Author Archives : ITkupui

Britain on Saturday denounced Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf as a “hostile act” and rejected Tehran’s explanation that it seized the vessel because it had been involved in an accident.  Iran’s Revolutionary Guards posted a video online showing speedboats pulling alongside the Stena Impero tanker, its name…

U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Saturday that President Donald Trump relished a chant by the crowd at a campaign rally this week that called for a Democratic congresswoman to be sent back where she came from.  Trump renewed his criticism of four minority women lawmakers on Friday, saying that…

White House national security adviser John Bolton departed on Saturday for a trip to Japan and South Korea as the two countries are in the middle of a trade dispute.  A White House National Security Council spokesman said on Twitter that Bolton planned to “continue conversations with critical allies and…

HONG KONG — Tens of thousands gathered in Hong Kong on Saturday to voice support for the police and call for an end to violence, after a wave of protests against an extradition bill triggered clashes between police and activists and plunged the city into crisis.    The rally, called “Safeguard Hong…

IRBIL / SULAIMANIYA, IRAQ – Security services in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region said Saturday that they had arrested the brother of a lawmaker serving in the Turkish parliament for the assassination of a Turkish diplomat in the Iraqi Kurdish regional capital, Irbil.    The diplomat was one of at least two people…

On the 50th anniversary of humanity’s first moon landing, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence paid tribute to the three American astronauts who helped make the historic event a reality.     “They did more than win the space race, they brought together our nation, and for one brief moment, all the…

Switzerland has officially said it is helping the government of Cameroon negotiate with rebels to end the separatist crisis that has killed more than 2,000 people in Cameroon. The Swiss ambassador to Cameroon, Pietro Lazzeri, spoke in Yaounde about attempting reconciliation after more than 20 people were killed within two…

< div>VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. WHITE HOUSE – Global tensions continue to mount over Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, with Britain issuing a stern warning to Tehran and the Islamic Republic maintaining the seizure was a “reciprocal”…

Italy’s Mount Etna, Europe’s biggest live volcano, erupted overnight with lava flows and explosive burps, vulcanologists said Saturday. A heavy emission of ash into the sky forced the closure of two airports in Sicily’s second-biggest city of Catania. They partially reopened early Saturday. The activity followed “lively spattering” recorded by…

In the Spanish colonial fortress that serves as his official residence, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello is under siege. Motorcyclists, celebrities, horse enthusiasts and hundreds of thousands of ordinary Puerto Ricans have swarmed outside La Fortaleza (The Fort) in Old San Juan this week, demanding Rossello resign over a series…

The Trump administration is considering more dramatic cuts to the U.S. refugee program, with one official suggesting the White House not allow any refugees into the country in the coming fiscal year. In a Politico report released Thursday, government officials from several federal agencies attended a meeting last week and…

Joaquin Guzman, the convicted Mexican drug lord known as “El Chapo,” has been transferred to a “Supermax” prison in Colorado from which no one has ever escaped, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said in a statement Friday. Guzman was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years on Wednesday in a federal court…