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 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:42:24 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA Security experts say it will be some time before U.S. officials have an idea of the damage done by revelations about surveillance programs carried out by the National Security Agency.  The programs in question involved widespread access to phone records and mining the Internet for communications from suspected foreign terrorists.  The man who says he was behind the NSA leaks, contractor Edward Snowden, has inspired some and angered others, including U.S. House Speaker John Boehner ... http://www.voanews.com/content/experts-say-nsa-leaks-could-be-significant/1680342.html http://www.voanews.com/content/experts-say-nsa-leaks-could-be-significant/1680342.html Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:24:56 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) http://www.voanews.com/content/experts-say-nsa-leaks-could-be-significant/1680342.html#relatedInfoContainer The Guardian newspaper reported late Friday that U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered various government agencies to prepare for offensive cyberwarfare operations, including drawing up a list of potential overseas targets for U.S. cyber-attacks. It is the third secret U.S. security document to be published by The Guardian in 48 hours. Earlier Friday, Obama offered a spirited defense of secret administration surveillance policies aimed at stopping terrorist attacks. The president was ... http://www.voanews.com/content/cyberwar-secrets-revealed-as-obama-preps-for-xi-meeting/1677748.html http://www.voanews.com/content/cyberwar-secrets-revealed-as-obama-preps-for-xi-meeting/1677748.html Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:40:33 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) http://www.voanews.com/content/cyberwar-secrets-revealed-as-obama-preps-for-xi-meeting/1677748.html#relatedInfoContainer Testifying before a previously scheduled Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the Justice Department's budget, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday was met with questions regarding Wednesday's report by Britain's Guardian newspaper that the National Security Agency has been secretly collecting phone records of tens of millions of Americans who use Verizon as their landline or cell phone carrier.   Holder said Congressional legislators had been fully ... http://www.voanews.com/content/senate-committee-members-ask-us-attorney-general-eric-holder-about-phone-records/1676772.html http://www.voanews.com/content/senate-committee-members-ask-us-attorney-general-eric-holder-about-phone-records/1676772.html Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:44:22 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) http://www.voanews.com/content/senate-committee-members-ask-us-attorney-general-eric-holder-about-phone-records/1676772.html#relatedInfoContainer Revelations that the U.S. Justice Department secretly obtained phone records from the Associated Press in connection with a leak investigation continue to spark strong reactions. They are coming both from journalist organizations concerned with freedom of the press and government officials focused on national security.  The story involving the government secretly accessing phone records of reporters and editors working for the Associated Press (AP) is the latest skirmish in a ... http://www.voanews.com/content/free-press-security-concerns-clash-in-ap-case/1663125.html http://www.voanews.com/content/free-press-security-concerns-clash-in-ap-case/1663125.html Fri, 17 May 2013 12:46:34 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) Just four months after his inauguration for a second four-year term, President Barack Obama finds himself on the defensive in three controversies that threaten to derail his political agenda. Obama may be on the verge of joining a long list of his predecessors who ran into severe political problems in their second terms in office. Analysts say the most serious threat to the president at the moment is the budding scandal involving the Internal Revenue Service, the government’s tax-collecting ... http://www.voanews.com/content/controversies-threaten-to-derail-obama-agenda/1662489.html http://www.voanews.com/content/controversies-threaten-to-derail-obama-agenda/1662489.html Thu, 16 May 2013 14:20:52 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) http://www.voanews.com/content/controversies-threaten-to-derail-obama-agenda/1662489.html#relatedInfoContainer U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is defending a leak investigation that included secretly obtaining phone records from the Associated Press. The Associated Press is protesting what it calls a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into its newsgathering operation by the Justice Department in connection with a leak investigation dating back to last year. But at a Washington news conference Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder defended the investigation. “I have been a prosecutor since ... http://www.voanews.com/content/ap-associated-press-leak-phone-records/1661008.html http://www.voanews.com/content/ap-associated-press-leak-phone-records/1661008.html Tue, 14 May 2013 15:22:08 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) President Barack Obama says confirmation that Syria used chemical weapons would cause the United States to rethink its military options in connection with the two-year old civil war there.  