Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is raising alarm over an “increase in the harassment” of journalists in Armenia, who the watchdog says are being subjected to defamation suits and attacks on their right to protect their sources. “We are disturbed by the tendency for Armenian media to be sued or prosecuted,” …
China has replaced the head of its office overseeing matters in Hong Kong, making him the most senior Beijing-appointed official to lose his job in the wake of sometimes-violent anti-government protests in the Chinese-controlled territory. China’s Human Resources Ministry announced Thursday that Zhang Xiaoming would be removed as director of …
China on Thursday replaced its top officials in central Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan, the epicenter of a viral outbreak that has infected more than 45,000 people worldwide. Former Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong succeeds Jiang Chaoliang as the ruling Communist Party’s chief in the beleaguered province, the Xinhua state …
The U.S. Senate reopened the debate into the ground rules for a potential conflict with Iran Wednesday, almost six weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the airstrike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine says he has the votes to pass a resolution Thursday that would …
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on Russian authorities to engage in “constructive dialogue” with critics instead of “abusing” counterterrorism laws to silence them. The New York-based watchdog issued the call on Wednesday after Russian military courts earlier this month handed down “harsh” guilty verdicts in three “deeply flawed” terrorism …
Joseph Vilsmaier, a German filmmaker whose striking portrayal of the Battle of Stalingrad brought home the horrors of war to a new generation, has died. He was 81. His agent confirmed Wednesday that Vilsmaier “died peacefully at his home” in Bavaria on Tuesday. Vilsmaier’s 1993 film “Stalingrad” painted a grim …
European lawmakers are set to approve free trade and investment deals between the EU and Vietnam that will eliminate almost all tariffs over the next ten years, despite concerns about the human rights situation in the country. After an influential Parliament trade committee recommended last month that the agreements should …
Ukraine’s first and currently only television channel in the Crimean Tatar language says it is on the brink of shutting down operations due to lack of government funding. ATR hasn’t received $2 million that the government allocated for the channel in this year’s state budget, a statement by the channel …
The U.N. refugee agency reports more than 100,000 civilians have fled worsening conditions in DR Congo’s eastern Beni Territory over the past two months. The UNHCR says attacks by armed groups in the so-called Watalinga Chiefdom, near the border with Uganda, have sent thousands of people fleeing for their lives. …
While increasing numbers of Afghan women are taking part outside their homes, the majority are homemakers. But, a group of women in the country’s western province of Herat are making a name for themselves as entrepreneurs. VOA’s Khalil Noorzai has more in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. …
When the Islamic State terror group swept across northern Iraq in 2014, they tried to wipe out the Yazidi people, a minority ethnic group that had lived in the mountains for millennia. Thousands of men were killed, and women and girls forcibly enslaved. The ancient Yazidi culture was at risk …
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence President Donald Trump’s confidant Roger Stone to serve between 7 and 9 years in prison after his conviction on witness tampering and obstruction charges. Stone, who is scheduled to be sentenced next week, was convicted in November of a seven-count indictment that …
With the coronavirus continuing to spread in China, its economic impact is already been felt in East African markets cut off from their Chinese suppliers. VOA Swahili Service reporters Idd Uwesu and Hubba Abdi have this story narrated by Scott Stearns. …
The annual African Union summit opened Sunday with leaders vowing that the AU would play a more prominent role in resolving conflicts proliferating across the continent. The theme of the two-day summit is “Silencing the Guns.” The focus on conflicts marks a departure from years of debate centered on reforming …
Supporters of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele gathered on Sunday to press lawmakers to approve a $109 million loan Bukele wants to bolster his plan to better equip police and soldiers in the fight against crime. Bukele, who on Friday warned lawmakers that citizens have the right to “insurrection,” summoned his …
Actor Robert Conrad, who starred in several hit television series from the 1950s through the 1970s, has died just a month short of his 85th birthday. The Chicago-born Conrad came to Hollywood in the late 1950s to work as a stuntman, but soon became the star of 1959’s Hawaiian Eye, …
At a glance, the desert locusts in this arid patch of northern Somalia look less ominous than the billion-member swarms infesting East Africa in the worst outbreak some places have seen in 70 years. But their time will come. Small and wingless, the hopping young locusts are the …
Hollywood stars will walk down the red carpet Sunday to attend the Oscars, the movie industry’s biggest award night. FILE – Actor George MacKay, from left, director Sam Mendes and actor Dean-Charles Chapman pose for photographers upon arrival at the World premiere of the film ‘1917,’ in central London, Dec. …
Ireland began counting votes on Sunday in a national election that an exit poll indicated would show a historic breakthrough for left-wing nationalists Sinn Fein but leave a fractured political landscape with no clear path to a governing coalition. In a major realignment, Sinn Fein support surged 50% to bring …
A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden car Saturday night in front of a police center in southern Afghanistan, killing at least six police officers. The attacker used a military Humvee vehicle and the blast rocked the Gereshk district of the restive Helmand province, Afghan officials there told VOA. “ The …
Syrian government forces captured new areas from insurgents in their efforts to control a key highway in the northwest Saturday, as Turkey sent more reinforcements into the war-torn country, state media and opposition activists said. The weekslong government offensive has created a humanitarian crisis with about 600,000 people fleeing their …
Myanmar police have apprehended and returned to Chinese authorities one of five people from the city of Wuhan, center of the deadly, fast-spreading coronavirus, who slipped across the porous border between the two nations earlier this week. The only woman in the group tested negative for the virus and was …
Photographer Olivier Toscani made a career out of provocative advertising campaigns for Benetton, the Italian clothing maker famed for its colorful knitwear. But that decades-long relationship has been severed after Toscani outraged relatives of victims in the deadly 2018 Genoa bridge collapse. Toscani told RAI television this week, “Who cares about a bridge collapse?“ …
The former head of asset management firm Pimco was sentenced on Friday to nine months in prison for his part in a scheme in which privileged parents paid bribes to get their children into U.S. colleges, federal prosecutors said. Douglas Hodge, who retired as chief executive of Allianz SE’s California-based …
The 92nd Academy Awards Ceremony takes place in Los Angeles Sunday — and the city is finishing up the last minute preparations for the event. Angelina Bagdasaryan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. …
With a Feb. 22 deadline fast approaching for South Sudan’s rival leaders to form a unity government, there is still no agreement on how many states the country will have or their boundaries. The chief mediator in talks aimed at ending the stalemate chaired a six-hour consultative meeting on the …