http://www.voanews.com Voice of America is an international news and broadcast organization serving Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Balkan countries /img_ver2/VOA/rssLogo_VOA.gif http://www.voanews.com en-US 2012 - VOA 60 Wed, 16 May 2012 15:39:46 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA A last-minute deal has cleared away a dispute over the attendance of senior European Union officials at the NATO summit opening in Chicago Sunday.  Analysts saw the dispute as an example of Turkey flexing its growing diplomatic muscle within the military alliance. With only days to go before the NATO summit, the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and the head of European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, finally received an official invitation to attend. The ... http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-flexes-muscles-before-nato-summit/666842.html http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-flexes-muscles-before-nato-summit/666842.html Wed, 16 May 2012 14:58:21 -0400 Europe Dorian Jones Indonesia says it could take as long as a year to analyze equipment and flight data recovered from the crash site of a Russian jetliner that slammed into the side of a volcano last week near Jakarta, killing all 45 people on board. Aviation authorities, quoted in Indonesian media Wednesday, said the crash probe will at a minimum take four months - in part to ensure reliable results.  National Transportation Safety Committee chief Tatang Kurniadi also told the Jakarta Globe newspaper ... http://www.voanews.com/content/indonesia-promises-slow-probe-of-crashed-russian-jetliner/666823.html http://www.voanews.com/content/indonesia-promises-slow-probe-of-crashed-russian-jetliner/666823.html Wed, 16 May 2012 13:54:33 -0400 Asia VOA News LONDON - With eyes firmly focused on the eurozone's debt crisis and its threat to global recovery, leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) major industrialized nations are preparing to meet Friday at Camp David, near Washington.  European Union leaders are unlikely to get much sympathy for their present economic predicament. It is Europe’s G8 members, notably France and Germany, who will face the scrutiny of fellow leaders at Camp David. With full military honors, Francois ... http://www.voanews.com/content/europe-prepares-for-dressing-down-at-g8/666819.html http://www.voanews.com/content/europe-prepares-for-dressing-down-at-g8/666819.html Wed, 16 May 2012 13:31:19 -0400 Europe Henry Ridgwell ABUJA, Nigeria - Two weeks ago, activist leaders in Nigeria issued an ultimatum to the government: Either take concrete steps to punish officials responsible for stealing billions of dollars from the public’s fuel subsidy or face massive protests. Activists now say they will hold off on protests, but complain the steps that have been taken are more "sandy" than "concrete."   Activists say they are not happy with the progress that has been made so far in ... http://www.voanews.com/content/nigeria_activists_fuel_fraud_protests_last_resort/666834.html http://www.voanews.com/content/nigeria_activists_fuel_fraud_protests_last_resort/666834.html Wed, 16 May 2012 13:29:33 -0400 Africa Heather Murdock STATE DEPARTMENT -- The Arab League has joined United Nations and African Union in pressing Sudan to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to the provinces of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, where aid agencies say more than 140,000 people need more food. But opening humanitarian access to the region is complicated by the continuing rebellion there. According to Sudanese rebel leader Abdelaziz al-Hilu, fighters in the Nuba Mountains who were not eligible to secede along with South Sudan ... http://www.voanews.com/content/arab_league_joins_campaign_for_sudan_aid_corridor/666817.html http://www.voanews.com/content/arab_league_joins_campaign_for_sudan_aid_corridor/666817.html Wed, 16 May 2012 13:05:07 -0400 Africa Scott Stearns Ornate wagons find a home at Circus World http://www.voanews.com/content/circus_museums_pay_tribute_to_greatest_show_on_earth/566201.html http://www.voanews.com/content/circus_museums_pay_tribute_to_greatest_show_on_earth/566201.html Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:10 -0400 USA STATE DEPARTMENT - The Obama administration says leaders of military coups in Mali and Guinea Bissau must agree to West African demands to return their countries to democratic rule. