When Ugnius Zilinskas came to Kenyon College in Ohio to play on the basketball team, he was welcomed with open arms. “They kind of take you as a family member,” said the student from Kedainiai, Lithuania. Zilinskas, a junior, is one of roughly 27,000 foreign students who play on U.S. …
Canned soup, canned tuna, and pasta, among other things — everything you’ll find in an average American pantry, yet these little pantries are not in someone’s home but in the streets, open and accessible to anyone who needs them. Free Little Pantry is behind this initiative, a grassroots organization that was …
The head of a Sudanese investigative committee said on Saturday that 87 people were killed and 168 wounded on June 3 when a sit-in protest was violently broken up by security forces. Fath al-Rahman Saeed, the head of the committee, said 17 of those killed were in the square occupied …
Georgia allowed its election system to grow “way too old and archaic” and now has a deep hole to dig out of to ensure that the constitutional right to vote is protected, U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg said Friday. Now Totenberg is in the difficult position of having to decide …
Bahrain has executed two men convicted of terrorism offenses. The executions were carried out despite objections from international human rights groups. The French news agency AFP reports that the two men were killed by firing squad Saturday. Rights groups have identified the men as Ahmad al-Malali and Ali al-Arab. Human …
The U.S. Justice Department said on Friday it is approving T-Mobile US Inc’s $26 billion takeover of rival Sprint Corp, clearing a major hurdle to a deal that would merge the nation’s third and fourth largest wireless carriers. The companies have agreed to divest Sprint’s prepaid businesses including Boost Mobile …
A top Sudanese editor who heads the main journalists’ union has been detained, the union said Thursday, calling on Sudan’s military rulers to free him or put him on trial. The detention of Sadiq al-Rizaigi came as the military said it had arrested a top general, several security officers and …
The U.N. refugee agency says up to 150 refugees and migrants are believed to have lost their lives Thursday in a shipwreck on the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya. If confirmed, the UNHCR says the shipwreak will be the biggest on the Mediterranean Sea since May 2017, when …
The South African unit of cigarette maker Philip Morris International opened its first flagship store in Johannesburg on Thursday, as it tries to grow demand in Africa for its alternative heated tobacco product IQOS. The store in Sandton gives Philip Morris access to tourists and business people from Africa who …
Amazon’s ramped up spending on speedier delivery for its Prime customers helped to accelerate its sales in the second quarter. But it also crimped its profits. The Seattle-based company reported Thursday that its sales soared a better-than-expected 20% in the quarter. But it posted a profit for the three-month period …
Chevron, the last U.S. oil company operating in Venezuela, said Thursday it hopes to be able to remain in the Latin American nation as the Trump administration mulls whether to renew its license, expiring on Saturday, to do business there. The administration said a decision will be made soon on …
Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party leader, began assembling his political team as soon as he took office Wednesday. New Cabinet members include the country’s first ethnic minority person to head the Treasury and several women. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports Johnson’s first day on the job was …
Former special counsel Robert Mueller told members of Congress Wednesday that his investigation into Russian interference in the last presidential election did not exonerate U.S. President Donald Trump of allegedly trying to thwart the investigation. As Mike O’Sullivan reports, Mueller’s comments before two congressional committees drew very different responses from Republicans …
In a deeply divided political atmosphere, Democrats and Republicans had hoped special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony before two House committees would be a turning point for the Trump administration. Amid the circuslike atmosphere on Capitol Hill, both parties appeared to dig in further on the issue of whether the president …
Both Russia and China are denying their military aircraft violated South Korea’s territorial airspace during a joint air patrol Tuesday. The alleged violation happened near a disputed group of islands claimed by both South Korea, which calls it Dokdo, and Japan, which calls it Takeshima. South Korea’s Defense Ministry …
The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it was opening a broad investigation of major digital technology firms into whether they engage in anticompetitive practices, the strongest sign the Trump administration is stepping up its scrutiny of Big Tech. The review will look into “whether and how market-leading online platforms …
U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who has been the target of some of President Donald Trump’s fiercest attacks, has called on supporters to confront racism and false accusations while at the same time remain focused on defeating Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Omar spoke to Muslim American democratic …
A senior U.S. official tasked with finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue told the United Nations Tuesday that international law and consensus are not the keys to resolving the decades-old dispute. “Those who continue to call for international consensus on this conflict are doing nothing to encourage the parties …
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval rating hit a new high because of his anti-crime work and populist appeal across class lines, a survey shows. While many nations and groups around the world criticize him, Duterte earned a net satisfaction rating of 68 in the second quarter of 2019, according to …
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Army Secretary Mark Esper to be secretary of defense, ending the longest period by far that the Pentagon has been without a permanent top official. As voting continued, the Senate overwhelmingly backed Esper, a former lobbyist for weapons maker Raytheon Co., to be President …
New Zealand on Monday unveiled the second round of restrictions on gun ownership in the aftermath of a deadly shooting at two mosques in Christchurch earlier this year. The new rules include establishing a gun registry, banning gun purchases by foreign visitors, and requiring gun owners to renew licenses every …
Residents of Hong Kong, already tense after weeks of protests against the city’s leader and police, were deeply shaken after masked assailants wearing white T-shirts savagely beat people dressed in black, the color of this summer’s democracy movement. The attackers descended late Sunday on an MTR rail station in the …
Congressional Democrats will ask Republicans to pass legislation to improve election security, ahead of special counsel Robert Mueller’s planned testimony to Congress Wednesday on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. House and Senate Democrats are expected to issue their call Tuesday in a press conference at the Senate, and plan …
U.S. President Donald Trump predicted Monday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony this week about whether the U.S. leader tried to obstruct his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election will end badly for him and that he shouldn’t even be testifying. Moreover, Trump said, “I …
A British-Iranian mother jailed in Tehran since 2016 has been returned to prison after being held in the mental ward of a public hospital for nearly a week, her husband said Monday. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was kept chained and under heavy guard for six days which she says left her “broken”, …
A sweeping internet shutdown in Myanmar’s conflict-hit Rakhine state went into its fifth week Monday as residents called on the government to end an information blackout that rights groups say could provide cover for rights abuses. Mobile phone operators suspended internet data on June 21 in eight townships across northern …