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Robert James Waller, whose best-selling, bittersweet 1992 romance novel “The Bridges of Madison County” was turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood and later into a soaring Broadway musical, has died in Texas, according to a longtime friend. He was 77. Scott Cawelti, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, told The Associated Press …
Read more “‘Bridges of Madison County’ Author Robert James Waller Dies”
Most of the people crossing the U.S. border into Canada to claim asylum had been in the United States legally, and Canada is sharing their information with U.S. authorities to help understand the phenomenon, a top official said Friday. Several hundred asylum-seekers, mainly from Africa but also the Middle East, have entered Canada. The refugees …
Read more “Canada Says Most Border-crossing Asylum-seekers Were in US Legally”
The United Nations’ envoy for Afghanistan said the country’s problems cannot be solved through military means and he urged Taliban militants to enter peace talks. …
At least three Belarusian activists live-streamed their own detentions on March 10 after several hundred people rallied in the northwestern city of Maladzyechna, demanding cancellation of a controversial tax on jobless people. (In Belarusian) …
The office of New York City’s medical examiner says it will not release the results of an autopsy performed on Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations who died unexpectedly last month. …
China’s plan to declare an unusually strict fishing moratorium in the contested South China Sea this year threatens to shake relations with its neighbors, despite dialogue in recent months, and might violate a 2016 world arbitration court ruling, experts say. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture said in February it would impose its strictest fishing moratorium …
Read more “China Fishing Moratorium Likely to Anger Neighbors”
From the beginning of his presidency, Donald Trump has vowed to follow through on the campaign pledges and the promises he made to the voters who put him in the White House. But growing differences among congressional Republicans now threaten to complicate Trump’s ability to bring real change to Washington, as we hear from VOA …
Donald Trump’s surprising victory in last year’s U.S. presidential election signaled a turn to the right. Now Europe is facing three critical elections of its own: next week in the Netherlands; next month in France; and later this summer in Germany. Just as anti-establishment fervor in Europe proved to be a harbinger of the U.S. …
Read more “Will Dutch Elections Trigger a Populist Domino Effect?”
Leaders of the European Union are voicing concern about “external influences” fueling divisions in the Western Balkans after recent moves by Russia and its Balkan allies to block closer ties with the West. …
The White House has vowed to find a former FBI agent who mysteriously disappeared a decade ago in Iran. …
A U.S. senator is vowing to revive a lapsed special-visa program for Afghan interpreters and others who served U.S. forces in the country, often risking their lives. …
Pakistan has indefinitely closed two border crossings with Afghanistan after opening them for two days to let through Afghans with visas, officials said on Thursday. The official border crossings were abruptly ordered closed last month after a series of attacks Pakistan blames on militants sheltered in Afghanistan, heightening tension between the neighbors. But Pakistan temporarily …
Read more “Pakistan Indefinitely Closes Border with Afghanistan Amid Rising Tension”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel threw her weight behind Donald Tusk to retain one of the European Union’s top jobs Thursday, despite staunch opposition from his home country of Poland. The 28 EU leaders are due to decide during the opening session of their summit in Brussels who will be president of the EU Council for …
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen is seen well ahead in the first round of the presidential election but losing the second round by a wide margin to independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, an opinion poll showed on Thursday. The monthly Cevipof survey for Le Monde newspaper has a much larger sample than most French election …
Read more “Le Pen Seen Ahead in First Round of French Election, Losing Second”
Stalin’s Soviet Union comes to life in full color with the discovery of a long-hidden collection of images. …
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL. …
The United States has publicly accused Russia for the first time of deploying a cruise missile in violation of a 30-year-old arms control agreement. Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman General Paul Selva confirmed on Capitol Hill the deployment of the land-based missile violates the “spirit and intent” of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty. …
Read more “US Accuses Russia of Deploying Missile in Violation of Arms Control Treaty”
Hungary’s parliament has passed a law allowing the detention of all asylum seekers in border camps and the summary deportation of any illegal migrants back to the country from which they came. The U.N. refugee agency and several human rights groups, say the policy violates international and European Union laws, as Henry Ridgwell reports from …
Read more “Hungary’s Plan to Detain All Asylum Seekers Sparks Outrage”
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There are mounting calls in Russia to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest this year, with pro-Kremlin lawmakers accusing host country Ukraine of being anti-Russian and a prominent pop star calling Ukraine’s victory last year political and unfair. …
Volunteers in Baku handed treats out to female street cleaners to mark International Women’s Day on March 8. (RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service) …
The vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says Russia has deployed a land-based cruise missile that violates the “spirit and intent” of a Cold War-era nuclear arms control treaty — and that it did so to “pose a threat to NATO.” …
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration pledged on Tuesday to show “great strictness” over restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities imposed by a deal with major powers, but gave little indication of what that might mean for the agreement. The 2015 deal between Iran and six major powers restricts Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting …
Read more “Trump Administration Pledges ‘Great Strictness’ on Iran Nuclear Deal”
All 100 U.S. senators have signed a letter to the nation’s top three law enforcement officials asking for more federal help for Jewish centers and schools dealing with numerous bomb threats. “These cowardly acts aim to create an atmosphere of fear and disrupt the important programs and services offered by JCCs [Jewish community centers] to …
Read more “US Senate Asks for Federal Help for Jewish Centers Getting Bomb Threats”