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson says the March military coup in Mali is a glaring exception to democratic progress in Africa. "Twenty-one years of democratic governance was swept aside by a few mutinous soldiers who seem more concerned about their own welfare than ... http://www.voanews.com/content/us-says-mali-guinea-bissau-must-return-to-civilian-rule/666813.html http://www.voanews.com/content/us-says-mali-guinea-bissau-must-return-to-civilian-rule/666813.html Wed, 16 May 2012 12:56:17 -0400 Africa Scott Stearns Afghanistan will top the agenda when heads of state and government from the 28-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization meet in Chicago (May 20 - 21).  NATO has been operating in Afghanistan since 2003, leading a 130,000-member U.N.-mandated contingent known as the "International Security Assistance Force."  ISAF’s main goal has been to assist Afghan authorities to provide security and stability in order to create conditions for reconstruction and development. ... http://www.voanews.com/content/afghanistan-top-agenda-item-at-nato-chicago-summit/666815.html http://www.voanews.com/content/afghanistan-top-agenda-item-at-nato-chicago-summit/666815.html Wed, 16 May 2012 12:54:40 -0400 Asia Andre deNesnera U.S. President Barack Obama raised $43.6 million last month for his campaign and the Democratic Party, as he pushes for re-election against likely Republican rival Mitt Romney. The April fundraising total is less than the $53 million the president and the Democratic National Committee collected in March, but he has still been able to bring in more money than Romney. Announcing the fundraising figures in a video released Wednesday, President Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina ... http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-campaign-fundraising-drops-in-april/666814.html http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-campaign-fundraising-drops-in-april/666814.html Wed, 16 May 2012 12:53:19 -0400 USA VOA News BISSAU -  Five weeks after a military coup in Guinea-Bissau, the country is preparing for the installation of the new transitional government and the arrival of regional peacekeepers, scheduled for Friday. Some residents fear the developments will lead to further upheaval. Guinea-Bissau has been at an impasse since April 12, when soldiers seized power in a coup and arrested the country's interim president and his prime minister. After weeks of talks among heads of state in ... http://www.voanews.com/content/guinea-bissau-prepares-for-arrival-of-ecowas-peacekeepers/666807.html http://www.voanews.com/content/guinea-bissau-prepares-for-arrival-of-ecowas-peacekeepers/666807.html Wed, 16 May 2012 12:28:07 -0400 Africa Kate Thomas Greece has sworn in a senior judge as the country's new caretaker prime minister. Council of State head Panagiotis Pikrammenos was appointed Wednesday after major political parties failed to form a coalition government following several attempts to broker a deal. The 67-year-old Mr. Pikrammenos will be tasked with organizing the country's repeat elections scheduled for June 17. Analysts say the new elections, like those held earlier this month, are also likely to produce ... http://www.voanews.com/content/greece_hold_repeat_elections/666799.html http://www.voanews.com/content/greece_hold_repeat_elections/666799.html Wed, 16 May 2012 11:27:06 -0400 Europe VOA News Is the Arab Spring over? It’s a question on the minds of many observers of Middle East politics. Back in 2011, in Bahrain, Syria and Egypt, television stations broadcast scenes of defiant democracy movements and socially mobilized youth taking to the streets, in most cases peacefully demanding the removal of old systems along with their entrenched leaders. The scenes a year later look markedly different. In Egypt, television images are now filled with semi-regular chaos in the streets of ... http://www.voanews.com/content/is_arab_spring_over_in_bahrain/666797.html http://www.voanews.com/content/is_arab_spring_over_in_bahrain/666797.html Wed, 16 May 2012 11:13:59 -0400 Middle East Davin Hutchins http://www.voanews.com/content/is_arab_spring_over_in_bahrain/666797.html#relatedInfoContainer NAIROBI -- Human Rights Watch says a renegade general is forcibly recruiting child soldiers to support his mutiny in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. HRW's new report says at least 149 boys and young men between the ages of 12 and 20 have been forcibly recruited to fight alongside