Friday, October 19, 2018
European and Asian leaders pledged their support for free trade at a meeting Friday that underscored global trade tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the Asia-Europe Meeting in Brussels would send a signal that “countries are coming together here from Europe and Asia that all want rules-based global trade and are committed to multilateralism.” The meeting brought together 30 European leaders with their counterparts from 21 Asian nations as...
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Friday, October 19, 2018
Thousands of Bangladeshi music fans gathered in the capital on Friday to mourn the sudden death of one of the country's most famous rock stars. Ayub Bachchu, widely known as AB among his fans, started his music career in 1978 and was one of the pioneers of the celebrated underground rock music scene in Bangladesh. The 57-year-old was also credited with introducing the blues music genre to Bangladeshi audiences and created several smash-hit rock tracks with his band Love Runs...
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Friday, October 19, 2018
International aid is pouring into the Indonesian island of Sulawesi for tens of thousands of earthquake and tsunami survivors. Three weeks after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck, the government estimates more than 87,000 people remain homeless and thousands more are living in poor, makeshift settlements. Aid agencies are racing against time to get relief to survivors before the monsoon season sets in next month. The Sulawesi disaster is estimated to have killed...
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Friday, October 19, 2018
Parliamentary elections in Kandahar province in Southern Afghanistan will be postponed for a week due to the situation arising from the killing of influential commander General Abdul Raziq, according to Haroon Chakhansuri, a spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani. Elections across the rest of the country are scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 20. The attack Thursday that killed Raziq was aimed at him and General Scott Miller, the commander of United States and NATO...
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Friday, October 19, 2018
NewsReporters Without Borders (RSF) has published a joint statement of findings from an international freedom of expression mission to Malta from 15-17 October 2018. The mission found that the Maltese authorities are not living up to their obligations to guarantee and safeguard freedom of expression and press freedom, and issued recommendations to address the concerns outlined in the statement.RSF UK Bureau Director Rebecca Vincent and head of RSF’s EU-Balkans desk Pauline Adès-Mével travelled to Malta along with representatives of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the European Centr
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Friday, October 19, 2018
Mass street demonstrations are expected Saturday in Taiwan over growing anger against perceived bullying by its militarily and economically more powerful rival, China. The advocacy group Formosa Alliance predicts tens of thousands of people will gather for its demonstration in central Taipei. Some protesters are expected to push the Taiwan government for more action on China. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party is organizing its own demonstration in southern Taiwan, a party spokesman...
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Friday, October 19, 2018
Saturday’s parliamentary election in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar will be delayed a week after the assassination of one of the country’s most powerful security chiefs dealt a stunning blow to the Western-backed government. General Abdul Raziq, the Kandahar police commander, was killed outside the provincial governor’s office Thursday, when a bodyguard opened fire on a group of officials as they left a meeting with General Scott Miller, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in...
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Friday, October 19, 2018
President Trump has signed a bill establishing a new foreign investment agency that aims to facilitate $60 billion of private lending for infrastructure projects in developing nations. Some see this as a reversal for a president who campaigned on an "America First" strategy that proposed slashing funding for international assistance. As White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports, the move was done to counter China's growing influence in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
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Friday, October 19, 2018
With the US midterm elections weeks away, Democrats have gained the upper hand in fundraising. Analysts say anti-Trump sentiment may be fueling record election contributions as Democrats seek to break the GOP's hold in Congress. As VOA's Masood Farivar reports, the 2018 midterms are shaping up to be the most expensive U.S. congressional election in history. But some wonder if rising Democratic campaign contributions is enough to unseat enough Republicans and take majority control of...
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Friday, October 19, 2018
In the battle for Congress, Democrats are winning the money game. But will it be enough for them to overtake Republicans? In what is shaping up to be the most expensive U.S. congressional election in history, Democrats have had a distinct advantage in fundraising over Republicans throughout the midterm election cycle as they seek to break the GOP’s stranglehold on Congress. While Republicans are widely expected to preserve their slim 51-to-49-seat majority in the U.S. Senate and...
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