Thursday, June 7, 2018
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday announced a ceasefire with Taliban insurgents until June 20, coinciding with the end of the Muslim fasting season, but said fighting against other militant groups, such as Islamic State, would continue. The decision came after a meeting of Islamic clerics from across the country this week who declared a fatwa on Taliban attacks. A suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State killed 14 people at the entrance to the clerics’ peace tent in Kabul. The...
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Thursday, June 7, 2018
Taiwan simulated repelling an invading force Thursday and used civilian-operated drones for the first time as part of annual military drills on the self-ruled island amid escalating tensions with China. The drills were presided over by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and watched by the visiting king of eSwatini, the African kingdom formerly known as Swaziland at the center of a diplomatic tug-of-war between Taiwan and China. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its sacred territory, under...
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Thursday, June 7, 2018
Expand Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa announces the date for the general elections in Harare, Zimbabwe, May 30, 2018. © 2018 Reuters (Harare) – The Zimbabwe government’s failure to carry out legal and electoral reforms threatens the credibility of national elections scheduled for July 30, 2018. Despite President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s repeated promises that elections will be free and fair, the ability of voters to freely choose their leaders is in serious doubt. Human Rights Watch research in May, including interviews across the country, found that security force involvement in the electoral…
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Thursday, June 7, 2018
A neighborhood called Vacationland on Hawaii’s Big Island disappeared by Wednesday as lava poured into two oceanfront subdivisions, smothering hundreds of homes and filling an ocean bay, turning it into new land that juts into the sea. Molten rock entirely covered Vacationland and only a few buildings remained in the nearby Kapoho subdivision, officials with the U.S. Geological Survey said. “The bay is completely filled in and the shoreline is at least 0.8 miles out from its original...
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Thursday, June 7, 2018
Honolulu leaders approved a measure Wednesday to limit prices that ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft can charge during peak demand, a cap that the companies say would be the first restriction of its kind in the United States. The measure would prevent “surge pricing” if increased rates are higher than the maximum fare set by the city. Honolulu attorneys will review the measure before it goes to Mayor Kirk Caldwell, who would have 10 days to sign it into law, allow it to...
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Thursday, June 7, 2018
The U.S. government said Wednesday it would release in Syria an American citizen detained on suspicion of being an Islamic State member, a move the American Civil Liberties Union compared to dumping him on the road in a war zone. The man, who holds dual U.S.-Saudi citizenship and whose name has not been released, was captured in September in Syria by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of militias fighting against Islamic State, before being handed over to the United...
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Thursday, June 7, 2018
Leaders of the world's top industrialized democracies will meet in Quebec, Canada, this weekend at a time of growing tensions over trade and other issues While the G-7 Summit is likely to be overshadowed by another historic meeting next week in Singapore, analysts say the G-7 summit is likely to be no less consequential to the future of the global economy or the continued international leadership of the United States. Mil Arcega has more.
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Thursday, June 7, 2018
Making her first public appearance in nearly a month, first lady Melania Trump attended a FEMA briefing alongside her husband in Washington on Wednesday. This comes after weeks of public speculation over the first lady's whereabouts and extended absence, following the first lady's hospitalization for kidney surgery in May. VOA's Elizabeth Cherneff has more.
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Thursday, June 7, 2018
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Thursday, June 7, 2018
Expand North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the Third Plenary Meeting of the Seventh Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on April 20, 2018. © 2018 KCNA/via Reuters (New York) – The North Korean government should immediately undertake meaningful reforms that will end the dire human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Human Rights Watch and more than 300 nongovernmental organizations said today in a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “North…
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