soldiers loyal to Bosco Ntaganda, a former rebel leader who is already wanted by the International Criminal Court for recruiting children as a deputy commander in the Union of Congolese ... http://www.voanews.com/content/ntagandas_congo_mutiny_using_child_soldiers/666781.html http://www.voanews.com/content/ntagandas_congo_mutiny_using_child_soldiers/666781.html Wed, 16 May 2012 10:35:34 -0400 Africa Gabe Joselow Selah Hennessy http://www.voanews.com/content/amnesty-international-mali-crisis/666782.html http://www.voanews.com/content/amnesty-international-mali-crisis/666782.html Wed, 16 May 2012 10:28:13 -0400 Africa GENEVA - The World Health Organization reports almost two-thirds of all global deaths are due to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases. The World Health Statistics Report provides information on the state of health in 194 countries.   Non-communicable diseases are not just a problem of wealthy countries. The World Health Organization says they mainly affect people in poorer countries, of whom half die before they reach the age of 70. Cardiovascular ... http://www.voanews.com/content/noncommunicable_diseases_cause_most_deaths/666787.html http://www.voanews.com/content/noncommunicable_diseases_cause_most_deaths/666787.html Wed, 16 May 2012 10:26:50 -0400 Africa Lisa Schlein NEW DELHI - India's prime minister is reasserting his country's commitment to nuclear energy.  His comments come as India weighs how to reduce its massive dependence on oil imports including those from its second biggest crude oil supplier, Iran. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told parliament Wednesday that India's nuclear program will follow the highest safety standards, but it would be harmful for India's interests to give up harnessing power from nuclear ... http://www.voanews.com/content/singh-india-committed-to-nuclear-energy/666774.html http://www.voanews.com/content/singh-india-committed-to-nuclear-energy/666774.html Wed, 16 May 2012 10:06:40 -0400 Asia Anjana Pasricha BEIJING - The Chinese government is not yielding in its weeks-long maritime territorial dispute with the Philippines, although it is softening some of its sharp rhetoric.   It is no surprise that China continues to squarely blame the Philippines for the dispute over rocky Scarborough Shoal, which the Chinese call Huangyan Island.   In a report Wednesday, the state-run Xinhua news agency said the latest dispute was sparked in April, when a Philippine warship ... http://www.voanews.com/content/china_softens_anti_phlippines_rhetoric_holds_firm_island_dispute/666779.html http://www.voanews.com/content/china_softens_anti_phlippines_rhetoric_holds_firm_island_dispute/666779.html Wed, 16 May 2012 10:05:20 -0400 Asia Stephanie Ho PHNOM PENH - A 14-year-old girl was shot and killed on Wednesday following a violent land eviction in the Cambodian countryside. The shooting happened as armed police tried to clear roughly 1,000 villagers from their land in the northeastern province of Kratie, according to rights groups.  According to witnesses, officers fired live ammunition against the villagers, who were protesting the loss of their farmland Rights groups are warning that the government risks further violence if ... http://www.voanews.com/content/cambodia-land-eviction-protest/666764.html http://www.voanews.com/content/cambodia-land-eviction-protest/666764.html Wed, 16 May 2012 09:21:10 -0400 Asia Irwin Loy BANGKOK - China and the Philippines have announced temporary bans on fishing in areas of the South China Sea they both claim as sovereign territory. The bans may help cool tempers after ships from the two sides faced off in April. But, political analysts say a more permanent solution is needed to address a cycle of conflict partly caused by depleting fish stocks. China every year imposes a ban on fishing for several weeks in a northern part of the South China Sea. Beijing says the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/south-china-sea-dispute-blamed-partly-on-depleted-fish-stocks/666766.html http://www.voanews.com/content/south-china-sea-dispute-blamed-partly-on-depleted-fish-stocks/666766.html Wed, 16 May 2012 09:20:30 -0400 Asia Daniel Schearf LOS ANGELES - A growing number of people are choosing to run without shoes.  Many barefoot runners say running with no shoes actually helps reduce injuries and joint pain. In Los Angeles, the mild weather allows people to run barefoot throughout the year. Michelle Musacchio runs without shoes whenever she can.  