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UN Chief Blames al-Qaida for Syria AttackU.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he believes al-Qaida is behind twin bombings in Damascus, last week, that killed 55 people. He said Thursday the terror group's possible involvement in Syria's unrest had "created again very serious problems." In comments at a U.N. youth event, he also said Syria's death toll from 15 months of anti-government related unrest may have reached 10,000. Two car bomb explosions rocked the capital on May 10, resulting in the ...
voanews.com | 18-May-2012 11:00
Treatment of Former Mongolian President Raises International Concerns
A former president of Mongolia is now in a hospital, recovering from the effects of a hunger strike he staged while imprisoned by the government that replaced his. The situation in Mongolia was brought to international attention when Senator Dianne Feinstein from the U.S. state of California stood before the U.S. Senate in Washington Monday describing the case of Nambaryn Enkhbayar, the president of Mongolia from 2005 until 2009. The Senator, referring to the former president as a ...
voanews.com | 18-May-2012 03:07
US Congressional Panel Examines International Human Rights Violations
CAPITOL HILL - The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing Thursday on threats and restrictions faced by civil society and human rights defenders around the world. The hearing focused on laws recently enacted and pending legislation in countries such as Ethiopia that are limiting the ability of nongovernmental organizations to operate freely and independently. One of the co-chairmen of the bipartisan commission, Democratic Representative James McGovern of Massachusetts, ...
voanews.com | 18-May-2012 01:56
Obama Prepares for NATO Summit in Chicago
After hosting the G8 summit at Camp David on Saturday, President Barack Obama will host the NATO summit, beginning Sunday in Chicago. Mr. Obama is preparing for the NATO gathering, which has Afghanistan at the top of the agenda. The United States last hosted a NATO summit in 1999 - two years before the al-Qaida terrorist attacks on the United States that sparked the first use of the common defense provision in the NATO Charter. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has expanded ...
voanews.com | 18-May-2012 01:54
Daughter of Sitar Legend Fuses Indian Songs With Spanish Rhythms
Shivan Sarna WASHINGTON - Sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar, daughter of the renowned Indian sitar player and composer Ravi Shankar, explores the unlikely pairing of the rapturous songs of India and the fervid rhythms of Spanish flamenco in her latest album titled “Traveller.” The musician continued an international tour in support of her seventh album with a performance in Washington, DC. “The music has a really fresh sound to it, while ...
voanews.com | 18-May-2012 00:47
Experts Troubled by New Dengue Outbreaks in Western Hemisphere
Dengue fever - a tropical disease once confined mainly to Africa and Asia - has become a growing problem in the Americas. So far, there is no drug to treat the mosquito-borne viral disease or any vaccine to prevent the infection. Public health experts say it has the potential to become a global health problem - more costly and difficult to control than malaria. “Dengue had been eliminated in this hemisphere for quite a while but unfortunately it got reintroduced and has been ...
voanews.com | 18-May-2012 00:22
European Economy, African Food Security to Top G8 Summit
WHITE HOUSE - Europe’s economic crisis is expected to dominate the discussions when the Group of Eight nations hold their economic summit near Washington on Friday and Saturday. Food security in Africa will also be high on the agenda. The meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat will be the first G8 summit to include France’s new president, Francois Hollande. The French leader was elected on a promise to help move Europe toward a pro-growth economic plan, and away ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 23:40
Pennsylvania Doctors Worry Over Fracking 'Gag Rule'
A new law in Pennsylvania grants physicians access to information about trade-secret chemicals used in natural gas drilling. Doctors say they need to know the information to treat patients who may have been exposed to chemicals. But the law also says doctors can't tell anyone else — not even other doctors — what's in the chemical formulas.
npr.org | 17-May-2012 23:30
Ancient Deep-Sea Bacteria Are In No Hurry To Eat
Back when the dinosaurs ruled the Earth, some hardy bacteria took up residence at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Eighty six million years later, they're still there. And a new study says they're living out the most Spartan lifestyle known on this planet.
