India’s monsoon rains were 20% below average in the week ending on Wednesday, as rainfall was scanty over the central, western and southern parts of the country, the weather office said, raising concerns over the output of summer-sown crops. Monsoon rains are crucial for farm output and economic growth, as …
Bulgarian police have detained a suspect who is allegedly behind the hacking of the national revenue agency, an attack that leaked the personal and financial data of millions of Bulgarians and companies. Police cybersecurity chief Yavor Kolev said Wednesday a 20-year-old Bulgarian employee of a cybersecurity company is suspected in …
A driver whose car collided with several people before crashing outside Britain’s Parliament has been convicted of attempted murder. Three people were injured when Salih Khater hit a pedestrian and cyclists before colliding with a security barrier guarded by police. The August 2018 incident came a year after London was …
The ever-so-brief Hurricane Barry spared the southern U.S. city of New Orleans and the Louisiana coast of devastating floods. But with the 2019 hurricane season underway, a sense of anxiety has once again overcome a community that fears it will only be a matter of time before a storm as …
German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen was narrowly elected president of the European Commission on Tuesday after winning over skeptical lawmakers. The 60-year-old conservative was nominated to become the first woman in Brussels’ top job last month by the leaders of the bloc’s 28 member states, to the annoyance …
Activists are calling on Sudan’s military and opposition leaders to open the country’s political process to women when the sides begin to implement their recent power-sharing deal. For most of Sudan’s 63 years as an independent country, women were not allowed to get involved in politics due to cultural norms …
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif says his country is willing to negotiate with the U.S., but only if it lifts harsh economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The U.S. imposed sanctions on Iran in 2017 before withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal last year that requires Iran to slash …
North Korea has criticized U.S. plans to hold a joint military exercise next month with South Korea, suggesting the drills could negatively impact upcoming working-level nuclear talks with Washington. In a statement from the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the exercise violates an agreement …
Taxpayer-funded family planning clinics must stop referring women for abortions immediately, the Trump administration said Monday, declaring it will begin enforcing a new regulation hailed by religious conservatives and denounced by medical organizations and women’s rights groups. The head of a national umbrella group representing the clinics said the administration …
Aid workers in Uganda say armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has doubled the flow of refugees since June, straining humanitarian funding. Many of the DRC refugees brave the harsh waters of Lake Albert on the Uganda border to make the crossing to safety. Halima Athumani reports from …
Financier Jeffrey Epstein will remain behind bars for now as a federal judge mulls whether to grant bail on charges he sexually abused underage girls. The judge said he needed more time to make a decision during a hearing Monday in New York. Federal prosecutors maintained the well-connected Epstein, 66, …
Police and protesters are gearing up for a fight in Hawaii as construction is set to begin on a massive telescope on Mauna Kea, the islands’ highest peak, considered sacred by some native Hawaiians. State officials said the road to the top of Mauna Kea mountain on the Big Island …
Unknown armed assailants killed a reporter for a local radio station in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province. Nader Shah Sahibzada, a reporter for Voice of Gardiz local radio, went missing on Friday and authorities found his dead body on Saturday near his home in capital city, Gardiz. Initial autopsy reports suggest …
A decorated member of the U.S. Special Forces has died during combat in northern Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced Sunday. Green Beret Sgt. Maj. James “Ryan” Sartor died Saturday after being injured by enemy fire Saturday. His death brings the number of fatalities among the U.S. military this year in the …
The power of song can heal the hearts and bring people together. A girls’ chorus named Pihcintu sings to do just that. Most members are from war-torn countries and refugee camps around the world. Together they sing as one and spread a message of hope. VOA’s June Soh caught up …
At a time when podcasts, e-books and smartphones are blossoming, old-fashioned books are still popular in the United States. That is why tiny free libraries, where people exchange books, are sprouting up across the nation to help book lovers. For VOA, Iryna Matviichuk visited some exchanges in the Washington area. …
Tall buildings made of wood are beginning to pop up around the world, from the United States and Canada to Norway and soon England. Builders say wood may well be the construction material of the future. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
A team of researchers across three universities is working on a cell-killing machine invisible to the naked eye. “We want to be bacteria’s worst nightmare,” said James Tour, T.T. and W. F. Chao Professor of Chemistry at Rice University in Houston. He is also a professor of materials science and …
A report submitted to the UN human rights council this week accuses Nicaragua of continuing to repress, threaten and harass human rights defenders and other opponents one year after the government’s violent crackdown on nationwide demonstrations. More than 300 people were killed, 2000 injured, and hundreds arbitrarily arrested during last …
New Zealand has held its first public fire-arms collection event in Christchurch Saturday as part of the government’s response to the city’s mosque shootings in March. Ownership of the types of high-powered weapons used in the attacks that killed 51 people has been restricted. There were long lines at a …
Federal prosecutors say a Pennsylvania man sexually molested four teenage girls at a Kenyan orphanage he founded with a church’s help. U.S. Attorney William McSwain announced charges Friday against 60-year-old Gregory Dow of Lancaster, hours after Dow was taken into custody. McSwain says Dow fled Kenya in September 2017 after …
Egypt’s legendary movie critic and film historian Youssef Cherif Rizkallah, the man who helped popularize Hollywood movie reviews on Egyptian and Middle East televisions, died Friday. His death comes two days after revealing he had kidney problems. He was 76. The famed broadcast journalist, best known as Egypt’s mobile movie …
Midwest farmers and their Republican elected officials rarely miss a chance to shower President Donald Trump with praise when he takes actions they believe help agriculture, but they’re now parsing their words over the administration’s policies dealing with ethanol. While they have offered their effusive thanks to Trump for his …
Women in the Syrian city of Raqqa say their lifestyle drastically changed after U.S.-backed forces freed their city from the Islamic State terror group. The Syrian Democratic Forces liberated the city in October 2017. Since then, Raqqa residents have been determined to bring a sense of normalcy back to their …
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could be facing his biggest political challenge, with the resignation of his former economic czar Ali Babacan threatening to split his ruling AKP Party. Party discontent is escalating amidst economic malaise and deteriorating human rights. “Under the current conditions, Turkey needs a brand-new vision for …
Sudan’s ruling military council has foiled a coup attempt, a top general announced on state television Thursday, saying that 12 officers and four soldiers had been arrested. The announcement came as the ruling military and civilian protesters agreed last week to end a political impasse after the army in April …