Category: World

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will nominate Kansas Governor Sam Brownback to become the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. …

A South Korean court has sentenced the former presidential chief of staff and the former culture minister to prison for blacklisting thousands of artists deemed unfriendly to ousted president Park Geun-hye and denying them state support. The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday sentenced Park’s former aide Kim Ki-choon to three years behind bars and …

Read more “Ex-Park Aide, Culture Minister Guilty for Artists Blacklists”

A construction permit should be granted for a giant telescope planned for a Hawaii mountain summit that some consider sacred, a hearings officer recommended Wednesday. Retired judge Riki May Amano, who is overseeing contested-case hearings for the Thirty Meter Telescope, had been weighing facts in the case since June, after hearing oftentimes emotional testimony that …

Read more “Contested Hawaiian Telescope Step Closer to Construction”

Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a bill that would give undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children a chance to earn permanent residency. Democratic Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard and Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen announced Wednesday the legislation that would protect the group of people known as DREAMers by …

Read more “House Joins Senate in Offering Dreamers a Path to Citizenship”

A Russian blogger who was jailed after traveling to a breakaway region of Azerbaijan has petitioned to be extradited to Israel, his lawyer said on July 26. …

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic said on July 26 that he will miss the rest of the tennis season, including next month’s U.S. Open, to recover from a right elbow injury. …

The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office approved an indictment against Russian former minister of economic development Aleksei Ulyukayev and sent the case to court, Russian news agencies reported on July 26. …

A decade-long battle by luxury brands to defend their image neared an end on Wednesday when an adviser to Europe’s top court said Coty can block a German retailer from selling its beauty products via online marketplaces. “A supplier of luxury goods may prohibit its authorized retailers from selling its products on third-party platforms such …

Read more “Luxury Firms’ Online Battle Boosted by EU Court Adviser’s Coty Stance”

Dmitry Ishevsky was freed from a prison in the Yaroslavl region northeast of Moscow on July 26. …

Police in Cambodia have deported to China 17 telephone fraud suspects, among hundreds of alleged scam artists who have been caught and expelled in recent years. The 17 were flown out Wednesday from the airport in Sihanoukville in southern Cambodia, said the Interior Ministry’s immigration investigation chief, General Ouk Haiseila. Another 14 suspects are scheduled …

Read more “Cambodia Deports Telephone Fraud Suspects to China”

Firefighters in France have intensified their efforts to control a wildfire that began sweeping through parts of the Riviera coast Tuesday night and forced the evacuation of thousands of people. The fire is the most recent of several wind-fueled blazes that are consuming forests and scrublands between Marseilles and the city of Nice in southeastern …

Read more “Wildfires Along French Riviera Coast Force Evacuation of Thousands”

Iranian President Hassan Rohani says his country will respond if the United States enacts a new sanctions bill. …

Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov appears to have capitalized on Daghestani authorities’ perceived failure to address grievances that led to a brawl between Chechens and Avars last month in order to cast Chechnya’s controversial parliamentary chairman in the role of peacemaker. …

Backstreet Boys got their first hit country song this year on a collaboration with country duo Florida Georgia and now the two powerhouse acts are teaming up for a “CMT Crossroads” episode airing Aug. 30. The cross-genre television show will feature all-star group performances of each other’s biggest singles, including “I Want It That Way,” …

Read more “Backstreet Boys, Florida Georgia Line Back Together on CMT”

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

After days of enduring pointed criticism from President Donald Trump and calls from Congressional Democrats to testify over his contacts with Russian officials, Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ former colleagues in the Senate came to his defense on Tuesday. Senator Lindsey Graham, a prominent Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and former presidential candidate, and …

Read more “Republicans Come to Sessions’ Defense as Trump Takes Another Jab”

A popular television personality who for years championed adherence to a compulsory Islamic dress code in Iran has come under fire over images in which she appears to be in public with her head uncovered while abroad. …

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says Turkey remains a candidate for European Union membership despite serious concerns that its human rights record could prevent fresh accession talks. …

Two key members of President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign met on July 25 with congressional investigators who are probing Russia’s alleged interference in the election and possible collusion with Trump associates. …

James Bond is returning to movie theaters in November 2019, producers said Monday, but they did not say who will play Britain’s most famous fictional spy. Eon Productions and MGM studios said in a statement that the 25th Bond film will be released in U.S. theaters on Nov. 8, 2019, with a slightly earlier release …

Read more “Next James Bond Film Set for November 2019, No Word on 007 Star”

Thailand’s justice ministry froze some of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s bank accounts, the ministry and her legal team said on Monday, in relation to a $1 billion fine imposed by the ruling junta over her administration’s rice-subsidy program. She has filed a court petition to revoke the freezing of her bank accounts and to …

Read more “Thailand Freezes Former PM Yingluck’s Bank Accounts in Rice Subsidy Case”

Brazil’s cash-strapped government is drawing up a voluntary redundancy plan for federal civil servants aimed at reducing its bloated payroll and saving about 1 billion reais ($318 million) a year, the Planning Ministry said on Monday. It will also offer public employees a shorter workday in the latest effort to cut payroll costs and reduce …

Read more “Brazil Plans Federal Workers’ Buyout to Cut Deficit”

Ilir Meta has been sworn in as Albania’s new president during an extraordinary session of parliament in the capital of Tirana. …

A leading Republican senator says a bill toughening sanctions on Russia has not been finalized, despite earlier announcements of a bipartisan agreement. …