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”
Spotify says Taylor Swift has set a new global first day streaming record. The music delivery site said Saturday it had logged more than 8 million same-day streams for her new single, “Look What You Made Me Do.” The 27-year-old singer dropped the much-anticipated song late Thursday to streaming platforms and iTunes. She wrote and …
Read more “Taylor Swift Sets Records for Spotify Streams, YouTube Views”
Unseeded Daria Gavrilova, a Russian-born Australian, upset second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia to win her first career Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title. …
The first fatality has been reported in the strongest storm to hit the gulf coast of the United States since 1961, with more powerful rains and “catastrophic” floods expected over the next couple of days. …
Hurricane Harvey smashed into Texas late Friday, lashing a wide swath of the Gulf Coast with strong winds and torrential rain from the fiercest hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade. The National Hurricane Center said the eye of the Category 4 hurricane made landfall about 10 p.m. about 30 miles (48 …
Read more “Harvey Lashes Texas Coast With High Wind, Torrential Rain”
U.S. media are reporting that two top former aides of U.S. President Donald Trump are being investigated for Russia connections by a U.S. special prosecutor. …
A new device, developed by an Israeli start-up, could make routine visits to the doctor’s office a thing of the past. Faith Lapidus reports. …
In spite of many attempts to replace it with a more suitable material, asphalt concrete remains the best and cheapest material for paving roads. Vulnerable to heat, ice, ultraviolet light and mechanical stress, it has a relatively short lifespan and has to be repaired or replaced at regular intervals. Swiss engineers say they may have …
U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley on August 25 accused Iran of illegally smuggling arms to its ally Hizballah in Lebanon and sharply criticized the United Nations peacekeeping commander there for being “blind” to the activity. …
President Emmanuel Macron’s office has confirmed a report that the French leader spent 26,000 euros ($30,695) on makeup during his first three months in power, and says it’s trying to find a cheaper alternative. The report in Le Point news magazine prompted harsh criticism of the president from French social media users. It said the …
Read more “French President Macron’s Makeup Costs Prompt Criticism”
Harvey continued to intensify as it steered for the Texas coast, with the forecasters saying early Friday that it had strengthened to a Category 2 storm. The hurricane with the potential for up to 3 feet of rain, 125 mph winds and 12-foot storm surges could be the fiercest such storm to hit the United …
Read more “Texas Prepares as Harvey Strengthens to Category 2 Storm”
The Ukrainian military and Russia-backed separatists have accused each other of violating a cease-fire established ahead of the start of the new school year. …
Angola’s MPLA party has won the country’s general election, extending its hold on power and ensuring that Defense Minister Joao Lourenco will be the country’s next president. The National Electoral Commission said Friday that MPLA received just over 61 percent of the vote in Wednesday’s election The main opposition UNITA party came in second with …
The Supreme Court of Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan has freed the jailed coordinator of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny’s presidential election campaign staff in Kazan. …
The Kremlin appears to be losing patience with Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov’s manner of retaliation against manifestations of public dissent. (The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.) …
Dozens of Iraqi children, many of whom lost parents during the U.S.-backed fight to remove Islamic State from Mosul, are now working on the streets of the city to provide for their families. VOA’s Kawa Omar reports. …
A 53-year-old Massachusetts hospital worker stepped forward Thursday to claim the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in U.S. history — $758.7 million — after breaking the news to her employer the way the rest of us only dream of: “I called and told them I will not be coming back.” “The first thing I want to …
Read more “Massachusetts Hospital Worker Claims Record $758.7M Lottery Jackpot”
North Korea has opened a tourist office in Moscow to encourage Russians to travel to the reclusive country, promising that its nuclear weapons will keep all visitors safe. …
Amazon will close its $13.7 billion buyout of Whole Foods Market Inc. on Monday and plans to cut prices on grocery staples. Starting Monday, Whole Foods will offer lower prices on bananas, eggs, salmon, beef, and other products. Looking ahead, the Seattle company hopes to give Amazon Prime members special savings and other in-store …
Capital flight from Russia is now likely equal to the collective wealth of all Russian households, according to a new report by a respected U.S. research firm, a trend that has helped to drive the country’s income inequality to extreme levels. …
Leading parliamentarians from Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party met last week with representatives of 20 parliamentary and extraparliamentary opposition parties in a last-ditch attempt to reach a consensus over the country’s new draft constitution. (The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.) …
Even as tensions between the United States and Russia fester, there is one surprising place where their military-to-military contacts are quietly weathering the storm: Syria. It has been four months since U.S. President Donald Trump ordered cruise missile strikes against a Syrian airfield after an alleged chemical weapons attack. In June, the U.S. military shot …
Read more “As Syria War Tightens, US-Russian Military Hotlines Hum”
On Wednesday, Angola’s longtime president did something he hasn’t done in decades: He voted for someone else. Just after 9 a.m., retiring President Jose Eduardo dos Santos shuffled slowly through a side entrance of Luanda’s polling station 1047, at the law school named after his predecessor, Angola’s first president, Agostinho Neto, who died in 1979. …
Worry over having enough food is forcing people from drought-stricken Central America to migrate north to the United States, leaving families behind who grow more vulnerable to poverty, said an international report released Wednesday. Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala must address hunger-related migration by adapting agricultural practices to deal with increased water shortages and help …
Read more “Tackle Central American Hunger to Help Cut Migration, Report Says”
A former top Russian Central Bank official who is known for his criticism of Kremlin policies has denied media reports that he was detained at a Moscow airport for allegedly failing to make a customs declaration about Soviet-era medals. …