She started running in her bare feet nine months ago because she was looking for a way to exercise without joint pain. "My hips had been hurting, my knees had ... http://www.voanews.com/content/growing-number-of-runners-opt-to-run-in-bare-feet/666754.html http://www.voanews.com/content/growing-number-of-runners-opt-to-run-in-bare-feet/666754.html Wed, 16 May 2012 08:17:34 -0400 USA Elizabeth Lee Former Liberian president Charles Taylor has said he has "deepest sympathies" for those who suffered during Sierra Leone's brutal civil war - but stopped short of apologizing for atrocities committed by rebels he armed in exchange for diamonds. Instead, Taylor told judges in The Hague Wednesday that his actions during the bloody conflict were "done with honor" to bring peace to the Sierra Leone. "I say with all stupor [sic] that my actions ... http://www.voanews.com/content/charles-taylor-takes-stand-in-sentencing-phase/666762.html http://www.voanews.com/content/charles-taylor-takes-stand-in-sentencing-phase/666762.html Wed, 16 May 2012 08:08:21 -0400 Africa VOA News JAKARTA - The backlash against the flamboyant American pop star Lady Gaga has been brewing in Indonesia for months. However, tensions over the singer's imminent concert reached a new high in Jakarta this week. After mounting pressure from hardline Islamic groups, police announced they will not issue the permit required for Lady Gaga to perform in the country. Rights groups say the decision is a step back for the world’s most populous Muslim nation.   In announcing their decision, ... http://www.voanews.com/content/article/666753.html http://www.voanews.com/content/article/666753.html Wed, 16 May 2012 07:59:09 -0400 Asia Kate Lamb http://www.voanews.com/content/article/666753.html#relatedInfoContainer Syrian activists say government shelling and gunfire killed at least nine people across the country on Wednesday, most of them in a region where U.N. military observers were caught up in a deadly shooting and bomb blast the day before. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces opened fire in the northwestern town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing five people a day after at least 20 mourners were shot dead at a funeral procession. Six U.N. monitors who were ... http://www.voanews.com/content/gunfire-reported-in-central-syra-following-mass-shooting/666751.html http://www.voanews.com/content/gunfire-reported-in-central-syra-following-mass-shooting/666751.html Wed, 16 May 2012 07:50:20 -0400 Middle East VOA News The lowly, ugly alligator is an American success story.  An endangered species that was threatened with extinction all the way into the late 1980s, it has made such a comeback that there are now millions of the scaly reptiles.  So many that they’re considered a nuisance. “Gators,” as American alligators are sometimes called, now thrive in a hospitable habitat: the swamps and wetlands of the southeastern United States.   The gator is even the mascot of the huge ... http://www.voanews.com/content/alligators_drift_into_florida_canals_near_homes/566213.html http://www.voanews.com/content/alligators_drift_into_florida_canals_near_homes/566213.html Wed, 16 May 2012 07:00:05 -0400 USA Ted Landphair Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng said Wednesday he and his family have filled out passport application forms, and that Chinese authorities tell him travel documents should be issued by the end of the month. Chen spoke to VOA's Mandarin service from a hospital room in Beijing, where he has been recovering for the past two weeks from injuries sustained during his dramatic escape from house arrest last month. He said passport photos were taken and that the application forms ... http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese-dissident-concerned-about-relatives-china-reponds/666742.html http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese-dissident-concerned-about-relatives-china-reponds/666742.html Wed, 16 May 2012 06:57:46 -0400 Asia VOA News SEOUL - South Korea’s blind have a unique privilege. For much of the past century they have held the constitutional right as the only people allowed to work as masseurs. But that law has come under repeated challenges from sighted masseurs who say it is unfair.  