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 http://www.voanews.com/img/voa/rssLogo_VOA.gif http://www.voanews.com en-US 2012 - VOA 60 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:08:50 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA A top official of one of the world's best known online companies is reportedly preparing to visit a country with the least access to the Internet. The Associated Press says Google's Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt, will go to North Korea, perhaps this month. A Google spokesperson does not deny the report, but says only that the company does not comment on private travel by its officials. Eric Schmidt is known for his advocacy of Internet freedom, so it is somewhat ironic that he ... http://www.voanews.com/content/google-ceo-to-visit-north-korea/1576849.html http://www.voanews.com/content/google-ceo-to-visit-north-korea/1576849.html Thu, 03 Jan 2013 02:30:13 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/google-ceo-to-visit-north-korea/1576849.html#relatedInfoContainer As Japan's newly installed prime minister toured the crippled Fukushima power plant Saturday, he made it clear he is set to review the previous government's plan to phase out nuclear power.   Japanese officials say Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided to quickly visit the destroyed nuclear plant after his election to show he is serious about efforts to reconstruct Fukushima.   His first stop was a former soccer training center that is the staging ground for workers tasked with ... http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-prime-minister-tours-crippled-fukushima-nuclear-plant/1574344.html http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-prime-minister-tours-crippled-fukushima-nuclear-plant/1574344.html Sat, 29 Dec 2012 07:32:03 -0500 Asia School bullying is a well-known problem, but one particular type is raising fresh concern. It involves children with food allergies. Students, parents and teachers may not be aware that the consequences can be fatal. Nearly one-third of students diagnosed with food allergies are bullied at school as a result of their condition. That is according to a new study by researchers at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Results of the study, involving 251 sets of children and parents, ... http://www.voanews.com/content/kids-teased-about-food-allergies-no-laughing-matter/1573691.html http://www.voanews.com/content/kids-teased-about-food-allergies-no-laughing-matter/1573691.html Fri, 28 Dec 2012 06:58:36 -0500 Asia ​Japan has a new prime minister. The Diet (parliament) on Wednesday selected Shinzo Abe to again lead the country after his Liberal Democratic Party scored a solid comeback in elections this month. That ends a three-year stay in power for the Democratic Party of Japan.  Abe said his top priorities are to overcome the country's economic and diplomatic crises. At his initial news conference,  following his selection by lawmakers to lead Japan, Abe lamented that any country that ... http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-lawmakers-return-hawkish-shinzo-abe-to-power/1572235.html http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-lawmakers-return-hawkish-shinzo-abe-to-power/1572235.html Wed, 26 Dec 2012 02:19:31 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-lawmakers-return-hawkish-shinzo-abe-to-power/1572235.html#relatedInfoContainer Concerns about maritime clashes in Northeast Asian waters are increasing. Japan in 2012 faced escalating tensions both with China and South Korea over disputed islands. And the two Koreas, still technically at war, cannot agree on their western maritime border. With new political leaders now in place across the region there is apprehension about how the countries will get along in 2013. China is continuing to send its vessels into waters around Japanese-held islands. Beijing says the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/north-east-asia-2012/1571546.html http://www.voanews.com/content/north-east-asia-2012/1571546.html Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:03:08 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/north-east-asia-2012/1571546.html#relatedInfoContainer South Korea is asserting, based on debris it recovered from North Korea's rocket launch this month, that the reclusive state has significantly advanced its ballistic missile technology. As the U.N. Security Council prepares to decide on further sanctions against Pyongyang, military officials in Seoul are releasing details about the technology used in North Korea's December 12th launch in defiance of existing U.N. sanctions. The Ministry of National Defense says it has retrieved ... http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-missile/1570703.html http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-missile/1570703.html Sun, 23 Dec 2012 03:32:58 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-missile/1570703.html#relatedInfoContainer Analysts are expressing little surprise about the revelation North Korea apparently has multiple facilities to enrich uranium that could be used to make nuclear weapons.   South Korea's defense ministry Friday revealed that intelligence satellites have detected additional facilities in North Korea where it suspects work is being done to produce weapons-grade uranium.   