump executive order on interrogation methods and the CIA was circulating Wednesday among high-level officials in …

France Presidential Hopeful Macron Gains Support

The real winner of France’s left-wing presidential primary may be a man who demonstrably shunned it: Emmanuel Macron. The 39-year-old former investment banker and ex-economy minister with pro-free market, pro-European views has chosen not to take part in the Socialist primary. Instead, in recent days he has been drawing attention away from the campaign by …

Iraqi Troops Liberate East Mosul, Prepare For Next Phase

Iraqi troops are preparing for the battle to liberate west Mosul from Islamic State militants after retaking the eastern part of the country’s second largest city. The Iraqi government said its forces now control all districts of Mosul east of the Tigris River after mopping up the last pockets of IS fighters. (RFE/RL’s Radio Farda) …

‘Halve Food Waste by 2030,’ EU Lawmakers Urge Member States

European Union countries were urged Tuesday to halve food waste by 2030, but lawmakers stopped short of making the target binding — to the disappointment of environmental activists. The European Parliament’s environment committee in Brussels voted in favor of new regulations calling on EU nations to aim to reduce food produced and never eaten to …

Brazil Prosecutor: Temer Labor Reforms Illegal

Brazil’s top labor prosecutor said President Michel Temer’s proposals to modernize the country’s labor laws were illegal in a report published on Tuesday that provided ammunition to workers’ unions fighting the reforms. Updating outdated labor laws to allow outsourcing and more flexibility in contracts and work hours is part of Temer’s plan to reduce business …

Russia, Iran, And Turkey Offer Syria Plan; Rebels Skeptical

Russia, Iran and Turkey said they would establish their own process for observing and enforcing the fragile cease-fire in Syria. But as two days of peace talks ended in Kazakhstan on January 24, rebel groups said on they had major reservations about the plan — mainly Iran’s participation. (Reuters/AP Video) …

Trump White House Shifts Key Foreign Policies

The Trump administration is moving quickly to implement new foreign and domestic policies and reverse some old ones. During the first official briefing on Monday, the new White House press secretary revealed some areas in which this new administration may be taking a different approach. White House correspondent Mary Alice Salinas has more. …

Trump Spokesman Vows to be Truthful with Press

President Donald Trump’s White House spokesman vowed Monday that the new administration intends “never to lie” to the news media. Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s comments came in the wake of a brewing clash between the new president and the journalists assigned to cover him during the first few days of his administration. VOA national correspondent …

Britain Faces Migration Dilemma as it Looks to Commonwealth for Post-Brexit Trade

Britain has indicated that is will seek a so-called “hard” exit from the European Union, likely to include leaving the Single Market, the world’s largest free trade bloc. The country is looking for new trading partners around the world, but  the government will find it difficult to balance voters’ demands for lower immigration with the …