npr.org | 17-May-2012 23:06
US Boosts Funding for Israel's 'Iron Dome' Defense System
The United States has fulfilled Israel's request for another $70 million to pay for Iron Dome, a missile defense system aimed at protecting Israelis from rockets fired by militants in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak came to the Pentagon Thursday, the latest of several visits in recent months to ask for additional funding for the surface-to-air missile system that already has stopped several militant rocket attacks on southern Israel. In a statement, U.S. ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 22:36
Afghanistan Starts Work on $30M TB Hospital
Afghanistan has begun work on a $30 million hospital for the treatment of tuberculosis, a disease that health officials say kills more than 10,000 Afghans every year. The Japanese government is paying for the 80-bed center in the Afghan capital, which will also treat malaria and AIDS patients. Japan is the second-largest donor to Afghanistan, after the United States. The World Health Health Organization reported 53,000 Afghans get tuberculosis each year. Afghanistan's Public ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 22:23
Press Advocates: Obama Should Talk Freedom at G8
Press freedom advocates are calling for President Barack Obama to address limitations on journalists who report on food insecurity when he meets with four African leaders at the G8 Summit on Saturday. The group is set to discuss solutions to food crises on the continent. But Mohamed Keita, the Africa Advocacy Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said government censorship is part of the problem. “We believe that such practices harm the domestic and international ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 21:38
The Secret Life Of California's World-Class Strawberries
We may romanticize that strawberries are grown down the road, but most of them come from California. And a complex web of plant cloning practices, relocation and fumigation has cropped up to keep it that way. Although scientists are exploring new options, like soil-free growing.
npr.org | 17-May-2012 21:21
Regional Crises Boost Turkey's Ties With Iraq's Kurds
ISTANBUL, Turkey -The prime minister of Iraq's Kurdistan autonomous region is visiting Turkey - his first trip there since taking office in March. The visit is expected to build on the growing rapprochement between Turkey and Iraq's Kurds. That process is being enhanced by deepening crises in Iraq and and mutual neighbor Syria. Political analysts in Turkey see the visit by Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani as a sign of the growing importance of his Turkish neighbor. ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 21:10
Turkey Protests Israeli Flyover of North Cyprus
Turkey is demanding that Israel explain an alleged incursion by an Israeli aircraft into northern Cypriot airspace. In a statement Thursday, the Turkish military said the Israeli plane violated the airspace five times on Monday. The statement did not identify the type of aircraft. Turkey's Foreign Ministry said it has contacted Israel's mission in Ankara to get an explanation. Israel's military has declined to comment on the allegation. Cyprus has been divided ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 20:59
Zimbabwe Finance Minister Says No Money for Polls
HARARE - Zimbabwe's finance minister has ruled out holding elections this year, saying the troubled nation does not have enough money to fund the polls. He blamed the problem on diamond mining firms failing to pay the government its share of revenue. Addressing journalists in Harare, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said it was essential that the country’s precious stones help turn around the nation’s fortunes. As a result of diamond revenue not reaching the treasury, Biti ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 20:53
VOA Interview: Egypt Presidential Hopeful Outlines Vision
Egyptian presidential hopeful Dr. Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh is a practicing physician with extensive experience in international relief work. A former leading figure of the Muslim Brotherhood, he is also a prominent Islamic activist. Known for his relatively liberal positions on social issues, he is supported by young Islamists, liberals and even Egypt's Copts. (You can listen to the full podcast in Arabic here .) Elshinnawi: If you are elected president, what will ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 20:53
Greek Cabinet Sworn in Amid Bank Run Fears
Greece now has a new caretaker government, following the political parties' failure to form a coalition government. Greece's president says that close to $900 million worth of euros was withdrawn from Greek bank accounts on Monday. Meanwhile Spain has seen its borrowing costs rise on the international markets as investors fear the crisis could spread across southern Europe. Greece's new caretaker cabinet took office Thursday. Senior judge Panagiotis Pikrammenos, shown here ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 20:27
Oil Transit Fee Obstacle to Sudan Talks
South Sudan produces most of the oil in the two countries, but Sudan has the infrastructure to transport, refine, and export the oil.
