by LaRey Wright I was startled awake by what sounded like a wounded duck outside my window. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I remembered that I was no longer in the United States. I was hearing the typical morning harmonies of Rome, seagulls squawking along the water near my apartment and horns … Continue reading
BEIJING (AP) — President Donald Trump set aside his blistering rhetoric in favor of friendly overtures to China on Thursday, trying to flatter his hosts into establishing a more balanced trade relationship and doing more to blunt North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Winding down his two days in Beijing, Trump suggested that if the U.S. and … Continue reading
February 20, 2017 To the University Community: The White House issued a Presidential Executive Order (“Executive Order”) on January 27, 2017, which impacts members of the Norfolk State University Community. The Executive Order suspends the “entry into the United States” for 90 days (and possibly longer) to nationals from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, … Continue reading
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep 26, 2016–New global research commissioned by Kaplan, one of the world’s largest and most diverse education providers, and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) shows that international experience in higher education is an important factor improving the chances of finding a job and succeeding in an increasingly global workforce. The research, … Continue reading
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Angry protesters marched in Kenya’s capital on Friday against plans to build an elevated railway line over the country’s oldest national park, saying the project will threaten wildlife that includes lions, leopards and giraffes. The Chinese project would cross six kilometers of Nairobi National Park. Dozens of conservationists and others carried … Continue reading
DENVER (AP) — A school bus carrying high school football players veered off a roadway and slammed into a concrete pillar at Denver International Airport, killing the driver and injuring 18 passengers, some seriously, officials said. The bus had just picked up arriving members of the Legacy High School football squad Sunday afternoon and was … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Denny Hamlin won the pole Friday for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, racing about 20 miles from where he grew up in Chesterfield, turned a fast last at 122.344 mph in the third round of qualifying to claim his … Continue reading
LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — Gabon’s most prominent opposition candidate said Sunday, Aug. 28, that early results show he will win this central African country’s presidential election, though official results have not been announced. “The general trends indicate we are the winner of this important presidential election,” Jean Ping, a former chair of the African Union … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — About 16 U.S. military personnel, including one general officer, have been disciplined for mistakes that led to the bombing of a civilian hospital in Afghanistan last year that killed 42 people, a senior U.S. official said Thursday. According to officials, no criminal charges were filed and the service members received administrative punishments … Continue reading
NEW DELHI (AP) — The killing of two gay rights activists in the Bangladeshi capital has driven the country’s already secretive and small gay community underground, wondering if they can trust a government that considers their status to be criminal, rights groups said. Police detectives say they are working with evidence including a mobile phone, … Continue reading
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Months before Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded retired Canadian mining executive John Ridsdel in the tropical jungles of the southern Philippines, they showed him pleading for life in a video with three other hostages that demanded a record-high ransom. The scene was all too familiar in a Southeast Asian nation that has … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — An ancient stone sculpture of Buddha’s footprints that was smuggled into the United States and had been expected to sell for more than $1 million was returned to the government of Pakistan on Wednesday. The piece, called a Buddhapada, was taken from a Pakistani region rich in Buddhist history decades ago. … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress urged the Obama administration on Wednesday to order more naval operations close to disputed islands in the South China Sea. The State Department said Beijing risks conflict and isolation through its assertive behavior in those waters. Twice since the fall, the U.S. Navy has sailed by artificial islands built … Continue reading
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — At least 12 new army recruits have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in the eastern city of Jalalabad, a hospital official said on Monday. Twelve bodies had been taken into the main regional hospital in Jalalabad city, 77.5 miles (125 kilometers) from the capital Kabul, said Ahsanullah Shinwari, the … Continue reading
PARAVOOR, India (AP) — Medical teams on Monday tended to hundreds of people injured in a massive fire that killed at least 110 people, while authorities searched for those responsible for illegally putting on the fireworks display that caused the weekend blaze at a Hindu temple in southern India. Amid the burned wreckage of the … Continue reading
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh is closing its notorious 18th-century prison where sensational political killings over decades have targeted people on both sides of the South Asian country’s 1971 war for independence from Pakistan. The government wants to reopen the old, dilapidated Dhaka Central Jail as a museum to its tumultuous past, while giving its … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the face of mounting threats from North Korea, President Barack Obama on Thursday urged closer security ties among its chief allies in Asia and increased cooperation with strategic rival China to discourage Pyongyang from further advances in nuclear weapons. As world leaders gathered for a nuclear security summit, Obama first met … Continue reading
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia on Monday welcomed home a 10th-century Khmer statue that was looted during the country’s civil war before spending the past three decades at an American museum. The sandstone Torso of Rama statue, which stands 62 inches (157 centimeters) high and is missing its head, arms and feet, was formally … Continue reading
NEW DELHI (AP) — India has the world’s highest number of people without access to clean water — imposing a major financial burden for some of the country’s poorest people, according to a report released Tuesday, March 22. The international charity Water Aid says 75.8 million Indians — or 5 percent of the country’s 1.25 … Continue reading
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth on Wednesday after an unprecedented year in space for NASA, landing in barren Kazakhstan with a Russian cosmonaut who shared his whole space station journey. Their Soyuz capsule parachuted onto the central Asian steppes and ended a science-rich mission at the International Space Station … Continue reading
ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Matteo Renzi is considering resorting to a risky confidence vote in the Senate to ensure the passage of a bill allowing civil unions, but not marriage, for gay couples. He told his Democratic Party members Sunday he is “ready” to use the tactic on the bill if needed. Pro-Vatican senators … Continue reading
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A service to commemorate the fifth anniversary of a deadly earthquake in the New Zealand city of Christchurch turned ugly Monday when someone threw goop over the government minister responsible for quake recovery efforts. Hundreds of people attended the botanical gardens service in New Zealand’s second-largest city to memorialize the … Continue reading
GENEVA (AP) — Peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition groups are to start on Friday, the U.N. special envoy on Syria announced Monday, Jan. 25. Staffan de Mistura told reporters he would be sending out invitations to the talks in Geneva on Tuesday. The talks are expected to take six months and the … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian military has no plans to set up another air base in Syria, the Defense Ministry said Monday, Jan. 25. The ministry’s statement followed media reports saying that Russia could be preparing to create another base in Qamishli in northeastern Syria near the border with Turkey. The ministry’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. … Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The American entertainer commonly known as Mos Def has 14 days to leave South Africa after he was arrested for violating local immigration laws while trying to leave the country, a government spokesman said Friday, Jan 15. The rapper and actor, who now goes by the name Yasiin Bey, appeared in a … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 