Carla Babb VOA News PENTAGON — The United Nations said Tuesday it has preliminary reports of extrajudicial killings and summary executions by Islamic State fighters around the northern city of Mosul, including the militants using civilians as human shields. U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva the reports have not been fully verified, […]readmore
Daniel Schearf VOA News MOSCOW — In Russia’s so-called «information war» with the West, the pro-Kremlin youth group SET (Network) is a foot soldier fighting primarily on the internet. At their roomy headquarters in an upscale office compound in Moscow, the group designs online videos criticizing the West and praising President Vladimir Putin – videos they […]readmore
VOA News An extremist attack targeting non-Muslims along Kenya’s northeast border with Somalia on Tuesday has killed 12 people, according to a Kenyan official. Militants belonging to the Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab attacked the Bisharo Guest House, a lodging in Mandera County that hosts out-of-towners, with grenades and IEDs, Mandera County commander Job Boronjo said. […]readmore
Ayaz Gul VOA News ISLAMABAD — lslamic State has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that targeted a police training center in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 61 recruits and wounding more than 120 others. The assault began just before midnight in Quetta on Monday, with three assailants entering the hostel for recruits inside the complex […]readmore
Dorian Jones ISTANBUL — The Turkish government crackdown that followed the failed July coup is expanding to businesses, with the assets of major multibillion-dollar conglomerates seized, along with hundreds of smaller companies. Earlier this month, three of Turkey’s most prominent businessmen, the Boydak brothers, appeared in handcuffs at their mother’s funeral. Their multibillion-dollar Boydak Holdings was […]readmore
Carla Babb Jamie Dettmer VOA News The general running the coalition’s ground campaign in Iraq is urging Iraqi forces fighting for Mosul not to «go so fast that they start to give opportunity to the enemy.» «I’m not telling the Iraqis not to rush to Mosul. I’m telling them, ‘You’ve got the momentum — sustain […]readmore
Luis Ramirez LONDON — Ecuador’s decision to temporarily cut Julian Assange’s internet access is a sign that the WikiLeaks founder could be overstaying his welcome at the country’s London embassy — or so some in Britain hope. British officials have long expressed frustration at Ecuador’s decision four years ago to let Assange take refuge in the […]readmore
Carla Babb PENTAGON — The flow of foreign fighters traveling from Latin America to join Islamic State forces in the Middle East has been “significantly curtailed,” a top U.S. admiral said Tuesday.Navy Admiral Kurt Tidd, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, which oversees American military activities in Central America, South America and the Caribbean, told reporters […]readmore
VOA News The lower house of Russian parliament, Duma, has unanimously approved a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin to suspend a deal with the United States on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium. Earlier this month, Putin said there is an “emerging threat to strategic stability” as a result of Washington’s «unfriendly actions.» Putin said […]readmore
Carla Babb VOA News PENTAGON — More than 100 American troops are accompanying Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces in their push to take back the city of Mosul from Islamic State forces. Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters Tuesday the Americans are assisting about 10,000 Kurds, 18,000 Iraqi Security Forces and another couple thousand […]readmore