With another legal challenge looming, some say it’s time for the blind to find new careers. Café More might be the only coffee shop in Seoul with a Braille menu. It is not just for visually impaired customers, but also ... http://www.voanews.com/content/legal-challenges-prompt-s-koreas-blind-to-look-for-new-jobs/666741.html http://www.voanews.com/content/legal-challenges-prompt-s-koreas-blind-to-look-for-new-jobs/666741.html Wed, 16 May 2012 06:18:44 -0400 Asia Jason Strother PARIS, France - War crimes tribunals in The Hague are hearing cases against former Bosnian-Serb military commander Ratko Mladic and former Liberian president Charles Taylor. ​​Two decades after the start of Bosnia-Herzegovina's civil war, Ratko Mladic -- the man accused of some of its worst atrocities -- went on trial Wednesday in The Hague.   Mladic's trial started with opening arguments by the prosecution. The former Bosnian-Serb general faces 11 counts of war crimes, ... http://www.voanews.com/content/mladic_trial_opens_in_the_hague/666720.html http://www.voanews.com/content/mladic_trial_opens_in_the_hague/666720.html Wed, 16 May 2012 05:48:16 -0400 Europe Lisa Bryant http://www.voanews.com/content/mladic_trial_opens_in_the_hague/666720.html#relatedInfoContainer ​​The drug-related deaths of popular entertainers like Whitney Houston have focused attention on drug and alcohol abuse, both inside and outside the entertainment industry.   Celebrities may be at special risk, but some in the industry say they are addressing the problem. The shocking stories are familiar - lives cut short by alcohol and drug abuse. Cocaine contributed to Whitney Houston's death.  She drowned in her bathtub in a Beverly Hills hotel earlier this ... http://www.voanews.com/content/music_industry_addresses_drug_alcohol_problems/666695.html http://www.voanews.com/content/music_industry_addresses_drug_alcohol_problems/666695.html Tue, 15 May 2012 21:25:49 -0400 USA ​​The leaders of the Group of Eight major economies plan to address Africa's food security when they meet at a mountain retreat near Washington, DC this week.  But, Europe's economic situation will demand much of the group's attention.   The European debt crisis, and its possible effects on the world economy, will be on the minds of the G8 leaders when they meet at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. French President Francois Hollande will be among ... http://www.voanews.com/content/europe_economic_woes_shadow_g8_summit/666680.html http://www.voanews.com/content/europe_economic_woes_shadow_g8_summit/666680.html Tue, 15 May 2012 20:42:43 -0400 USA Kent Klein ​​President Obama’s decision to support same-sex marriage in the United States could have an impact on what is expected to be a close presidential election in November.  But most experts believe the president’s fate is still tied to the domestic economy.  At a New York fundraiser featuring singer Ricky Martin, President Obama's supporters applauded his recent announcement in support of same-sex marriage. "We have never gone wrong when we expanded rights and ... http://www.voanews.com/content/obama_romney_locked_in_tight_race/666670.html http://www.voanews.com/content/obama_romney_locked_in_tight_race/666670.html Tue, 15 May 2012 19:53:49 -0400 USA Jim Malone ​​WHITE HOUSE - President Barack Obama welcomes NATO leaders to his home town of Chicago this coming weekend for a summit focused on Afghanistan, burden-sharing and other challenges facing the alliance. The U.S. and NATO are withdrawing from Afghanistan under a timetable that will have all foreign combat forces out by 2014. Despite high profile Taliban attacks, NATO says Afghan government forces are on track to fully shoulder the security burden. President Obama, earlier this ... http://www.voanews.com/content/obama_hosts_nato_focus_on_afghanistan_alliance_global_role/666669.html http://www.voanews.com/content/obama_hosts_nato_focus_on_afghanistan_alliance_global_role/666669.html Tue, 15 May 2012 19:34:33 -0400 USA Dan Robinson Former Bosnian-Serb Army Commander, General Ratko Mladic, is facing 11 charges, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in a trial that starts Wednesday at a United Nations tribunal in the Hague. The 70-year-old former commander is accused of ordering the massacre of about 8,000 men and boys outside the Bosnian city of Srebrenica and the bloody siege of Bosnia's capital Sarajevo in the early 1990s. Mladic, a career military man, trained at the academy of the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/mladic-trial-genocide-hague-war-crimes-serbia-bosnia/666668.html http://www.voanews.com/content/mladic-trial-genocide-hague-war-crimes-serbia-bosnia/666668.html Tue, 15 