More than two dozen photos of the Pentagon taken after a plane crashed into it on September 11, 2001, have reappeared in recent days on the FBI’s website six years after they were first made public. The posting misled some to believe the photos from 9/11 had never before been seen. FBI spokeswoman Jillian Stickels told The Associated Press on Friday that the 27 photos …
Trump Administration Appeals Latest Travel Order Stay
The Trump administration is appealing the stay placed on President Donald Trump’s executive order banning entry to people from six majority-Muslim countries and halting refugee admissions. A U.S. federal judge extended a suspension of the travel order Wednesday, placing a preliminary injunction against Trump’s order at the request of the state of Hawaii. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson had temporarily prohibited the government from enforcing …
Judge Approves Trump University Settlement
A judge has approved an agreement for President Donald Trump to pay $25 million to settle lawsuits over his now-defunct Trump University. The decision Friday by U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in San Diego ends nearly seven years of legal battles with customers who claimed they were misled by failed promises to teach success in real estate. The ruling settles two class-action lawsuits and a …
Trump OKs Broader Airstrikes in Somalia; Experts Urge Caution
In Washington, the Pentagon announced Thursday that President Donald Trump has given it more authority to launch airstrikes in Somalia to attack al-Shabab. The Pentagon said Trump approved a request for additional precision airstrikes in Somalia to help African Union and Somali ground troops “increase pressure” on al-Shabab and to deny the terrorists safe havens from which to attack U.S. citizens or interests in …
Clinton: Trump Foreign Aid Cuts Are ‘Blow to Women and Children’
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday funding cuts to foreign aid programs implemented by President Donald Trump will be disastrous for women around the world. Trump has revived by presidential memorandum (an executive action) the so-called “Mexico City” policy, which bans U.S. foreign aid from being granted to organizations that provide abortions or information about terminating a pregnancy. Clinton, who since her stunning …
Teachers in Poland Strike to Protest Education Overhaul
Teachers across Poland staged a strike Friday to protest a sweeping overhaul of the education system by the populist government that will see middle schools eliminated this fall. Many fear the change is a pretext for introducing a more nationalistic and old-fashioned curriculum which will leave children less prepared for the modern world. The education overhaul has become a flashpoint between the ruling Law and …
Russian Prosecutors Move to Block Online Calls for Protests
Russian prosecutors moved Friday to block calls on social networks for more street protests in Moscow and other Russian cities following a wave of rallies that have cast a new challenge to the Kremlin. Tens of thousands of demonstrators turned out in Moscow and other cities Sunday to rally against official corruption in the largest outpouring of discontent in years. The Prosecutor General’s office confirmed …
Jailed Turkish Pro-Kurdish Party Leader Begins Hunger Strike
The jailed leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party said Friday he has begun a hunger strike to protest prison conditions. Selahattin Demirtas said in a statement released by his People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, that he would refuse food to denounce what he described as “unlawful, inhuman and arbitrary practices” in Turkish prisons. Demirtas said he also wanted to draw attention to hunger strikes by other …
French Candidate Fillon Vows to Fight Islamic Extremism
French conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon said his priority would be to fight Islamic extremism amid a state of emergency in France after a series of attacks. Fillon, a major contender in the two-round election of April 23 and May 7, proposed to put in place a European defense alliance led by France and Germany. “The Islamic totalitarian threat … along with the weakening of …
Russian Submarines Match Cold War-era Patrol Intensity
Russian submarines have increased combat patrols to the level last seen during the Cold War, the navy chief said Friday. Adm. Vladimir Korolyov said that Russian submarine crews spent more than 3,000 days on patrol last year, matching the Soviet-era operational tempo. “It’s an excellent level,” he said in remarks carried by state RIA Novosti news agency. The Russian military had fallen …
Analysts: China Will be Able to Police Rival Countries in Disputed Sea
China’s near completion of artificial islets and combat aircraft facilities in the Spratly Islands will give it extra power to make other countries keep out of the widely disputed South China Sea or get Chinese permission to use it, analysts say. Beijing is about to finish naval, air, radar and other facilities on the “big three” islets in the sea’s Spratly archipelago, according to the …
Environmental Groups Sue Trump Administration for Approving Keystone Pipeline
Several environmental groups filed lawsuits against the Trump administration on Thursday to challenge its decision to approve construction of TransCanada Corp’s controversial Keystone XL crude oil pipeline. In two separate filings to a federal court in Montana, environmental groups argued that the U.S. State Department, which granted the permit needed for the pipeline to cross the Canadian border, relied on an “outdated and incomplete environmental …
Bosnian Mufti Vows Continued Fight Against Extremists
The leader of Bosnia’s Muslim community this week vowed to continue fighting radicalization via education and sustained pressure on extremist offshoots within the small Balkan nation. After a recent meeting with White House and State Department officials, Grand Mufti Husein Kavazovic told VOA in an exclusive interview that he felt reassured that the new administration supports Bosnian unity and sovereignty, and the Balkan nation’s efforts …
White House Offers to Show Lawmakers ‘Wiretap Documents’
Members of Congress looking into Russian interference in last year’s presidential election have been invited to the White House to examine relevant secret documents. Lawmakers confirmed such a letter was received by the Senate and House intelligence committees Thursday, a move that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended as “doing the responsible thing.” The documents to be reviewed apparently were the basis for controversial …
Pentagon Responds to Criticism Over Civilian Deaths in Mosul Blast
The Pentagon on Thursday said it would soon release a video showing Islamic State militants herding civilians into a building in the Iraqi city of Mosul and then firing from it, the U.S. military’s latest response to an outcry over a separate explosion thought to have killed scores of civilians. The U.S. military has acknowledged that the U.S.-led coalition probably had a role in the …
WSJ: Ex-Trump Adviser Flynn Seeks Immunity for Testimony in Russia Probe
President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has discussed with congressional committees giving testimony in their investigations of potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, his lawyer said on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal, citing officials with knowledge of the matter, reported on Thursday that Flynn had sought immunity from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the House and Senate intelligence panels …
Sizable Mountain Snowpack Boosts Concern About Floods in California
As big snowflakes fell high in California’s Sierra Nevada on Thursday, surveyors on snowshoes measured the deepest springtime snowpack in years and said it boosted concerns about destructive floods when all that snow melts. Snow in the Sierra Nevada begins melting this time of year as the weather warms, and California is already waterlogged after storms slammed the state in January and February, flooding communities …
Major Serbian Newspapers Feature Same Front Pages of Ruling Party Campaign Poster
Only days before Serbia’s presidential election, seven major newspapers have hit the stands with the same front pages: the ruling candidate’s campaign poster. The propaganda coup on Thursday by populist Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic’s campaign team further stoked fears about the overall fairness of the Sunday vote. The papers splash the red and blue AV logo and carry no headlines or news on the front …
Tight Armenian Election to Pave Way for Power Shift
Armenia’s ruling party goes into an election on Sunday neck-and-neck in the polls with a former coalition partner, making it hard to predict the winner of a vote that will usher in a new parliamentary system of government. Under constitutional changes critics say were designed to prolong the political life of President Serzh Sarksyan, parliament, not voters, will elect the president for the first time …
Hacker Attack on German Parliament May Be Linked to Election
A top police official says a recent hacking attack on the German Parliament may have led to a “significant drain of data” which may be used to try influence the outcome of the country’s general election in September. Holger Muench, the head of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, didn’t tell reporters Thursday who might have been behind the most recent hacking attack. The offices of …