Category: World

A Kremlin-connected billionaire has sued Tthe Associated Press for defamation and libel over a report on his business ties to U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman. …

It looks like the time has finally come for residents across Africa to start using their most abundant natural power source. While building power plants and transmission lines takes years and costs much more, installing solar panels is quicker and more affordable for individual home owners, businesses and farmers. VOA’s George Putic reports. …

The streets of tiny York Springs, Pennsylvania are often empty these days. “For Rent” signs are posted in front of some of the houses, a mix of brick and clapboard structures; where a few years ago, residents say, there was no rental housing to be had.  “Before it was different; it was more relaxed, people …

Read more “Pennsylvania Farmers Fear Labor Shortage Amid Immigration Fears”

One of the effects of progressive muscle diseases like cerebral palsy is muscle stiffness. There are drugs and therapies that are supposed to help but gauging their effectiveness is challenging. Now there’s a high-tech way that may help provide relief for patients. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

In a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 16, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to press the United States to stop arming Syrian Kurdish rebels he says are linked to Kurdish militant groups in Turkey. …

Scientists will increase scrutiny of Earth’s polar regions as part of a two-year campaign announced on May 15 to improve global weather predictions and minimize risks linked with rapid climate change. …

Katy Perry has announced her upcoming album will be titled “Witness” and will be released on June 9.   Perry has also announced an extensive tour of North America to promote the release.   The singer’s website says Perry’s first tour since 2015 begins Sept. 7 in Columbus, Ohio, and has dates listed through Feb. …

Read more “Katy Perry Announces Album Release, N. American Tour”

Ugandan soldiers in Central African Republic have sexually exploited or abused at least 13 women and girls since 2015, including at least one rape, Human Rights Watch said Monday. The rights group said in a report Monday that two of the women were girls when the abuse happened, charging that some of the victims have …

Read more “Ugandan Troops Face Sexual Abuse Charges in Central Africa”

U.S. President Donald Trump is about to embark on his first foreign trip, a nine day journey that takes him to the seats of the world’s three great Abrahamic (monotheistic) religions and signals a 180-degree shift from his predecessor’s approach toward the Middle East. “The most useful way to look at President Trump’s strategy is …

Read more “Trump Signals Shift in Middle East Strategy With Symbolic First Stop in Saudi Arabia”

Tajikistan’s foreign minister has defended his country’s Roghun hydroelectric station project, which has been questioned by neighboring Uzbekistan for years. …

While elections in Iran look like slug-it-out campaigns, with many of the trappings of competition — government critics, disagreement on high-profile issues, and televised public debates — they are kept tightly in check by unelected officials under the country’s clerically dominated system. …

Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has withdrawn from Iran’s presidential race to back hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi. …

An RFE/RL reporter has been attacked for the second time in two months while investigating potential vote buying. …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives defeated their center-left rivals in a key state election Sunday in the country’s most populous region. Exit polls showed Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union with a strong surge of support in North Rhine-Westphalia, the home state and traditional stronghold of her chief rival, Social Democrat Martin Schulz, who is challenging the …

Read more “Merkel’s Conservatives Win German State Election”

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says it is clear that Russia meddled in last year’s presidential election, and that Washington and Moscow will not be able to restart with “a clean slate.” …

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

The United States has condemned Iran’s imprisonment of leaders of the Baha’i religious minority and called on Tehran to release them and other prisoners of conscience. …

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Moscow on Sunday to rally against a bill to tear down Soviet-era low-rise apartment buildings. Protesters, mostly young and middle couples, gathered on a central street to rally against arguably Russia’s largest redevelopment project to pull down entire neighborhoods of Soviet-era prefabricated buildings. City Hall has insisted …

Read more “Thousands March Against Moscow Government’s Demolition Plans”

The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, was the scene of the final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, the annual europop song fest that was expected to garner a television audience of some 200 million. …

Here is a look at some of the places hit by the global cyberattack. European Union — Europol’s European Cybercrime Center, known as EC3, said the attack “is at an unprecedented level and will require a complex international investigation to identify the culprits.” Britain — Britain’s home secretary said the “ransomware” attack hit one in …

Read more “Where Global Cyberattack Has Hit Hardest”

Portugal’s Salvador Sobral won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday with a gentle romantic ballad that challenged the event’s decades-long reputation for cheesy, glittery excess. Sobral sang his Amar Pelos Dois (Love For Both) in a high, clear tenor accompanied by quiet strings and a piano. Unlike the 25 other competitors who performed on a …

Read more “Portugal’s Sobral Wins Eurovision Contest With Tender Ballad”

An international manhunt is under way to find those responsible for a massive global cyberattack that hit as many as 100 countries. …

An international monitor group and Kurdish media are reporting that Syrian Kurdish-led forces are closing in on the city of Raqqa, the self-declared capital of the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria. …

Iranian President Hassan Rohani has told a Tehran crowd of some 20,000 supporters that the country is “on the edge of a great historical decision” with its May 19 presidential election. …