Russian officials have blocked access to the website of jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny along with dozens of other websites run by allies of him.  Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor said it blocked navalny.com along with the other sites at the request of the prosecutor general.  Included in the blocked sites …

With Europe’s rise in coronavirus infections accelerating, more governments are seeking ways to force the unvaccinated, mainly in their twenties and thirties, to get inoculated, and avoid a return to lockdowns. Italy and Britain have followed France’s lead in planning or imposing restrictions on the unvaccinated.  The moves prompted street …

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

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On this edition of Encounter, Ambassador Michelle Gavin, senior fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and former Ambassador to Botswana, and Frans Cronje, CEO of the Johannesburg-based Institute of Race Relations, analyze with host Carol Castiel the political, economic and social situation in South Africa following …

Scores of wildfires raging across forest and scrubland in the Western United States have belched so much smoke that it is helping an army of firefighters gain ground on the nation’s biggest blaze, Oregon’s Bootleg Fire, by blocking sunlight, officials said Saturday. Both the National Weather Service and officials with …

The world champion U.S. women’s water polo squad began its quest for a third straight Olympic gold medal Saturday by storming into the record books with a 25-4 humbling of hosts Japan at the Tatsumi Water Polo Center. But the U.S. record for most goals scored in a single match …

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet is condemning the violent suppression by Iranian security forces of protesters demanding action to resolve chronic water shortages in Khuzestan province. Peaceful protests took place last week in several cities across Khuzestan in southwestern Iran over water shortages and mismanagement.  Iranian security …

Angered by doctors’ support for anti-junta protests, Myanmar’s military has arrested several doctors treating COVID-19 patients independently, colleagues and media said, as the health system struggles to cope with a record wave of infections.   Since the military overthrew the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February, …

Space tourism notches another win after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos follows fellow billionaire Richard Branson in rocketing to weightlessness.  Plus, the hunt for ancient life on Mars is about to begin, and wildfires rage out of control in the U.S.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space …

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An off-duty Drug Enforcement Administration agent posed for photographs in which he flashed his DEA badge and firearm outside the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 riot, according to a court filing Tuesday following the agent’s arrest.  A video posted on the internet also showed Mark Sami Ibrahim carrying a …

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Khadhimi has fired security officials after 34 people were killed and over 50 others wounded, according to Iraqi media, in an explosion Monday night. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack which Iraqi security officials say was committed by a suicide bomber. A crowd …

Ethiopian police have confirmed the arrest of hundreds of ethnic Tigrayans in the capital Addis Ababa in recent weeks. The police said they were supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which authorities banned after the Tigray conflict broke out in November. But rights group Amnesty International says dozens were …

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The leader of the Taliban said Sunday that his movement is committed to a political settlement to end decades of war in Afghanistan, even as the insurgents battle in dozens of districts across to country to gain territory.  The statement by Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada came as Taliban leaders were meeting with a …

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Hundreds of Jewish pilgrims visited a contested Jerusalem holy site under heavy police guard on Sunday, shortly after Muslim worshippers briefly clashed with Israeli security forces at the flashpoint shrine. No injuries were reported, but the incident again raised tensions at the hilltop compound revered by Jews and Muslims. Heavy …

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More than 100,000 people protested Saturday across France against the government’s latest measures to push people to get vaccinated and curb rising infections by the delta variant of the coronavirus. In Paris, separate protest marches by the far right and the far left wound through different parts of the city. …

Martine Moise, the wife of Haiti’s assassinated president who was injured in the July 7 attack at their private home, returned to the Caribbean nation on Saturday following her release from a Miami hospital. Her arrival was unannounced and surprised many in the country of more than 11 million people …

Raul Castro was among thousands who attended a government-organized rally in Havana on Saturday to denounce the U.S. trade embargo and reaffirm their support for Cuba’s revolution, a week after unprecedented protests rocked the communist-run country. Government supporters gathered on the city’s seafront boulevard before dawn to wave Cuban flags …

Temple elephants in southern India’s Kerala state began their monthlong wellness camp at Vadakkunnathan temple, Saturday, July 17.  Eating fruits, rice sweet balls, and other items, the elephants were seen happily interacting with people.  The elephants are ritualistically relieved from daily chores for a monthlong restorative treatment called Aanayoottu, beginning from Saturday.  Aanayoottu means feeding …

Forces in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have released about 1,000 government soldiers captured during recent fighting, the head of its ruling party said, as both sides prepared for a showdown over contested land in the west of the region. Debretsion Gebremichael, leader of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), told …