But domestic political pressures make it unlikely that President Obama would deploy U.S. ground forces as one of his military options. As civil war continues to rage in Syria, the Obama administration is trying to confirm its belief that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against its own ... http://www.voanews.com/content/domestic-politics-limits-obama-options-on-syria/1652615.html http://www.voanews.com/content/domestic-politics-limits-obama-options-on-syria/1652615.html Wed, 01 May 2013 13:37:28 -0400 Middle East webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) Thursday’s dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Texas is sure to rekindle the debate over the former president’s place in history. Public opinion polls showed Bush was highly unpopular when he left office in 2009. Some recent surveys, though, suggest his approval rating is making a bit of a comeback. Former president George W. Bush has always insisted he was never bothered by opinion polls and that history will be the final judge of his presidency. At the dedication of ... http://www.voanews.com/content/library-dedication-rekindles-debate-bush-history/1649069.html http://www.voanews.com/content/library-dedication-rekindles-debate-bush-history/1649069.html Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:55:19 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) Nineteen-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev now faces U.S. federal criminal charges in connection with last week’s bombings at the Boston Marathon. If convicted, Tsarnaev could face the death penalty. One week after the two bombings that wreaked havoc near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was formally charged in a Boston hospital room, where he remains in serious but stable condition. A statement from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Tsarnaev is charged with using and ... http://www.voanews.com/content/suspect-charged-in-boston-bombing/1646780.html http://www.voanews.com/content/suspect-charged-in-boston-bombing/1646780.html Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:38:38 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) http://www.voanews.com/content/suspect-charged-in-boston-bombing/1646780.html#relatedInfoContainer As events continue to unfold in connection with Monday’s terrorist attack in Boston, Americans are marking some other somber anniversaries that fall just days after that attack. April 19 is the anniversary of the 1993 Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas, and the 1995 terrorist attack on the federal building in Oklahoma City. They are tragic images seared into America’s collective memory, and both took place on April 19. The 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Texas and resulting ... http://www.voanews.com/content/april-nineteen-brings-us-painful-memories/1644934.html http://www.voanews.com/content/april-nineteen-brings-us-painful-memories/1644934.html Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:13:33 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) President Barack Obama says Monday's bombings along the route of the Boston Marathon were an act of terrorism.  Officials say three people died in the explosions and more than 170 were injured.  Obama told reporters at the White House the bomb attack in Boston was a "heinous and cowardly act" and for the first time described it as an act of terrorism. "Anytime bombs are used to target innocent civilians, it is an act of terror," the president said. ... http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-calls-boston-bombings-heinous-and-cowardly-/1642584.html http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-calls-boston-bombings-heinous-and-cowardly-/1642584.html Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:05:44 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) After more than a decade of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, opinion polls suggest the American public is increasingly reluctant to support military intervention overseas.  That reluctance is inhibiting activists who would like to see the United States take a more robust role in conflicts like the ongoing civil war in Syria. Dan Layman is with the Syrian Support Group, which raises funds and sends non-lethal aid to moderate factions of the Free Syrian Army. The group was founded by ... http://www.voanews.com/content/americans-increasingly-wary-of-foreign-intervention/1639403.html http://www.voanews.com/content/americans-increasingly-wary-of-foreign-intervention/1639403.html Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:59:37 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) A new public-opinion poll finds there is no clear front-runner among potential Republican presidential contenders for the 2016 election.   It may seem early to be thinking about the next U.S. presidential election, but that does not stop the experts and pollsters from considering the next crop of candidates in 2016.  Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown has been looking at some of the potential Republican candidates and says the field appears wide open at this early stage.  “What ... http://www.voanews.com/content/republicans-2016-primary-poll-president/1634071.html http://www.voanews.com/content/republicans-2016-primary-poll-president/1634071.html Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:34:54 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) The issue of same-sex marriage has been front and center in Washington this week.  