Month: January 2017

Senior members of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s administration say they are considering moving White House press briefings to a new location with more space, but reporters oppose the proposal saying it would hurt their ability to do their jobs.  The briefings take place in a room in the West Wing of the White House, which …

South Korean prosecutors investigating the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of the country’s president have asked for the arrest of Samsung’s acting chief, Lee Jae-yong, son of the Samsung group chairman Lee Kun-hee who has been ill in recent years.  The prosecutors have been conducting a probe into Samsung’s financial support of a …

Pakistani military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that his troops have destroyed “all safe havens” for terrorists in Pakistan. …

Former Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has announced that he will run for president in the election scheduled for later this year. …

At least 32 people are reported dead in a crash of a Turkish cargo plane near the airport in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. …

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump says his plan to replace President Obama’s healthcare program is “formulated down to the final strokes,” and will be unveiled soon. In an interview with the Washington Post posted late Sunday, Trump said his goal was “insurance for everybody,” but that he declined to provide specifics.  One thing he did specify …

Gambia’s President-elect Adama Barrow has left the country for neighboring Senegal, a coalition member and local media said on Sunday, a day after West African leaders failed to persuade President Yahya Jammeh to step aside. Barrow, a former real estate agent, won a Dec. 1 election in the former British colony by a slim margin. …

Police in Brazil have entered two prisons in the country’s northern state of Rio Grande do Norte where a riot left at least 10 inmates dead on Saturday, authorities said Sunday. A statement released by the office in charge of state penitentiaries said the rebellion started Saturday afternoon in the Alcacuz and Rogerio Coutinho detention …

Russia plans to improve and expand its naval and air bases in Syria, Interfax news agency reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source, as Moscow cements its presence in the Middle Eastern country, its only overseas military deployment. The source told Interfax that Russia will start repairing a second runway at Hmeimin air base near …

The landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers “will not be renegotiated,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on January 15, ahead of the first anniversary of the agreement’s implementation. …

Why is a suspension of Turkmen gas to Iran happening and how long might it continue? What’s at stake for each of the countries? And how much damage could this do to Turkmen-Iranian relations? LIsten to this week’s Majlis podcast to find out. …

Afghan officials say at least seven civilians, including a woman and three children, were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan on January 15. …

United States officials will be invited by Turkey and Russia to attend new Syria peace talks set to take place in Kazakhstan later this month, Turkey’s foreign minister said Saturday. Mevlut Cavusoglu had previously expressed support for U.S. participation in the talks, though Russia has yet to publicly acknowledge any support for the invitation to …

When the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket goes into space Saturday, it will carry a payload that could revolutionize how airplanes fly. Technology on board will make airplanes trackable over the entire Earth, including the black zones over vast oceans and deserts where planes currently can’t be traced. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti explains. …

Authorities in Pakistan have reported no progress in finding at least four secular activists and bloggers who mysteriously went missing a week ago from different cities, including the national capital of Islamabad. Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan told reporters Saturday that security and intelligence agencies are “fully focused” on the issue, and making efforts to …

About 3,500 American soldiers have been deployed as part of NATO troop rotations in Eastern Europe aimed at reassuring regional allies following Russia’s moves against Ukraine. …

Ukrainian authorities should “immediately” cancel an order banning a prominent independent Russian television station from broadcasting in the country, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says. …

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is calling on Belarusian authorities to “unconditionally” release a Russian-Israeli blogger who is wanted in Baku on separatism charges. …

From Russia to Iran, and from Pacific trade to nuclear proliferation to climate change, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees to lead his government this week staked out sharply different positions than those taken by candidate Trump. Many of the disagreements covered the signature issues the New York businessman rode to the White House, and seemed to …

President Barack Obama will hold his final news conference as the U.S. leader on Wednesday, two days before he leaves office. The White House announced the press event on Friday as it revealed Obama’s public schedule for his last week as president. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama will begin the week Monday by …

Iranian police have arrested two women for riding a motorcycle in a western city — an incident that went viral when images appeared online and sparked a social-media backlash against the country’s political and religious authorities. State news agency IRNA said the two women were detained Sunday in Dezful, whose law enforcement chief, Ali Elhami, …

U.S. President Barack Obama on January 13 extended all U.S. sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and aggression in Ukraine by one year through March 2018. …

The White House says that President Barack Obama will hold his final news conference on January 18, two days before he leaves office. …