Friday, August 17, 2018
The United States on Friday announced it was cutting about $230 million in stabilization money to northeast Syria and said future global reconstruction funds for the country will depend on a U.N.-led peace process. The U.S. State Department in a statement said the decision, which was authorized by the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, was made after other members of the global coalition against the Islamic State (IS) made contributions and pledges of about $300 million to Syria. “This...
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Friday, August 17, 2018
The wife of a jailed Iranian dissident says her ailing husband’s doctor has warned prison officials that they are putting her husband’s life in danger by denying him medical treatment in a hospital. Speaking by phone from Tehran to the Friday edition of VOA Persian’s NewsHour program Rezvan Beigi said her jailed husband, Behfar Lalezari, has been struggling with asthma and heart problems. “Despite numerous requests that (my husband) has made and the following up we have done, he has...
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Friday, August 17, 2018
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a new report that options to protect Palestinian civilians under Israeli occupation range from establishing an armed military or police force to deploying civilian observers or beefing up the U.N. presence on the ground. The U.N. chief stressed in the report circulated Friday evening that every option would require the cooperation of Israelis and Palestinians, "a sustained cessation of hostilities and additional resources." But the...
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Friday, August 17, 2018
Two U.S. Catholic bishops named by grand jury in a Pennsylvania sex abuse report have apologized to victims but also defended their own actions. Harrisburg Bishop Ronald Gainer spoke at a Mass of forgiveness in Harrisburg Friday, saying, “In the name of our global church, I voice again my heartfelt sorrow and sincere apology to all survivors of clergy sexual abuse.” Gainer said most of the abuse happened long ago and said the church has since then taken “significant and effective...
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Friday, August 17, 2018
Relatives of the late singer Aretha Franklin say her funeral will be August 31 in her hometown of Detroit. There will be a two-day public viewing before the funeral at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, a publicist for the family, Gwendolyn Quinn, said, to allow fans to mourn. The funeral will take place at Greater Grace Temple, which seats about 4,000 people and will be limited to family, friends and invited guests, which are expected to include...
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Amnesty International - Friday, August 17, 2018
In response to reports indicating that some 3,600 Indigenous people from 14 communities find themselves trapped in the middle of clashes between armed groups in the department of Chocó, in northwestern Colombia, which could lead to mass displacement, Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International, said:
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Friday, August 17, 2018
A decadelong dispute between Kosovo and Serbia is compelling both countries to consider a territorial swap along ethnic lines. As VOA's Keida Kostreci reports, experts have mixed opinions over whether such a deal is workable or even desirable.
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Friday, August 17, 2018
Editor's note: We wanted a way to keep you updated with the top immigration, migration and refugee stories every week — the ones that will most affect you, our international readers, viewers and listeners. We want you to know what's happening, why and how it could impact your life, family or business, so we created a weekly digest of the top original immigration reporting from across VOA. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team:...
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Friday, August 17, 2018
With anger and grief, Italians began burying some of their dead Friday from the Genoa highway bridge collapse, holding funerals in the victims' hometowns. Several angry families rebuffed the offer of a state funeral, and the cardinal of Naples was merciless in his condemnation of negligence by Italian officials. Saturday has been declared a national day of mourning in Italy and will include a state funeral at the industrial port city's fairgrounds for those who plunged to their...
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Friday, August 17, 2018
Stocks rose late in the day Friday as investors welcomed signs of progress in resolving the trade dispute between the U.S. and China. The Wall Street Journal reported that the countries hope to have a resolution by November. Industrial, health care and basic materials companies made some of the biggest gains. The report came a day after China said it will send an envoy to Washington for the first talks between the countries since early June. Marina Severinovsky, an investment...
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