The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases that could have a profound impact on the legal and political acceptability of gay marriage around the country. The two Supreme Court cases on gay marriage drew thousands of peaceful demonstrators, many of whom seemed to be aware that history could be in the making. Dominic Parisi and his husband, Dan Zimmerman, stood on the court steps to show ... http://www.voanews.com/content/supreme-court-gay-marriage/1629994.html http://www.voanews.com/content/supreme-court-gay-marriage/1629994.html Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:41:24 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) The U.S. Supreme Court plunged into the controversial issue of same sex marriage Tuesday.  The high court heard the first of two cases related to gay marriage that could shift the legal and political landscape. A huge crowd both for and against gay marriage swarmed outside the Supreme Court, eager to take part in what may turn out to be a pivotal moment in the struggle for equal rights for gay Americans. At issue is California’s ban on gay marriage, the first of two cases the high ... http://www.voanews.com/content/us-supreme-court-considers-gay-marriage/1629344.html http://www.voanews.com/content/us-supreme-court-considers-gay-marriage/1629344.html Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:37:42 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) The issue of same-sex marriage heads to the U.S. Supreme Court March 26 and 27. The high court will hear a challenge to California’s ban on gay marriage and will also consider a federal law that defines marriage solely as the union of a man and a woman. Supporters of gay marriage believe public momentum is on their side as they prepare for two legal showdowns at the Supreme Court. "We’ve gone from zero states to now nine states plus the District of Columbia, our nation’s capital here ... http://www.voanews.com/content/us-supreme-court-gay-marriage/1626842.html http://www.voanews.com/content/us-supreme-court-gay-marriage/1626842.html Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:24:40 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) Thousands of conservatives are meeting near Washington this week looking for answers in the wake of Republican election losses last November.  The Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC, also serves as an audition for Republicans who may want to run for president in 2016. The CPAC conference draws conservative activists from around the country. Among those looking to make a strong impression was Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. “In the vast history of the world and of ... http://www.voanews.com/content/us-conservatives-debate-change/1622514.html http://www.voanews.com/content/us-conservatives-debate-change/1622514.html Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:08:03 -0400 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) U.S. Republicans are still licking their wounds, following last November’s presidential election in which President Barack Obama won a second term and Republicans lost seats in both the Senate and House of Representatives.  But, some Republicans are already turning their attention to the next presidential election in 2016. Some Republicans are excited about the possibility of a third member of the Bush family making a run for the White House in 2016.  Former Florida Governor Jeb ... http://www.voanews.com/content/us-politics-republican-leader/1617262.html http://www.voanews.com/content/us-politics-republican-leader/1617262.html Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:42:06 -0500 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) In Washington, U.S. political leaders have resigned themselves to the reality of $85 billion in mandatory budget cuts that will begin to go into effect in the coming days. Many conservative members of Congress see the implementation of the spending cuts as a major victory in the ongoing war over the federal budget. Earlier this week, Obama was back in campaign mode at a shipyard in Virginia, warning about the dangers of the mandatory budget cuts. "So these cuts are wrong. They are not ... http://www.voanews.com/content/conservatives-see-victory-in-budget-cuts/1613174.html http://www.voanews.com/content/conservatives-see-victory-in-budget-cuts/1613174.html Fri, 01 Mar 2013 05:58:31 -0500 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone) http://www.voanews.com/content/conservatives-see-victory-in-budget-cuts/1613174.html#relatedInfoContainer A key civil rights law from the 1960’s that helped ensure minorities could vote is now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the midst of the struggle for civil rights, particularly in the states of the Deep South where racial discrimination was widespread.  At that time, local officials were known for making it difficult for African-Americans to vote. A key part of the law known as Section 5 gives the federal government the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/us-supreme-court-reviews-key-civil-rights-law/1612159.html http://www.voanews.com/content/us-supreme-court-reviews-key-civil-rights-law/1612159.html Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:38:32 -0500 USA webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Malone)