Category: World

Aya Hijazi, a dual U.S.-Egyptian citizen who founded a charity in 2013 to help street children, has been released from an Egyptian prison after nearly three years in custody. …

The White House says U.S. President Donald Trump will host Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas for talks at the White House on May 3 about efforts to revive the Middle East peace process. …

The U.S. national security adviser during his first visit to Pakistan urged Islamabad to fight all terrorist groups equally and stop using some of them as proxies in Afghanistan. …

A pair of Russian nuclear-capable bombers flew near Alaska, coming as close as 100 miles from Kodiak Island — the first time since President Trump took office that Moscow has sent bombers so close to the United States. …

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for winning a referendum that will expand his powers, the Kremlin and Turkish state media said on April 18. …

The United States called a special U.N. Security Council session Tuesday on the importance of protecting human rights and that issue’s role in preventing conflict and fostering international security, but dropped an expected move to make human rights reviews a formal part of all council meetings. U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley singled out North Korea and …

Read more “US Calls Human Rights Debate in UN Security Council”

Unknown assailants in Pakistan have stabbed to death a university professor who was an Ahmadi Muslim, a minority group often considered the country’s most persecuted religious sect. Police in the eastern city of Lahore said Tuesday that they had found the body of Tahira Abdullah, 61, in the residential colony of the University of Punjab. …

Read more “Another Member of Minority Religious Sect Slain in Pakistan”

Turkey’s prime minister hit back Tuesday at European monitors who said more than 2 million votes could have been manipulated in Sunday’s closely contested referendum on expanding presidential powers. Binali Yildirim, responding to criticism from the Council of Europe’s observer mission, said debate over the outcome of the referendum was “over,” and that “the people’s …

Read more “Turkey Defends Against Referendum Fraud Allegations”

President Donald Trump is fast closing in on his first 100 days in office, and his public approval rating continues to hover around 40 percent, still a low mark for a new president. Trump’s rating on foreign policy has improved slightly in the wake of recent U.S. military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan, but the …

Read more “Trump Faces Foreign, Domestic Challenges Amid Low Approval Rating”

During his visit to South Korea this week U.S. Vice President Mike Pence described the security alliance between the two countries as unwavering, unshakable and ironclad, but in an address to business leaders in Seoul Tuesday, he said the bilateral economic relationship is in trouble.   “Despite the strong economic ties between the United States …

Read more “Pence Says Trade Relationship with South Korea is ‘Falling Short’”

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has embarked on a tour of the Middle East and Africa for talks on the fight against Islamic extremism. …

Donald Trump is fast closing in on his first 100 days in office, and his public approval rating continues to hover at around 40 percent, still a low mark for a new U.S. president. Trump’s rating on foreign policy has improved slightly in the wake of recent U.S. military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan, but …

Read more “Trump Faces Foreign and Domestic Challenges Amid Low Approval Rating”

U.S. President Donald Trump called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on winning a referendum to expand his presidential powers, the White House said on April 17. …

The United States has voiced concern over the reported persecution of gay men in Chechnya and urged officials in the Russian region to investigate. …

While visiting the Demilitarized Zone, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence reiterated that “all options” are on the table regarding North Korea. China continues to object to South Korea deploying the THAAD missile system. Plus, South Korea indicts its former President and a head of a major conglomerate. VOA’s Steve Miller has your Asia news, in …

Read more “Will the US Vice President Deter North Korea?”

Iraqi forces gained fresh ground in door-to-door fighting in the Old City of Mosul, a military spokesman said on Monday, as the U.S.-backed offensive to capture so-called Islamic State’s de facto capital in Iraq entered its seventh month. A Reuters correspondent saw thick smoke billowing over the Old City, near the Grand al-Nuri Mosque, from …

Read more “Iraqi Forces Fight Door-to-Door in Mosul as Battles Enter Seventh Month”

North Korea did not respond this month to requests from senior Chinese diplomats, including the country’s foreign minister, to meet North Korean counterparts, amid rising tension with the United States, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Citing unidentified sources, the report said China’s special envoy for the North Korea nuclear issue, Wu Dawei, was the other official …

Read more “North Korea Snubbed Chinese Diplomats: Report”

Young Serbs took to the streets in raucous — and remarkably persistent — protests following this month’s presidential vote. …

No books enter Tajikistan, and no books leave — not without official permission anyway. That’s the message being sent by officials in a move widely seen as aimed at preventing the dissemination of religious and extremist material. …

The head of Turkey’s electoral body says the result of the April 16 referendum that granted sweeping new powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is valid, amid demands by the opposition for a recount. …

On April 16, RFE/RL shot this video in Shadal Bazar, a village situated near the system of tunnels and caves used by the Islamic State (IS) militant group that was hit in a major U.S. air strike on April 13. The village itself was under IS control before the strike and now has been retaken …

Read more “Afghan Forces Retake Village After Massive Air Strike”

A look at the best news photos from around the world. …

Georgia still does not have an overarching comprehensive military strategy to replace the now “outdated” one adopted after the August 2008 Russian-Georgian War and that would define the role of the reservist force vis-a-vis the regular army. (The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.) …

A delegation from Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federal Council, have met in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud for talks about the war in Syria. …