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 20:04
France's New Leader Faces First Test Overseas
PARIS, France - France's new president, Francois Hollande, is heading to the United States (Friday) just days after taking office. The G8 and NATO summits will offer a glimpse of France's foreign policy under its new leader. Francois Hollande took office this week, promising to unify France and help fix its economic problems. His gender-balanced leftist Cabinet sat down to work on Thursday, but President Hollande's first actions are taking place overseas - not at home. ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 19:56
NATO Members to Discuss Burden Sharing
WASHINGTON -- Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations meet in Chicago this weekend to address two major challenges -- how to dial down their involvement in Afghanistan and, perhaps more vexing, how to maintain military readiness in the face of sharp budget restrictions. The heads of state and government from the 28 NATO nations want to make sure the alliance continues to develop and maintain military capabilities needed to fulfill all possible future ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 19:53
US Military Role Deepens in Yemen
The United States is expanding its military role in Yemen. Yemeni officials say U.S. forces assisted Yemeni troops in launching a wide air and land offensive against militant groups in the south of the country. The United States has a long history of advising and assisting Yemen in that country's fight against the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula group. That cooperation was suspended during Yemen's recent political turmoil, in which violent protests led to the ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 19:45
Tibetan Exile Group Blasts Chinese Crackdown in Autonomous Region
A leading Tibetan exile group says a crackdown by Chinese authorities in the Tibetan Autonomous Region is turning Buddhist monasteries and nunneries from places of worship into facilities dominated by the study of Chinese state propaganda. Jamphel Monlam, a top official in the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy , said in an interview with VOA's Tibetan service that Beijing's most recent interference in monastic life includes the clandestine infiltration by security ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 19:42
UN Observers Face Daunting Challenges in Syria
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations has deployed more than 200 unarmed observers to Syria who are monitoring a month-old cease-fire that appears to be in jeopardy of collapse. Increasingly, the U.N. monitors are getting caught up in the violence. The U.N. Security Council has authorized a monitoring mission of 300 unarmed military observers to be on the ground in Syria for an initial period of only 90 days. The council has also demanded that they be given free ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 19:32
Last Dance for Queen of Disco; Donna Summer Succumbs to Cancer
She was known as the Queen of Disco and, for many, her iconic songs came to represent the best of the 1970s Disco era. Donna Summer died Thursday after a quiet battle with cancer. Donna Summer was "Hot Stuff" for multiple generations of music fans - her hit songs resonating with music lovers long after they topped the music charts. But as hot as she was, she said for a long time she was never really comfortable with her celebrity. "Whenever success comes it ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 19:21
Leader of Syria's Fragmented Opposition to Resign
Syria's fragmented opposition has suffered a further setback, with the newly re-elected head of the main exiled coalition offering to resign due to criticism of his leadership and infighting that has plagued groups trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad. Syrian National Council chief Burhan Ghalioun said Thursday he does not want to be a cause of division in the opposition coalition and will step down as soon as a replacement is chosen through consensus or ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 19:11
Yemeni Forces Recapture Territory from Al-Qaida
CAIRO - Yemeni government forces reportedly recaptured territory from al-Qaida militants in southern Abyan province Thursday, amid fighting around the provincial capital of Zinjibar. Troops with local militiamen fighting alongside them chased al-Qaida militants from one of their strongholds in Abyan province overnight, forcing them to flee into nearby hills. The bodies of dead soldiers and militiamen, reportedly executed by al-Qaida, were found after the militants fled. Yemeni state ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 18:47
Trials of Politicians, Journalists Test Ethiopia's Anti-Terrorism Law