May 2012 19:30:32 -0400 Europe ULPANA, Beit El, Occupied West Bank - The European Union this week continued the international condemnation of Israel's policy of building settlements in largely Palestinian areas. The enclaves are a stumbling block to restarting peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. But in a minor win for Palestinians, an Israeli court has ordered three small West Bank settlements to be demolished after ruling they were illegal. The houses of Ulpana overlook Beit El, an Israeli settlement of ... http://www.voanews.com/content/israel-settlements-court-dismantle-palestinians/666661.html http://www.voanews.com/content/israel-settlements-court-dismantle-palestinians/666661.html Tue, 15 May 2012 18:50:35 -0400 Middle East Scott Bobb The Obama administration has launched an initiative to find more effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease, saying the deadly brain-wasting disorder is one of the most serious health challenges facing the nation. The ambitious, two-tiered strategy aims to have better treatments for the disease by 2025, as well as provide much-needed help now to families of patients suffering from the progressive disorder.   Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative condition that attacks ... http://www.voanews.com/content/new_us_initiative_takes_aim_at_alzheimers_disease/666646.html http://www.voanews.com/content/new_us_initiative_takes_aim_at_alzheimers_disease/666646.html Tue, 15 May 2012 17:39:20 -0400 USA Award-winning Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes, regarded as the father of modern Latin American literature, died Tuesday in Mexico City at age 83. The Panamanian-born Fuentes focused mainly on contemporary Mexico and what he saw as its political failures. He published his first novel, The Air is Clear when he was 29. This was followed by such acclaimed works as The Death of Artemio Cruz, Old Gringo, and Aura. Fuentes also was a college professor and served ... http://www.voanews.com/content/mexican_novelist_carlos_fuentes_dies_83/666643.html http://www.voanews.com/content/mexican_novelist_carlos_fuentes_dies_83/666643.html Tue, 15 May 2012 17:20:21 -0400 Americas VOA News Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who is set to earn billions when the social networking giant goes public on the U.S. stock market Friday, has drawn criticism for renouncing his U.S. citizenship in a move that could save him millions in taxes. The Singapore resident still will end up paying fees, but experts say the benefits of expatriation for Saverin, and many others, may outweigh the costs. Saverin’s stake in the company is estimated at nearly $4 billion. As a U.S. citizen, ... http://www.voanews.com/content/expatriation_of_facebook_cofounder_draws_ire/666639.html http://www.voanews.com/content/expatriation_of_facebook_cofounder_draws_ire/666639.html Tue, 15 May 2012 16:57:24 -0400 USA Kate Woodsome A territorial squabble between China and the Philippines over a small group of islands in the South China Sea has not evolved into a going green agreement.  But a decision by both countries to implement a ban on fishing in the region has helped to temporarily defuse tensions between them.  From May 16 – August 1, China said it will stop fishing in an area that encompasses the Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island to the Chinese), a small group of islands it claims as part of its ... http://www.voanews.com/content/china_philippines_not_fishing_in_south_china_sea/666640.html http://www.voanews.com/content/china_philippines_not_fishing_in_south_china_sea/666640.html Tue, 15 May 2012 16:43:38 -0400 Asia Terry Wing http://www.voanews.com/content/china_philippines_not_fishing_in_south_china_sea/666640.html#relatedInfoContainer News media in the United States are reporting that the federal government has opened a criminal investigation into the more than $2 billion trading loss sustained by the JPMorgan Chase & Co. investment bank. Sources told various news outlets on Tuesday that the Justice Department probe is at an early stage. The investigation is being started only days after JPMorgan's chairman and chief executive, Jamie Dimon, disclosed the loss that stemmed from complex trading transactions in the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/us_investigates_jp_morgan_loss/666635.html http://www.voanews.com/content/us_investigates_jp_morgan_loss/666635.html Tue, 15 May 2012 16:29:45 -0400 Economy VOA News Blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng told a U.S. congressional hearing Tuesday he is concerned about the persecution he says his relatives have faced following his escape from house arrest in April and flight to the U.S. embassy in Beijing.  