The day after anti-government protests erupted in Iraq, Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani flew into Baghdad late at night and took a helicopter to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where he surprised a group of top security officials by chairing a meeting in place of the prime minister. The arrival of …
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says this week’s inaugural meeting of a committee tasked with drafting a new Syrian constitution presents a “unique opportunity” for peace. The U.N. chief said Tuesday that he expects the 150-member committee to work “in good faith.” Representatives from the Syrian government, opposition and civil …
A top U.S. Border Patrol official has a warning: The crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border is not over. Even though crossings have been down over the past few months and news of custody deaths and teeming facilities full of children and families has faded from front pages and talking points …
Ninety years ago, on Oct. 29, 1929, the U.S. stock market plummeted nearly 13%. Wall Street investors panicked and unloaded their stock. The unprecedented financial crash became known as Black Tuesday. …
The full House of Representatives will vote this week on the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, addressing the White House argument that the probe has been illegitimate. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has scheduled a vote for Thursday, saying in a letter to fellow representatives that she wants to …
Freshman Rep. Katie Hill, a rising Democratic star in the House, announced her resignation amid an ethics probe, saying explicit private photos of her with a campaign staffer had been “weaponized” by her husband and political operatives. The California Democrat, 32, had been hand-picked for a coveted leadership seat. But …
Actress Geena Davis urged Hollywood filmmakers to take new steps to address an ongoing gender imbalance in media as she accepted an honorary Oscar on Sunday for her work to promote more women on screen. While equality for women lags throughout U.S. society, it is even worse in film and …
California Governor Gavin Newsom says there are hopes that by later Monday the near historic winds that are driving a huge wildfire in the northern part of the state will “substantially settle down” as some 3,000 people work to put out the blaze. “We’re not out of the woods, but …
Negotiations on a sweeping 16-nation free trade deal and a code of conduct for the hotly contested South China Sea are expected to take center stage at a summit of Asian leaders in Bangkok next month. The leaders of all 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations …
Conservative President Mauricio Macri conceded defeat in Argentina’s election Sunday night, paving the way for the country’s Peronist center-left to return to power under Alberto Fernandez as frustrated voters rejected the incumbent’s handling of a bruising economic crisis that has sunk many into poverty. The result would mark a dramatic …
Thousands of supporters of an ultra-religious party are gathering in Karachi to start a large anti-government march on Pakistan’s capital farther north. Mufti Abrar Ahmed, spokesman for the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, says its leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman will lead the protesters’ caravan setting off later on Sunday. The beginning of …
Pope Francis has thanked Amazon regional bishops for their “candor” at a meeting which called for ordaining married priests and other changes to help the Catholic church’s far-flung flock in that part of South America. In his homily Sunday at a Mass to conclude weeks of discussions at the Vatican …
An Afghan politician confirms that U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is in Afghanistan’s capital for his first visit since talks between the U.S. and Taliban collapsed last month. Sayed Hamid Gailani, leader of the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan, posted on his Twitter account late Saturday that he met …
An ex-White House aide who’s supposed to testify before House impeachment investigators on Monday is seeking guidance from a federal court about whether to comply with a House subpoena or follow President Donald Trump’s directive against cooperating. Former deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman has asked a judge in …
Nearly 50 people have died in renewed anti-government protests across Iraq, officials said Saturday, with clashes breaking out as demonstrators turned their fury against government and paramilitary offices. The death toll from protests this month has climbed to 205, including dozens who were killed as they torched government buildings or …
California officials warned on Saturday that “historic and extreme” wind conditions were set to fan raging wildfires in the north of the state as millions of residents face power cuts. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency as the so-called Kincade Fire spread to 23,700 acres (9,591 hectares) after …
The family of Ali Wezir is in agony in Syria’s Kurdish town of Hasakah after hearing that Wezir has set himself on fire outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland to protest a Turkish incursion in northeast Syria. VOA’s Zana Omar reports. …
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have issued three more subpoenas to U.S. officials as part of their impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. The House committees leading the impeachment investigation demanded to hear testimony from Ulrich Brechbuhl, a key aide to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as well …
A Kurdish family in Syria’s northeastern city of Hasakah is anguished by news that 31-year-old Ali Wezir set himself on fire Wednesday outside a United Nations building in Geneva, Switzerland. Wezir, a Syrian Kurdish refugee residing in Germany, suffered burns on 80% of his body after setting himself on fire …
Climate change continues leaving its mark on the world’s oceans. Water levels are rising along with temperatures. Warmer waters supercharge some marine life’s reproduction rates, putting other species’ very survival at risk. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi takes us under the sea. …
In international diplomacy, sports can sometimes act to bridge bitter divides between longstanding rivals. A similar unifying force could be at work, at least temporarily, in America’s politically polarized capital city. VOA’s Brian Padden reports, Democrats and Republicans are coming together to support the Washington Nationals baseball team playing in …
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence criticized American companies for selling out U.S. values to protect their access to China’s profitable markets. In a speech on trade Thursday, Pence singled out Nike and the National Basketball Association (NBA) for ignoring the abuses of the Chinese Communist Party. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. …
The International Red Cross has warned of an imminent “humanitarian catastrophe” at an overcrowded makeshift migrant camp on Bosnia’s border with Croatia and asked for urgent relocation of its occupants to a safer area. In a statement Thursday, it said the Vucjak camp, which has been named “The Jungle” by …
The European Parliament on Thursday awarded the Sakharov Prize for human rights to Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment in China for “separatism”. The outspoken former professor of economics at a Beijing university was sentenced in 2014 by Chinese courts in a trial that provoked …
U.S Defense Secretary Mark Esper says Turkey’s offensive against Kurds in northeastern Syria was “unwarranted” and Ankara is “heading in the wrong direction” after its agreement with Russia to jointly patrol a “safe zone” in the region. “Turkey put us in a very terrible situation,” Esper said at the German …
A second U.S. resident has pleaded guilty this week to federal charges stemming from an elaborate visa fraud scheme to bring Armenians to the United States under the guise of being folk dance performers. Armenian national and California resident Hrachya Atoyan, 32, took part in an illegal transnational network that …