ADDIS ABABA - In Ethiopia, a series of high-profile trials is being closely watched as a test of recently-enacted anti-terrorism legislation. A three-judge federal panel is hearing the trials of as many as 150 people arrested on terrorism-related charges last year, including prominent politicians and journalists. Almost every week for the past few months, a small group of journalists and diplomats has gathered at Addis Ababa's Lideta federal court complex to ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 18:44
African Jihadist Group Threatens To Kill Spanish Hostage
DAKAR - An extremist group in West Africa is reportedly threatening to kill a Spanish hostage seized in western Algeria last October. The group is believed to have split from al-Qaida's North Africa branch last year with the aim of spreading jihad further south beyond the Sahara. The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, referred to by its acronym MOJWA, emerged on the Sahelian terrorist scene in late 2011 after it kidnapped two Spanish aid workers and one Italian ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 18:36
South Sudan: SPLA Soldiers Hold Frontline Position
South Sudanese troops at standstill as they await talks on UN Security Council resolution; commanders awaiting orders on next move
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 18:30
Godfather of Go-Go Music Dies
The so-called “Godfather of Go-Go” Chuck Brown died Wednesday (5/16) after suffering from pneumonia at a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He was 75. Brown was a music legend among fans in the nation’s capital. Singer and guitarist Chuck Brown, along with his band The Soul Searchers, pioneered Washington’s Go-Go movement in the 1970s. They turned it into a citywide phenomenon by blending funk with R&B, Latin, soul and dance hall music. ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 18:17
Kabul Urges Islamabad Against Mass Expulsion
ISLAMABAD -- Afghanistan is urging authorities in neighboring Pakistan to abandon plans to expel tens of thousands of unregistered Afghan migrants from the country. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates there are currently 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan, but local officials say tens of thousands of others are residing in the country illegally. The government of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, says around ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 18:05
Feds: Fire Season Off to Slow Start Even As Wildfires Rage in Southwest
As five large fires burn thousands of acres and threaten some communities in the Southwest, federal response teams say they have plenty of resources available and that this wildfire season is actually getting off to a slow start.
npr.org | 17-May-2012 18:00
Lutheran Organization Seeks Help From Former Refugees
LONG BEACH, CALFORNIA - In the 1970s and 1980s, tens of thousands of Cambodians immigrated to the United States. Many of those were helped by religious organizations, including the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Today’s immigrants come largely from other parts of the world, but many of their needs are the same. And now the Lutheran refugee service is looking for help from refugees it once aided. Sovannarorth Sok came to America as a refugee. Today, she ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 17:58
Report: NATO's Afghan Exit Risks State Collapse
LONDON - NATO is rushing its withdrawal from Afghanistan and could risk reversing the gains made there during the past decade, according to a new report. The Afghanistan Analysts Network report was released before a NATO summit in Chicago. "Western governments need to be as concrete as possible, vis-a-vis Afghanistan, that after 2014 the country will not be forgotten again as happened last time when the Soviet occupation forces withdrew in 1989," said Thomas ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 17:44
Possible Talks between Nigerian Government, Boko Haram
ABUJA - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan appears to be once again preparing to negotiate with the militant group Boko Haram, after a man claiming to be a spokesperson for the Islamist group called for renewed talks. Many people in Nigeria have expressed anger and frustration with the government’s failure to stop the relentless deadly attacks blamed on the militant group known as Boko Haram. Some now say it is time to find out what Boko Haram wants and negotiate. ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 17:12
US Suspends Economic Sanctions on Burma
The United States has suspended economic sanctions against Burma, which have banned American investment in the country for the last 15 years. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the announcement Thursday in Washington alongside visiting Burmese Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin. She said that Derek Mitchell, the State Department's special representative to Burma, will be nominated as U.S. ambassador to the country. U.S. economic sanctions against ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 17:07
N. Korea Reportedly Resumes Work on Reactor
