Worldwide news. The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a “plurality of worlds”
After eight years of an on-again, off-again courtship of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims in what he called a “new beginning” between America and Islam, President Barack Obama is leaving office with dashed hopes and disappointed fans in much of the Muslim world. Obama remains popular around the world, with notable foreign policy achievements: the …
Read more “Is Obama’s Legacy Among World’s Muslims Tarnished?”
Editor’s note: Story compiled with Ramon Taylor in Jacumba, CA, Aru Pande in York, PA, Aline Barros in Lumberton, NC, Kane Farabaugh in Ottawa, IL, Mohamed Olad Hassan in Minneapolis, MN. On a rocky hill outside Jacumba, California — almost within earshot of the U.S.-Mexico border — two rival gas stations duel beneath a towering …
Read more “US Voters Speak of Their Hopes, Fears for Trump Years”
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL. …
Editors’ note: As Donald Trump prepares to take the oath of office, the prospect of his presidency inspires the hopes of millions of Americans, the doubts and fears of millions of others. In effect, Trump will inherit leadership of many Americas, each sharing pride in country but conflicted in expectations of where we are headed …
Read more “A Divided-down-the-middle County in Nebraska Ponders a New President”
Technocrats from three NATO states wrapped up meetings on Thursday focused on security arrangements in Cyprus, seeking to break an impasse in talks over the ethnically split island, a U.N. envoy said. “The working group… successfully completed the mandate entrusted to it. Namely identifying specific questions related to the issue of security and guarantees and …
Read more “Britain, Greece and Turkey Wrap up Security Talks on Cyprus”
Hundreds gathered Tuesday at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, D.C., to listen to a mix of performances by first- and second-generation Americans. …
With hundreds of thousands descending on Washington to celebrate — and protest — Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, the U.S. capital is bracing for a ceremony whose pomp has been overshadowed by extraordinary tensions. …
When Barack Obama leaves office, will the restaurant named after him close its doors? The manager of the Obama Bar & Grill in the Kyrgyz capital says definitely not, because just like Obama, the eatery has earned its place in history. (RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service) …
Russian Orthodox Christians took the plunge in icy Siberian waters to mark the holy day of Epiphany. Meanwhile, the faithful in Serbia celebrated with a swimming race in Belgrade. (RFE/RL’s Russian and Balkan services) …
An ice storm shut down parts of major highways and interstates Wednesday in Oregon and Washington state and paralyzed towns along the Columbia River Gorge, with up to 2 inches of ice coating the ground in some places. As temperatures hovered around freezing, Interstate 84 was shut down for a 45-mile stretch in Oregon. Transportation …
Read more “Ice Storm Grips Parts of Oregon, Washington State”
An al-Qaida-linked extremist group is claiming responsibility for Wednesday’s suicide attack on a military camp in northern Mali, killing at least 60 soldiers and former rebels and wounding 115. A car packed with explosives penetrated the camp in Gao as hundreds of solders gathered for a morning meeting. They belong to the Joint Operational Mechanism, …
Read more “Al-Qaida-linked Militants Claim Responsibility for Deadly Suicide Bombing in Mali”
Disabled refugees and migrants are not properly identified in Greece and have poor access to basic services such as toilets, showers, food and medical care, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Wednesday. About 60,000 refugees and migrants live in formal and makeshift camps in Greece and Human Rights Watch said conditions there were …
U.S. President Barack Obama held his final press conference in office on January 18. Addressing U.S. sanctions on Russia, Obama stressed that they were imposed because of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, and that the sanctions can be removed once Russia stops “meddling in Ukrainian affairs.” (AP) …
U.S. President Barack Obama says Washington should not lose focus on why it imposed sanctions against Russia over Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea territory and its support for separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine. …
The commanding officer of Iraq’s elite Counter Terrorism Services says his forces have driven Islamic State fighters from all districts of eastern Mosul that they have been tasked with recapturing. …
Russia says it has extended the residency permit of Edward Snowden, the former U.S. intelligence contractor who disclosed archives of top-secret surveillance files. …
The United States on January 17 confirmed that 10 prisoners had been released from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transferred to Oman. …
U.S. President Barack Obama has commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst who is serving 35 years in prison for leaking classified U.S. documents to WikiLeaks. …
Vietnam shows signs of softening its approach toward China over their bitter maritime dispute, a move welcomed by nervous leaders in Beijing as it could rebalance Hanoi’s foreign policy away from Washington while cooling decades of strife. Beijing and Hanoi issued a communique Saturday proposing negotiations on their conflicting claims in the South China Sea, …
Read more “Vietnam Signals Softer Stance on Contested South China Sea”
Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Commerce Department is scheduled to be questioned by a Senate committee Wednesday about his qualifications to head an agency responsible for bolstering the economy, international trade and many other tasks from forecasting the weather to taking the census. Wilbur Ross is a multi-billionaire who made a fortune buying …
Read more “Senators Question Nominee to Head Commerce Department”
Alongside cephalopods like the octopus and the cuttlefish, seahorses are some of the most fascinating animals in the ocean. One of the strangest things about them is that seahorses are really just fish, closely related to pipefish, those long, thin swimmers you can find hanging around the shoreline. Seahorses are more delicate, and more desirable, …
Read more “Seahorses at Risk, But Conservation Efforts Having Impact”
More than 60 percent of Americans would like to see the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s powers preserved or strengthened under incoming President Donald Trump, and the drilling of oil on public lands to hold steady or drop, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday. The results could foretell stronger-than-expected public opposition to Trump’s …
Read more “Poll: Unlike Trump, Americans Want Strong Environmental Regulator”
Iraqi special forces pushed into a pocket of Islamic State-held territory in eastern Mosul on Tuesday, the military said, seeking to recapture the remaining districts under the group’s control east of the Tigris river. The militants have been driven out of most eastern districts in their Iraqi stronghold in a 3-month-old U.S.-backed campaign. Iraqi troops …
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that a Russian law barring Americans from adopting Russian children led to human rights violations. …