A South Korean senior official told reporters North Korea's uranium enrichment activities appear to be ... http://www.voanews.com/content/multiple-uranium-enrichment-facilities-suspected-in-nkorea/1569440.html http://www.voanews.com/content/multiple-uranium-enrichment-facilities-suspected-in-nkorea/1569440.html Fri, 21 Dec 2012 02:53:39 -0500 Asia In her initial appearance during her first day as president-elect, Park Geun-hye of the Saenuri (New Frontier) Party went to South Korea's national cemetery to pay tribute to three deceased presidents, including her father. She burned incense at her parents' tomb. The moment marked a poignant transition for the 60-year-old democratically-elected president, finally stepping out of the shadow cast by her dictator father's legacy. Park Chung-hee's long grip on power, that had ... http://www.voanews.com/content/uncertainty-opportunity-loom-for-interkorean-relations/1568420.html http://www.voanews.com/content/uncertainty-opportunity-loom-for-interkorean-relations/1568420.html Thu, 20 Dec 2012 02:35:12 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/uncertainty-opportunity-loom-for-interkorean-relations/1568420.html#relatedInfoContainer Conservative Saenuri [New Frontier] Party candidate Park Geun-hye has made history by winning South Korea's presidential election, becoming the country's first female president-elect after defeating liberal rival Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party by several percentage points.   Interacting briefly with several media representatives on a large open-air stage in downtown Seoul, the five-term lawmaker and daughter of a former dictator vowed to fulfill every promise she made ... http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-media-project-park-as-next-president/1567778.html http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-media-project-park-as-next-president/1567778.html Wed, 19 Dec 2012 07:24:38 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-media-project-park-as-next-president/1567778.html#relatedInfoContainer Exit polling data conducted jointly by three broadcasters in South Korea indicate Park Geun-hye has slightly above a one percent lead over her opponent in the country's presidential election. If the combined projections from three South Korean broadcasting stations prove accurate, Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun-hye will be the country's next president. The exit survey indicate Park has 50.1 percent of the vote and Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party 48.9 percent. But those ... http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korean-poll-stations-open-in-presidential-election/1567734.html http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korean-poll-stations-open-in-presidential-election/1567734.html Wed, 19 Dec 2012 04:57:57 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korean-poll-stations-open-in-presidential-election/1567734.html#relatedInfoContainer Park Geun-hye, the daughter of a former South Korean dictator, and Moon Jae-in, the former chief of staff of another previous president, are locked in a tight race to determine who will be South Korea's new leader.   The election takes place Wednesday to replace President Lee Myung-bak, who is constitutionally limited to a single five-year term.   Park, if elected, would become South Korea's first female president and the first to follow a parent into the Blue House. Her ... http://www.voanews.com/content/on-election-eve-south-korean-contenders-locked-in-tight-race/1567043.html http://www.voanews.com/content/on-election-eve-south-korean-contenders-locked-in-tight-race/1567043.html Tue, 18 Dec 2012 06:50:36 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/on-election-eve-south-korean-contenders-locked-in-tight-race/1567043.html#relatedInfoContainer Japan's governing party has suffered a crushing election defeat. Results of parliamentary elections Sunday show the next government will be formed by the Liberal Democratic Party. The conservatives and their allies are expected to take a more hawkish approach in confronting the country's neighbors, but what they plan to do to reverse Japan's long economic decline remains murky. Japanese voters, as forecast, have tossed out the party they brought into power three years ago. The ... http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-conservatives-deliver-crushing-defeat-to-ruling-liberals/1565915.html http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-conservatives-deliver-crushing-defeat-to-ruling-liberals/1565915.html Sun, 16 Dec 2012 07:22:25 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-conservatives-deliver-crushing-defeat-to-ruling-liberals/1565915.html#relatedInfoContainer Japan says it intends to strengthen its aerial surveillance, hoping to prevent a repeat of an unprecedented incident Thursday when a Chinese government plane flew near disputed isles in the East China Sea. The Japanese Air Self Defense Force scrambled eight F-15 fighter jets after a coast guard vessel radioed that a Chinese aircraft was flying just south of the largest disputed island. Japanese land-based radar failed to detect the low flying turboprop surveillance plane from China. ... http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-mulls-aerial-patrols-to-protect-disputed-islands/1564802.html http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-mulls-aerial-patrols-to-protect-disputed-islands/1564802.html Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:09:52 -0500 Asia Japan's lower house election this coming Sunday finds the incumbent prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, fighting for his political life and, quite possibility, the survival of his own party. Noda's support, according to the latest NHK opinion poll, has dropped to a record low 20 percent. And the Democratic