Month: October 2019

President Donald Trump says there is "big success" on the Turkey-Syria border following the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from northeast Syria and the end of a Turkish offensive against them. "Big success on the Turkey/Syria Border. Safe Zone created! Ceasefire has held and combat missions…

The U.S. has postponed a resumption of refugee arrivals by at least another week, a State Department spokesperson confirmed to VOA on Tuesday, as the Trump administration pushes for further reductions in the number of refugees America takes in each year. The postponement follows last…

Aid workers in northern Iraq say they are seeing increasing numbers of Syrians fleeing over the border into the mainly Kurdish region as the cease-fire in northeastern Syria is about to expire. In the past day alone, the Norwegian Refugee Council reports that 1,736 Syrians…

A court established by Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of eastern Ukraine has sentenced journalist Stanislav Aseyev, an RFE/RL contributor, to 15 years in a penal colony. In a ruling condemned as "reprehensible" by RFE/RL's president, separatist news outlet DAN reported on Tuesday that the…

Twelve U.S. Democratic presidential candidates squared off in a spirited debate Tuesday night, all looking to confront President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, even as their Democratic congressional cohorts have accused Trump of political wrongdoing and opened an impeachment inquiry against him.    The…

“Desperate Housewives'' star Felicity Huffman — aka prisoner No. 77806-112 — reported Tuesday to a federal prison in California to serve a two-week sentence in a college admissions scandal that ensnared dozens of wealthy mothers and fathers trying to get their children into elite schools. …

Eight-year-old Sara hardly speaks anymore. She spends most of her time watching cartoons on a mobile phone in a rugged pink cover.      One of her legs is severed above the knee, the other is broken.    On Thursday, about 15 minutes after her…

Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno on Monday officially scrapped his own law to cut expensive fuel subsidies after days of violent protests against the IMF-backed measure, returning fuel prices to prior levels until a new measure can be found. The signing of the decree is a…

Two Pacific Northwest tribes on Monday demanded the removal of three major hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River to save migrating salmon and starving orcas and restore fishing sites that were guaranteed to the tribes in a treaty more than 150 years ago. The Yakama…

Along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, tens of thousands of New Yorkers and tourists celebrated the world's largest display of Italian-American pageantry on Columbus Day, while New Mexico and a growing list of states and municipalities ditched the holiday altogether for the first time. The Italian navigator…

Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate are making their first official visit to Pakistan Monday that will "pay respect to the historical relationship" between the two countries. They are the first royals to visit Pakistan since 2006, when Charles and Camilla, the Prince of…

News reports say South Korean pop star and actress Sulli has been found dead at her home south of Seoul.   A report by Yonhap news agency said the 25-year-old was found Monday afternoon. The report said police have said there were no signs of…

For weeks, Spain has rejected repeated U.S. requests for the extradition of former Venezuelan spy chief Hugo Carvajal, wanted in the United States on drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges. Now, the reasons for Madrid's refusal are emerging: he is cooperating in Spain's efforts to mediate…

Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, on Sunday defended his work in Ukraine and China after calls by President Donald Trump that the two countries investigate his business dealings, pleas that have engulfed Trump in an impeachment inquiry. The younger…

Seven people were wounded after a mortar attack by al-Shabab militants hit the area around Mogadishu airport on Sunday, Somali witnesses and officials say The mortars landed on the heavily-guarded Halane area of the airport that houses the African Union and United Nations Mission in…

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan held talks Sunday with leaders in Iran to formally begin a diplomatic offensive he said was aimed at defusing the neighboring country’s escalating tensions with Saudi Arabia and the United States. Khan told a joint news conference after his “wide-ranging…

Armed men stormed a mosque in the volatile north of Burkina Faso as worshippers were at prayer, killing 16 people and sending residents fleeing, security sources and locals said Saturday. The attack on the Grand Mosque in the town of Salmossi on Friday evening underscores…

Britain remains a long way from agreeing on a final Brexit deal and the next few days will be critical if it is to reach departure terms with the European Union, a Downing Street source said Saturday. Negotiators for Britain and the EU entered intense…

Turkey’s military said it captured a key Syrian border town under heavy bombardment Saturday in its most significant gain since an offensive against Kurdish fighters began four days ago, with no sign of relenting despite mounting international criticism. Turkish troops entered central Ras al-Ayn, according…

Robert Forster, the handsome and omnipresent character actor who got a career resurgence and Oscar-nomination for playing bail bondsman Max Cherry in “Jackie Brown,” has died. He was 78. Forster’s publicist Kathie Berlin said he died Friday at home in Los Angeles of brain cancer…

A heavy downpour and strong winds pounded Tokyo and surrounding areas Saturday as a powerful typhoon forecast as the worst in six decades approached landfall, with streets and train stations deserted and shops shuttered. Store shelves were bare after people stocked up on water and…

Edwin Bernard, 73, is no stranger to flames that have frequently menaced his sunburned corner of Los Angeles, but they never arrived as quickly or came as close to his home before. Fire swept down the hill across the street and spit embers over his…

The climate action movement known as "Fridays for Future" has spread to Nigeria, where it is being led by a 16-year-old school girl, Faithwins Iwuh.  The movement started by a Swedish teenager, Greta Thunberg, now has millions of school children worldwide, who are demanding immediate…

Editor’s note: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was named Friday as this year's winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. In late May, he gave his first interview to a Western news organization when he spoke to the Voice of America’s Horn of Africa service reporter…

Labor rights advocates are warning that an Oct. 1 U.S. ban on imports from a Malaysian rubber glove maker over evidence of forced labor won't be the country's last if employers fail to act quickly to mend conditions for long-suffering migrant workers. Washington announced the…

Sudan's ruling council has appointed the country's first woman chief justice. The appointment is seen as another step forward for female representation in the new transitional government.  The Sovereign Council has officially confirmed the pick of Neemat Abdullah as chief justice of the country's judiciary,…

The Swedish Academy's decision to bestow the 2018 Nobel Prize in literature on Polish author Olga Tokarczuk has given a rare morale boost to liberal Poles only three days before a national election that is likely to be won by the country's right-wing populist party.…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has denied that his American counterpart, Donald Trump, tried to blackmail him. Claims that Trump requested a corruption investigation into Hunter Biden, son of Democrat Joe Biden – in return for military aid - are the subject of an impeachment inquiry…