New satellite images show North Korea has resumed construction on a new nuclear reactor, despite international criticism. The U.S.-Korea Institute, operated by Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), says images taken by a commercial satellite on April 30 show Pyongyang has made progress on a light water reactor at its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon. North Korea says the reactor is intended to generate electricity, but in a ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 16:12
G8 Summit to Focus on Africa Food Security
STATE DEPARTMENT - As host of this week's summit of the world's Group of Eight leading industrial nations (G8), President Barack Obama has put African food security on the agenda. Food security remains a recurring problem across Africa, despite hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid each year. The Horn of Africa endured a severe drought last year that turned to famine in Somalia, and several countries in West Africa are now going through a food shortage that aid ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 16:08
France Hosts Cannes Films Festival
The 65th annual Cannes Film Festival got underway Wednesday with a lavish red carpet ceremony at the Riviera resort. The movie Moonrise Kingdom kicked off the 12 days of screenings, deal making and parties. The film, featuring American actors Bill Murray and Bruce Willis, is among 22 vying for the coveted Palme D 'Or prize. Actress Eva Longoria was among the stars making up the annual gathering, which showcases dozens of films hoping to gain recognition. ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 15:57
Burmese Film Focuses on Plight of Migrant Workers
A new film, Father's House , sponsored by the Burmese comedian and political activist, Zarganar, hopes to raise the plight of Burmese migrant workers to a wider audience - especially to people back in Burma. The film’s location highlights the often harsh realities many workers face employed in the fishing, construction and rubber plantation industries. Deep in a rubber plantation in southern Thailand’s Phangnga province a Burmese migrant community gathers, drawn to the making of a ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 15:41
Chinese Activist to Receive Passports in 2 Weeks
Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng says he and his family will be issued passports to leave the country within the next two weeks. Chen told Western reporters Thursday that Shangdong provincial security officials brought visa applications for him and his family to fill out the day before, and that passport photos were taken. On Wednesday, Chen discussed the issue in an interview with VOA's Mandarin Service. "Today I applied for a passport. Today I filled forms ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 15:37
Dogged by Refrigeration Issues, Afghan Farmers Depend on Pakistan
JALALABAD, Pakistan - Farmers and traders in eastern Afghanistan say that despite a decade of foreign development projects, they remain economically dependent on their neighbors in Pakistan. The main bazaar in the capital, Jalalabad is crowded with people buying and selling fresh melons, ripe tomatoes and sacks full of onions and potatoes. Fruits and vegetables from all across the country come to this market where it is sold to locals. But due to unreliable electricity and cold ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 15:34
G8 Leaders to Weigh Euro Crisis, Food Security
Global economic recovery and food security are expected to be major topics at this weekend’s G8 summit. Leaders will gather at a short, scaled-down version of their annual meeting at Camp David in Maryland. John Kirton, co-founder of the G8 Research Group, said the summit may be brief, but also significant. “The G7 leaders, together with Dmitry Medvedev from Russia, will be meeting to deal with the latest eruption of the Euro crisis coming out of the elections in Greece and of ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 15:18
Aboul Fotouh Courts Egypt's Broad Political Base
CAIRO - Islamist Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh is being touted as a frontrunner in next week's presidential election in Egypt. It will be the first presidential vote since Hosni Mubarak was forced from office last year. Aboul Fotouh was a longtime Muslim Brotherhood member who broke with the group to run his independent campaign. He has done what few Egyptians thought possible, by projecting a calm and unifying presence during a tense and polarized time. A ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 15:16
Facebook IPO Calculator
How many lifetimes would it take you to earn as much as Facebook's major shareholders? Later this month, social networking giant Facebook is set to become a publicly traded company in what is expected to be one of the largest initial public offerings of all time. While the amounts listed below are sure to fluctuate once the stock starts actively trading, one thing is certain: Facebook's IPO will make the site's creators and early investors very wealthy. The company is ...
voanews.com | 17-May-2012 15:05