Chen's actions triggered an intense round of negotiations between the United States and China.  He was later released to a hospital in Beijing, where he is now waiting for Chinese authorities to approve a request to travel to the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese_blind_activist_speaks_with_us_lawmakers_voices_concern_about_relatives/666623.html http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese_blind_activist_speaks_with_us_lawmakers_voices_concern_about_relatives/666623.html Tue, 15 May 2012 15:57:22 -0400 Asia William Ide PARIS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France's new President Francois Hollande sought common ground in resolving Europe's economic crisis during their first meeting in Berlin on Tuesday.  But, the two leaders hold sharply different views. Hours after being sworn in as France's new president, Hollande was in Berlin, holding dinner talks with Chancellor Merkel. At a joint press conference,  Merkel said she hoped that debt-strapped Greece would remain in the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/newly_elected_french_president_meets_merkel_in_germany/666627.html http://www.voanews.com/content/newly_elected_french_president_meets_merkel_in_germany/666627.html Tue, 15 May 2012 15:56:09 -0400 Europe Lisa Bryant Forces from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) have sent local leaders to reach out to protestors in Gao – after a protest Monday ended in violent clashes between MNLA forces and civilians. “The MNLA today in Gao is trying to talk to the people to organize security and organize the town. If they want to protest peacefully, they can protest peacefully, but not kill people,” said a spokesman for the MNLA, Moussa ag Assarid. Ag Assarid added forces from the MNLA ... http://www.voanews.com/content/mali_separatists_send_group_to_talk_to_protesters/666619.html http://www.voanews.com/content/mali_separatists_send_group_to_talk_to_protesters/666619.html Tue, 15 May 2012 15:40:18 -0400 Africa Ricci Shryock http://www.voanews.com/content/mali_separatists_send_group_to_talk_to_protesters/666619.html#relatedInfoContainer CAIRO - With U.S. troops reportedly guiding air raids from a nearby base for the first time, Yemeni jets attacked positions of al-Qaida insurgents Tuesday in southern Yemen's Abyan province. Yemeni officials said a "four-pronged assault" on the militants was being waged on the ground, backed by heavy artillery and aerial bombardment, and that U.S. troops stationed at al-Annad air base in Lahj province were providing logistical support. The reported participation of U.S. ... http://www.voanews.com/content/yemeni_air_force_attacks_al-qaida_insurgents/666613.html http://www.voanews.com/content/yemeni_air_force_attacks_al-qaida_insurgents/666613.html Tue, 15 May 2012 15:10:28 -0400 Middle East Ed Yeranian The United Nations is calling for more than $500 million in emergency aid for the people of South Sudan. Late last year the UN appealed for nearly $800 million to fund humanitarian operations in South Sudan but it received about a third of that amount.  The UN said the bulk of the $505 million it needs would go toward providing food to tens of thousands of South Sudanese, many of whom are returning home from Sudan. The UN Humanitarian Aid Program Coordinator in South Sudan, Lisa ... http://www.voanews.com/content/urgent_un_appeal_for_south_sudan_aid/666598.html http://www.voanews.com/content/urgent_un_appeal_for_south_sudan_aid/666598.html Tue, 15 May 2012 14:53:39 -0400 Africa Charlton Doki HOUSTON, TEXAS - The discovery of 49 decapitated and handless corpses on a highway near the city of Monterrey, in Mexico's northern Nuevo Leon state on Sunday, has drawn attention once again to the brutal drug war that has claimed more than 50,000 lives in that Latin American nation during the past six years.  Shortly before the discovery in Monterrey, dozens of bodies were found in the border city of Nuevo Laredo and in the central city of Guadalajara. In Nuevo Leon, authorities ... http://www.voanews.com/content/horrific_violence_mexico_likely_affect_election/666591.html http://www.voanews.com/content/horrific_violence_mexico_likely_affect_election/666591.html Tue, 15 May 2012 14:15:34 -0400 Americas Greg Flakus UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations says a roadside blast hit a convoy carrying a group of its unarmed observers near the Syrian city of Hama on Tuesday, damaging their vehicles but not injuring the monitors. Meanwhile, Syrian activists have accused the government of killing at least 20 mourners at a funeral in the same area.   