Year: 2019

Thailand’s royal palace has released photos of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his recently anointed royal consort, though the official website hosting the images became inaccessible within a few hours. The photos released Monday show the 67-year-old monarch and Sineenatra Wongvajirabhakdi in formal regalia as well…

It was music to the ears of Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson.  The British will be able to strike a "fantastic deal" with the United States once Britain has thrown off the "anchor" of the European Union, U.S. President Donald Trump told Johnson during a…

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday "there's a really good chance" he would meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the coming weeks to try to negotiate a new deal to curb Tehran's nuclear weapons program to replace the 2015 international deal that Trump withdrew…

The Justice Department is moving forward to expand the number of marijuana growers for federally-authorized cannabis research.   Uttam Dhillon, the acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, says Monday's move would give researchers a wider variety of cannabis to study. He says the DEA…

Opera legend Placido Domingo was greeted with a standing ovation in Salzburg, Austria, at his first appearance on stage since nine women accused him of sexual harassment dating back three decades. Even before he sang a single note, Domingo was greeted with a thunderous applause…

Hong Kong police drew their guns and fired a warning shot Sunday night after protesters attacked officers with sticks and rods, and brought out water cannon trucks for the first time, an escalation in the summerlong protests that have shaken the city’s government and residents.…

Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees rallied to mark the second anniversary of their exodus out of Myanmar. Almost 200,000 Rohingya participated in a peaceful gathering, which was attended by UN officials, at the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar on Sunday. More than a…

Backed by military aircraft, Brazilian troops on Saturday were deploying in the Amazon to fight fires that have swept the region and prompted anti-government protests as well as an international outcry. President Jair Bolsonaro also tried to temper global concern, saying that previously deforested areas…

President Donald Trump is threatening to use the emergency authority granted by a powerful but obscure federal law to make good on his tweeted "order" to U.S. businesses to cut ties in China amid a spiraling trade war between the two nations. China's announcement Friday…

Thousands of angry and frustrated Rohingya refugees marked the second anniversary of their exodus from Myanmar into Bangladesh on Sunday by demanding their citizenship and other rights in the country they fled from. The event came days after Bangladesh with the help of the U.N.…

This is the second story in a series on how the U.S. government’s Migrant Protection Protocols are being carried out in Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Read the first story here. VOA News Center Immigration Reporter Ramon Taylor, and VOA Spanish Service reporters Jorge…

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft failed to dock with the International Space Station Saturday. The craft was carrying a humanoid robot that was scheduled to conduct a mission on the station with the cosmonauts who are there.   NASA said on its blog that the docking…

Hong Kong is experiencing another Saturday of protests, as the rallies enter their third month.    Police clashed with demonstrators and used tear gas to disperse the crowd outside a police station Saturday. Protesters also cut down a "smart lamppost" because they feared it was…

Over Russian 100 medical workers who helped treat victims of a recent mysterious explosion at a military testing range have undergone checks and one man has been found with a trace of radiation, officials said Friday. The Aug. 8 incident at the Russian navy's range…

The World Health Organization said Friday that the deadly Ebola virus had spread to new areas in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The number of cases was 2,934, including 1,965 deaths, it said.  Since mid-June, the WHO has reported an average of 80 new Ebola cases…

China and Russia believe they can behave as they want and have impunity to crush dissent because Western states are at odds with themselves and have lost confidence in their ability to shape the world around them, warn analysts.  "There is a danger that we…

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday it would invite Boeing 737 Max pilots from across the world to participate in simulator tests as part of the process to recertify the aircraft for flight following two fatal crashes. Earlier, Reuters reported that the agency…

Social media users are fueling a burgeoning appetite for acquiring wild otters and other endangered animals as pets, conservationists say, warning the trend could push species toward extinction. Popular Instagrammers posting selfies with their pet otter may simply be seeking to warm the hearts of…

Thirty-eight former students of an Orthodox Jewish school in New York City operated by Yeshiva University sued Thursday over claims they were molested by two prominent rabbis in the 1960s, '70s and '80s. The suit, filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, alleges that the…

A fresh push to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar appeared Thursday to fall flat, with no one turning up to hop on five buses and 10 trucks laid on by Bangladesh. “We have been waiting since 9:00 am (0300 GMT) to take any willing refugees…

The controversy over U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly postponing his trip to Copenhagen continues, as he criticized Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, calling her "nasty" and "inappropriate." The Danish leader had rebuffed Trump's overture to buy Greenland, the Arctic country that is part of the kingdom…

In South Sudan, a group of men and boys is trying to break cultural taboos on a topic that often drives young girls out of school — menstruation.  Men4Women is distributing menstrual pads to girls while also encouraging boys and men to engage in conversations…

Syrian opposition activists say airstrikes have hit a hospital in a rebel-held northwestern village, knocking it out of service. There was no immediate word on casualties. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Thiqa news agency, an activist collective, said the Rahma hospital…

China on Wednesday blasted a huge planned U.S. arms shipment to self-ruled Taiwan and threatened to sanction firms involved in the sale of F-16 fighter jets. The U.S. State Department on Tuesday approved the transfer of 66 Lockheed Martin-built F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan in…

President Donald Trump acknowledged his aggressive China trade policies may mean economic pain for Americans but insisted they’re needed for more important long-term benefits. He contended he does not fear a recession but is nonetheless considering new tax cuts to promote growth. Asked if his…

On a recent sweltering Saturday, a day now reserved for protest in Hong Kong, a demonstrator named Wayne stepped past a row of plastic barricades, lifted a pair of binoculars and squinted. Four hundred meters away, a line of riot police stood with full-length shields,…

The United Nations reports the small oasis town of Murzuq in southwestern Libya has suffered one of the largest losses of civilian life this month since civil war broke out in 2011 following the overthrow of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Escalating violence reportedly has…

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte announced his resignation Tuesday, blaming his decision to end his 14-month-old populist government on his rebellious and politically ambitious deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini. Conte told the Senate that the surprise move earlier this month by Salvini's right-wing League party to…