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 …

Iraqi Forces Light Up Sky, Thwarting IS Attack

Soldiers say they fired mortars with explosives so bright they could scan the Tigris River after hearing Islamic State militants were preparing boats to once again approach Iraqi-forces controlled eastern Mosul late Saturday. VOA’s Heather Murdock is on the scene in Mosul, where Iraqi forces say they believe the lights deterred the potential militant attack. …

South Sudan President Says Soldiers Who Rape Should Be Shot

The president of South Sudan said on Monday that soldiers who rape civilians should be shot, trying to mollify citizens outraged by abuses by security forces and quell growing international anger over attacks. South Sudan was plunged into a sporadic civil war in 2013 when Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy, an ethnic …

Despite Scandal, Fillon Continues French Presidential Campaign

French presidential candidate Francois Fillon says he will continue his campaign, despite criticism amid media reports he paid his wife an unjustified salary for 15 years while he was a member of parliament. Claiming his wife was paid fairly for work she did, Fillon only apologized for the “error” of judgement in employing his family, …

From Russia With Love For Trump

In January, Russian media mentioned Donald Trump more often than Vladimir Putin, according to the Interfax news agency. What are Russian news outlets saying about the new U.S. president? (RFE/RL’s Russian Service) …

Serbs in Mitrovica Tear Down Controversial Wall

Serbs in Kosovo’s ethnically divided city of Mitrovica Sunday tore down a controversial wall that ethnic Albanians say aggravated an already tense situation. Bulldozers quietly knocked down the 2-meter concrete barrier after talks between the ethnic Albanians and the city’s Serb minority, mediated by the European Union and U.S. diplomats. EU foreign policy chief Federica …

Controversial Wall Torn Down in Kosovo’s Mitrovica

Local Kosovar Serb authorities in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica have demolished a concrete wall they had built near the Ibar River in December 2016 that they called a landslide barrier. However, the Kosovar government saw it as a provocation, and parliament voted to knock it down. The demolition was carried out on February …

A Century Later, Faberge Still Dazzles

A century ago, Faberge produced its last legendary Easter egg. The following year, in 1918, in the early days of Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution, the legendary Russian jewelry firm was nationalized and destroyed. The Faberge family and many of the firm’s masterpieces found refuge in the West, where the firm’s legacy is being preserved today. …

State Elections Test the Popularity of India’s Modi

Nearly three years ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a sweeping national election victory with promises to develop the economy and root out corruption. But with a series of key state elections beginning this weekend, Modi’s popularity — and his surprise currency decree that sparked months of financial uproar — is now being tested. …

Women Thrive in Computer Science at California College

Women are underrepresented in high tech industries, and at American universities, they make up only 1 in 6 students of computer science. That’s changing on some campuses, as Mike O’Sullivan reports from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, near Los Angeles, where more than half of last year’s graduates in computer science were women. …