The United States and Britain urged Russia on Friday to bring to justice all those responsible for the slaying of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. A Russian court on Thursday convicted five men of murdering Nemtsov, but allies of the politician have said the investigation was a cover-up and that the people who had ordered hisRead more
A prospect with a 94 mph fastball gets a lot of attention, no matter where he is pitching — even when that prospect is a diminutive 16-year-old from a country with little baseball tradition. Eric Pardinho’s blazing fastball has brought scouts to this city 50 miles west of Sao Paulo in soccer mad Brazil. TheRead more
New Zealand is giving $1 million in aid to help clear landmines in Colombia, one of the most mine-scarred countries in the world after a half century of war, officials said on Friday. Most of the funds will go to a two-year program by the British-based Halo Trust, a demining group, said New Zealand’s foreignRead more
Biodiesel made from microalgae could power buses and trucks and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80 percent, Chilean scientists said, possibly curbing pollution in contaminated cities like Santiago. Experts from the department of Chemical Engineering and Bioprocesses at Chile’s Catholic University said they had grown enough algae to fragment it and extractRead more
Venezuela’s chief prosecutor asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for protection Friday, days after the Supreme Court barred her from leaving the country and ordered her bank accounts frozen. Tensions between Luisa Ortega Diaz and President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist administration have been steadily escalating since she contested a Supreme Court decision in lateRead more
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was charged Friday with allegedly misusing European Parliament funds to pay two parliamentary aides who also work at her National Front headquarters. Her lawyer said she denies the charges and will fight to get the investigation suspended. Investigators suspect some National Front lawmakers used legislative aides for theRead more
Families in Kosovo are appealing to national authorities and the international community to learn the fate of their loved ones who went missing during the Kosovo war, fought from March 1998 to June 1999. At the end of 2002, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported more than 6,000 people from Kosovo were unaccountedRead more
Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the coalition fighting Islamic State, flew into Ankara Friday in the latest efforts by Washington to calm mounting tensions involving key allies in the war against IS. Those tensions threaten to derail efforts to capture the Syrian town of Raqqa, the militants’ self-declared capital. McGurk’s visit comes the sameRead more
The leader of the United Nations has joined the reconvened Cyprus negotiations to encourage the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders to grasp the opportunity for peace and end a stalemate that has kept their island divided for more than four decades. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres got off the plane from New York early FridayRead more
Iran’s parliament is considering a proposal to spend nearly $550 million to bolster security and expand the country’s missile program. The proposal follows an Iranian rocket strike on Islamic State in Syria that analysts called retaliation for twin terror attacks in Tehran and a warning to regional rivals. The bill would raise the Islamic RevolutionaryRead more
President Donald Trump spoke with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Friday to discuss the ongoing feud between Qatar and several Arab states, a conflict that some are calling the worst Gulf Arab crisis in years. Trump and Erdogan talked by phone to discuss how to resolve the dispute “while ensuring all countries workRead more
German lawmakers voted to legalize same-sex marriage in their last session before the September election. Lawmakers voted 393 for legalizing “marriage for everybody,” and 226 against with four abstentions. The measure brought to a vote in Friday’s session was fast-tracked after Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday lawmakers could take up the issue as a “questionRead more
The European Union has pledged to support Italy as it continues to admit thousands of migrants who are crossing the Mediterranean every day from North Africa. So far this year nearly 80,000 people have made the journey, and more than 2,000 have died Poor health Most of the tens of thousands of people plucked fromRead more
The European Union has pledged to support Italy as it continues to admit thousands of migrants crossing every day from North Africa across the Mediterranean. Italy has threatened to shut its ports to foreign-registered boats carrying migrants. So far this year nearly 80,000 people have made the journey, and more than 2,000 have died. HenryRead more
American officials say that U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have surrounded the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, and that the extremists’ escape routes have been sealed. The State Department said Thursday it is important that once Raqqa is free from Islamic State control, a government approved by the local population can be elected. VOA’s Zlatica HokeRead more
Qatar’s foreign minister says Doha is interested in negotiating an end to the standoff with regional forces, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the country’s sovereignty. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani spoke at the Arab Center in Washington this week, two days after meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson regarding the tinyRead more
Despite diplomatic activity in Washington this week, the blockade of Qatar by its Persian Gulf neighbors continues. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with top officials from Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, calling for negotiations to end the crisis. But Saudi Arabia says its demands on Qatar are non-negotiable, and Qatar says it willRead more
A top adviser to Pope Francis was charged with multiple historical sex crimes in his native Australia on Thursday, bringing a worldwide abuse scandal to the heart of the Vatican. Appointed Vatican economy minister by Francis, Cardinal George Pell is the highest-ranking Church official to face such accusations. He asserted his innocence and said theRead more