Party of Japan he leads is widely forecast to get trounced in the December 16 parliament polling. Until the DPJ victory in 2009, the Liberal Democratic Party, which despite its name ... http://www.voanews.com/content/more-conservative-party-ldp-predicted-to-win-big-in-japan/1564045.html http://www.voanews.com/content/more-conservative-party-ldp-predicted-to-win-big-in-japan/1564045.html Thu, 13 Dec 2012 07:19:09 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/more-conservative-party-ldp-predicted-to-win-big-in-japan/1564045.html#relatedInfoContainer It is still not clear if the satellite North Korea placed into orbit Wednesday is properly functioning. Meanwhile, the international community is still contemplating what action to take against the isolated and impoverished state, which conducted the launch in defiance of previous United Nations resolutions. South Korea has announced no immediate additional measures against the North as a result of what Seoul considers a test of ballistic missile technology. Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho ... http://www.voanews.com/content/international-community-considers-reponse-to-nkorea/1564001.html http://www.voanews.com/content/international-community-considers-reponse-to-nkorea/1564001.html Thu, 13 Dec 2012 03:15:16 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/international-community-considers-reponse-to-nkorea/1564001.html#relatedInfoContainer North Korea has carried out what it characterizes as a “groundbreaking” peaceful launch to place a weather satellite into orbit, despite warnings from the United Nations and the United States. The event is being viewed by most of the world as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Seoul, Tokyo, Washington and the United Nations quickly condemned the Wednesday morning launch. Leaders in Japan and South Korea convened emergency national security meetings. South Korea's ... http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-launches-long-range-rocket-despite-criticism/1563138.html http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-launches-long-range-rocket-despite-criticism/1563138.html Tue, 11 Dec 2012 20:22:33 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-launches-long-range-rocket-despite-criticism/1563138.html#relatedInfoContainer North Korea's anticipated ballistic missile launch this month is already drawing reaction from its neighbors and the United States. Ambassadors of the United States, China, Japan and Russia met separately Monday with South Korean Foreign Ministry officials to strategize. U.S. Ambassador Sung Kim left the meeting saying he had "no comment." Later, however, the US Embassy released a statement from the Ambassador concerning his meeting with Presidential Secretary for ... http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-launch-plan-alarms-region/1557278.html http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-launch-plan-alarms-region/1557278.html Mon, 03 Dec 2012 06:49:33 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-launch-plan-alarms-region/1557278.html#relatedInfoContainer Fighting raged around Syria's main airport Friday and an Internet blackout continued throughout Syria as diplomats from more than 60 countries met in Tokyo to tighten sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad's government. Heavy clashes are reported in towns near the airport and one activist said the government continued its bombing of the suburb of Daraya. Rami Abd al-Rahman of the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that while the airport road is open, it is not ... http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-hosts-friends-of-syria-meeting/1555791.html http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-hosts-friends-of-syria-meeting/1555791.html Fri, 30 Nov 2012 05:03:47 -0500 Middle East webdesk@voanews.com (Edward Yeranian) http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-hosts-friends-of-syria-meeting/1555791.html#relatedInfoContainer When the satirical U.S. newspaper and website The Onion named North Korea's portly young leader this year's “Sexiest Man Alive,” a lot of readers online around the world had a good laugh. But in China and South Korea the satire appeared to be lost in translation and has been re-published as straight news - a story gleefully reported by international media outlets Wednesday. The most prominent media organ to have not caught the joke was the online version of The People’s Daily, the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese-media-fall-for-onion-joke-on-nkorean-leader/1554289.html http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese-media-fall-for-onion-joke-on-nkorean-leader/1554289.html Wed, 28 Nov 2012 01:29:52 -0500 Asia http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese-media-fall-for-onion-joke-on-nkorean-leader/1554289.html#relatedInfoContainer Japan's prime minister Friday dissolved the Lower House of the Diet (Parliament), compelling a national election. This comes as Japan teeters on a return to recession and amid increased tensions between Japan and its neighbors. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has set parliamentary elections for December 16 - a move that comes despite the objection of many members of his own party. They fear what opinion polls overwhelmingly predict:  the Democratic Party of Japan in power for the last ... http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-dissolves-parliament/1547241.html http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-dissolves-parliament/1547241.html Fri, 16 Nov 2012 05:19:48 -0500 Asia