Month: January 2017

Turkish police on January 18 rounded up 27 people mostly from central Asia who they said were linked to an Uzbek gunman charged with killing 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s eve. …

Lawrence Summers, the former U.S. treasury secretary, has warned that Donald Trump’s threats to firms using Mexico as a manufacturing base will be counterproductive and could lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of American jobs. Summers told a panel at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday that the president-elect’s “rhetoric and announced policies” …

Pakistan has called on Afghan leaders to review their “fragmented” approach to peace talks with the Taliban on containing and ending the resilient insurgency, instead of blaming Islamabad for the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. Sartaj Aziz, chief foreign policy advisor to the Pakistani prime minister, in an exclusive interview with VOA, says that a …

Gambia’s Parliament has voted to extend President Yahya Jammeh’s term in office for three months, even as his mandate was set to end Thursday, state television said Wednesday. The extension takes effect immediately. The announcement came a day after Jammeh declared a three-month state of emergency as he seeks to stay in power despite losing …

The office of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon’s son has been moved to the former presidential headquarters in the Central Asian nation, stoking speculation that Rustam Emomali will be tapped to succeed his father. …

In his final major speech in office, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said that Russia poses the biggest threat to the “liberal international order” and warned that “further” Russian attempts to meddle in Western elections should be expected. …

Your daily roundup …

A look at the best news photos from around the world. …

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh declared a state of emergency after refusing to accept the results of last month’s election in which he lost to opposition leader Adama Barrow. In a statement broadcast on state-run television Tuesday, Jammeh said state of emergency would last until the Supreme Court decides on a complaint his political party filed …

The outgoing U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has accused Russia of engaging in aggressive and destabilizing actions that she says are threatening the rules-based international order. …

Vlado Trifunovic, a former Yugoslav Army general who was convicted of treason by Serbia’s wartime nationalist leadership during the Balkans wars of the 1990s, has died at the age of 78. …

In Zimbabwe, doctors and aid organizations have called on the government to improve the country’s water and sanitation amid a typhoid outbreak. Authorities have started dismantling vendors’ malls as part of efforts to contain the outbreak that has struck more than 200 people in the capital, Harare, killing two, and has been detected in other …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed as “fake” a dossier on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that was leaked earlier this month. Speaking on January 17, Putin said allegations that Trump met with prostitutes at a Moscow hotel are “ridiculous.” (Reuters) …

Thousands of people are running from the crumbling Islamic State group in eastern Mosul every day. Other families are staying put, hiding in their homes as battles rage outside, later emerging on the streets as Iraqi forces claim victory. In the days that follow escape or military victory, remnants of IS remain on their bodies, …

Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa urged for calm in relations with Serbia following a war of words that erupted between the two countries over the weekend. In an exclusive interview with VOA’s Albanian Service, Mustafa was responding to comments by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic who said his country “is ready to send troops to Kosovo …

Facebook is stepping up efforts to head off tougher regulation by Germany, a fierce critic of the social media network operator, saying Monday it would do more to combat fake news as its chief operating officer met with officials in Berlin. Top German lawmakers are planning legislation this year to force Facebook to remove “hate …

A man suspected of killing 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s Day has been caught in the city’s Esenyurt district, Turkish media report. …

French President Francois Hollande has responded to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s criticism of the European Union by saying that the EU “has no need for outside advice” on its affairs. …

The wife of the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub last year has been arrested in connection with the mass shooting, the U.S. attorney general has said. …