Senegal is failing to prevent the abuse of thousands of students at the West African country’s Quranic schools, says Human Rights Watch, despite government promises to stop the exploitation. The rights group analyzed the Senegalese government’s efforts to address abuses over the last two years and found them to be …
Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 16 signed amendments to the Administrative Violations Code that allow hefty fines for violating the controversial law on “foreign agents,” which critics say is used to muzzle dissent and discourage the free exchange of ideas and a free press. According to the changes, individuals …
Leaders of the G5 Sahel nations held summit talks in Niamey Sunday, after the death last week of 71 Niger soldiers in a jihadist attack, calling for closer cooperation and international support in the battle against the Islamist threat. Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, whose country holds the …
Human remains discovered last month at a farm outside the city of Guadalajara have been confirmed as belonging to at least 50 people, authorities in Mexico’s west-central state of Jalisco reported. Jalisco state prosecutors said recovery work at the farm in Tlajomulco de Zuniga, which began Nov. 22 after the …
Libya’s U.N.-supported government is held hostage by “armed and terrorist militias” in the capital, Tripoli, Egypt’s leader said Sunday. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in televised comments that the Government of National Accord “is not able to have a free and real will because they have been taken hostage by armed …
Southeast Asian environmental activists – including young counterparts to teenage activist and Time magazine person of the year Greta Thunberg – are concerned they are not getting the attention that the climate emergency deserves, complaining that the region’s authorities are leaving this month’s climate negotiations in Madrid, also known as …
A bus carrying Hindu pilgrims drove off a highway and crashed in Nepal on Sunday, killing 14 people and injuring 18, police said. The pilgrims were returning home after visiting the famed Hindu Kalinchowk Bhagwati temple when the bus veered off the highway about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of …
China has suspended additional tariffs on some U.S. goods that were meant to be implemented on Dec. 15, the State Council’s customs tariff commission said on Sunday, after the world’s two largest economies agreed a “phase one” trade deal on Friday. The deal, rumours and leaks over which have gyrated …
Since the Trump administration began reshaping trade policy in early 2018, U.S. farmers have endured fluctuating prices and uncertain destinations for what they grow and harvest amid increasing tariffs on grain exports. “We want trade, we don’t want aid, but right now the bankers want paid,” Steve Turner recently …
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam visited Beijing on Saturday for her first trip to the Chinese capital since her government was handed a crushing defeat in local elections last month, prompting speculation about changes to her leadership team. During a four-day visit, Lam is due to discuss the political and …
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has rejected a $13.5 billion settlement that Pacific Gas & Electric struck just last week with thousands of people who lost homes, businesses and family members in a series of devastating fires that drove the nation’s largest utility into bankruptcy. The decision announced Friday in a …
A measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 5,000 people this year, according to a report by the World Health Organization. The agency says there are a quarter million suspected measles cases in the country and all provinces have been affected, making it one of world’s fastest …
Canada’s opposition Conservative leader said Thursday he will resign as party leader after weeks of infighting and a disappointing performance in parliamentary elections. Andrew Scheer, 40, called resigning “one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made.” He will stay on until a new leader is elected. “Serving as …
Britons woke Friday to an utterly transformed political landscape following an electoral earthquake that has ripped up modern British politics, and whose tremors will be felt for years to come. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s emphatic win in the country’s third general election in four years — giving the Conservatives, …
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party will win an overwhelming victory in Britain’s election with a majority of 86 seats in parliament to deliver Brexit on Jan. 31, an exit poll showed Thursday. The exit poll showed Johnson’s Conservatives would win a landslide of 368 seats, more than enough for …
The recent U.S. seizure of suspected Iranian guided missile parts headed to rebels in Yemen highlights Iran’s continued far-reaching involvement in the war-torn country, experts say. U.S. officials said earlier this month that a U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard boarding team seized a small boat in the northern Arabian …
Boeing Co on Thursday abandoned its goal of winning approval this month from the Federal Aviation Administration to unground the 737 MAX after Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg met with senior U.S. aviation officials. The announcement came after a congressional hearing on Wednesday in which numerous lawmakers prodded the FAA to …
Environmentalists and climate change activists worldwide are hailing Time magazine’s decision to make Greta Thunberg its 2019 Person of the Year. The teenage activist has attracted the world’s attention with her eloquent calls on political and industrial leaders to make courageous decisions on climate change. Her actions have inspired young …
Top American officials say the U.S. is hopeful that the recent prisoner exchange will lead to a broader discussion on consular affairs between the U.S. and Iran. In an interview with VOA on Wednesday, Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, recalled some of the emotional moments of witnessing …
For the first time since the early 20th century, more Americans are choosing to die at home rather than in a hospital. A report published in the New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday found deaths in nursing homes also have declined. Researchers studied data on natural deaths complied by the …
Israel is on its way to a third general election in the span of a year as the leaders of the two biggest parties in parliament remain unable to bring together a governing majority. Members of parliament gave preliminary approval to a dissolution measure Wednesday, and are expected to finalize …
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is leading her country’s defense at the International Court of Justice in The Hague against accusations of genocide against the country’s Rohingya Muslims. The Nobel Peace laureate stood before the United Nations tribunal Wednesday and reiterated her government’s claim that the military …
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Wednesday indicted Hafiz Saeed, the suspected planner of the 2008 attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai, along with his four senior aides on terror financing charges. Saeed, the founder of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group and the head of its banned charity …
A man who served as secretary of public security in Mexico from 2006 to 2012 has been indicted in New York City on drug charges alleging he accepted millions of dollars in bribes to let the Sinaloa cartel operate with impunity in Mexico. Genaro Garcia Luna, 51, a resident of …
A new rehab technology company helps patients maximize physical therapy and regain movement after paralysis – through gaming. Deana Mitchell checks it out. …
When can a U.S. intelligence community worker “blow the whistle?” VOA Explains. …