The U.N. mission in Syria says a convoy of four of its vehicles was struck by a blast from an improvised explosive device as it drove through the town of Khan ... http://www.voanews.com/content/activists_say_syrian_forces_kill_20_at_funeral/666586.html http://www.voanews.com/content/activists_say_syrian_forces_kill_20_at_funeral/666586.html Tue, 15 May 2012 13:56:31 -0400 Middle East Margaret Besheer GENEVA - The World Food Program says a program in Somaliland that allows people to buy food with cash vouchers instead of receiving handouts is proving to be a huge success. Based on the favorable results, WFP says it plans to expand the initiative to other accessible parts of Somalia.   The World Food Program says thousands of people in Somaliland are enjoying a better, more varied diet since it introduced its voucher scheme. Under the program, people receive $80 worth of ... http://www.voanews.com/content/food_voucher_program_somaliland_world_food_program/666588.html http://www.voanews.com/content/food_voucher_program_somaliland_world_food_program/666588.html Tue, 15 May 2012 13:47:02 -0400 Africa Lisa Schlein SEOUL - South Korea's foreign ministry says China has been holding four of its citizens in Dandong, activists linked to North Korean refugees, since their arrest March 29 in Dalian. Spokesman Cho Byung-je says Seoul is asking Beijing to handle the case in a fair and swift manner. "South Korea understands that the investigation is proceeding based on procedures under Chinese law," said Cho, who did not comment on specific accusations because formal charges have yet to be ... http://www.voanews.com/content/four_south_koreans_being_held_in_china/666578.html http://www.voanews.com/content/four_south_koreans_being_held_in_china/666578.html Tue, 15 May 2012 13:22:48 -0400 Asia Steve Herman (Seoul, South Korea) JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN - The United Nations has voiced concern about South Sudan’s ailing economy and says its people could suffer from spiraling inflation in the coming months, while around half the population already faces food shortages.   South Sudan has taken in little revenue since January, when the government shut down oil production amid a dispute with Sudan over transit fees.   South Sudan’s U.N. humanitarian coordinator, Lise Grande, said Tuesday the organization ... http://www.voanews.com/content/un_fears_south_sudanese_austrerity_bites/666556.html http://www.voanews.com/content/un_fears_south_sudanese_austrerity_bites/666556.html Tue, 15 May 2012 12:48:01 -0400 Africa Hannah McNeish DUBAI - Analysts say a united Arab front against Iran looks less likely after the Gulf Cooperation Council this week delayed deciding on forming a stronger political union. Speaking at the talks in Riyadh on Monday, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said the announcement of a new union had been postponed so that all GCC states could be included and "not only two." Media reports predicted Saudi Arabia and Bahrain would form an initial alliance that other Gulf countries ... http://www.voanews.com/content/gulf_arab_states_union_against_iran_less_likely/666555.html http://www.voanews.com/content/gulf_arab_states_union_against_iran_less_likely/666555.html Tue, 15 May 2012 12:46:58 -0400 Middle East Phillip Walter Wellman The European Union says that economic growth in the 17-nation euro currency bloc stalled in the early months this year. Earlier projections in recent weeks signaled that the eurozone had fallen into a recession in the January-to-March period this year, after contracting three-tenths of a percent in the last three months of 2011. But the region's economic powerhouse, Germany, unexpectedly advanced by half a percentage point in the first quarter, enough to lift the rest of the currency ... http://www.voanews.com/content/eurozone_economic_growth_stalled_in_early_2012/666553.html http://www.voanews.com/content/eurozone_economic_growth_stalled_in_early_2012/666553.html Tue, 15 May 2012 12:39:40 -0400 Europe VOA News http://www.voanews.com/content/eurozone_economic_growth_stalled_in_early_2012/666553.html#relatedInfoContainer