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 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:15:37 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA Syria's opposition is accusing the Lebanese Hezbollah movement of declaring war on the Syrian people amid reports the Shi'ite militia's fighters have joined government forces in a battle against rebels in the central province of Homs. Anti-government activists in the Syrian town of al-Qusayr, outside Homs, have reported mounting Hezbollah casualties in the last week as fighting heats up in the strategic pocket along the Lebanese border. The opposition Syrian Revolution General ... http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-opposition-accuses-hezbollah-of-widening-war/1648619.html http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-opposition-accuses-hezbollah-of-widening-war/1648619.html Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:30:01 -0400 Middle East Mark Snowiss When 16 Burmese newspapers are granted operating licenses on April 1, they will become the first independent dailies allowed to publish in nearly 50 years.   While journalists have described the move as a major step toward media freedom in Burma, they have also voiced outrage at the country's draft media law, released earlier this month, which critics say could roll back government promises to loosen its grip on a long tightly controlled industry.   That bill bans reporting on ... http://www.voanews.com/content/burma-myanmar-publishing-media-free-speech-censorship/1629659.html http://www.voanews.com/content/burma-myanmar-publishing-media-free-speech-censorship/1629659.html Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:09:23 -0400 Asia Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/burma-myanmar-publishing-media-free-speech-censorship/1629659.html#relatedInfoContainer The Arab League's decision to recognize Syria's anti-government coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people has boosted the opposition's international standing and opened the door to increasing an already substantial arms flow to rebel fighters, analysts say. The opposition also opened its first embassy in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Wednesday. Opposition leader Mouaz al-Khatib and Qatar's state minister for foreign affairs cut a ceremonial ribbon at the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-russia-iran-slam-arab-summit-over-syria/1629597.html http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-russia-iran-slam-arab-summit-over-syria/1629597.html Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:14:14 -0400 Middle East Mark Snowiss More than a week after Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered U.S. special forces to leave a strategically key area near the capital, officials from both sides are still struggling to resolve the issue. Karzai ordered the elite American units out of Wardak province after residents complained that they, and Afghans working with them, were torturing and killing civilians - an allegation strongly denied by the United States. At the same time, the Afghan leader also accused the U.S. and NATO of ... http://www.voanews.com/content/us-afghanistan-struggle-to-agree-on-special-forces/1623896.html http://www.voanews.com/content/us-afghanistan-struggle-to-agree-on-special-forces/1623896.html Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:54:59 -0400 Asia Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/us-afghanistan-struggle-to-agree-on-special-forces/1623896.html#relatedInfoContainer China's acknowledgment earlier this week that it considered using a drone strike on foreign soil to target a major Burmese drug trafficker wanted in the killings of 13 Chinese sailors highlights Beijing's increasing capacity in unmanned aerial warfare.  It also foreshadows the dangers of a burgeoning global drone race. Liu Yuejin, director of the Public Security Ministry's anti-drug bureau, told the state-run Global Times newspaper Monday the plan called for bombing drug lord ... http://www.voanews.com/content/china-drone-threat-highlights-new-global-arms-race/1608458.html http://www.voanews.com/content/china-drone-threat-highlights-new-global-arms-race/1608458.html Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:11:06 -0500 Asia Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/china-drone-threat-highlights-new-global-arms-race/1608458.html#relatedInfoContainer After three weeks of belligerent warnings, North Korea conducted its third test Tuesday in a nuclear weapons program that dates back to the 1960s. If preliminary estimates from seismic monitors in South Korea and elsewhere prove correct, this was by far Pyongyang's most powerful explosion of a nuclear device. U.S. President Barack Obama called the test a "highly provocative act."  His swift condemnation was echoed by governments around the world, including South Korea, ... http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-nuclear-test/1602382.html http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-nuclear-test/1602382.html Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:58:15 -0500 Asia Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-nuclear-test/1602382.html#relatedInfoContainer Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng called on the United States Thursday to pressure Beijing to improve its human rights record as he urged his fellow citizens not to depend on foreign assistance in their push for change. In an exclusive television interview with VOA Mandarin, the 41-year-old legal activist said the U.S., as the global human rights leader, commands substantial leverage over China because "its economy is not really as powerful as it is made out to be." ... http://www.voanews.com/content/chinse-dissident-calls-on-us-to-pressure-beijing/1594899.html http://www.voanews.com/content/chinse-dissident-calls-on-us-to-pressure-beijing/1594899.html Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:11:11 -0500 Asia Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/chinse-dissident-calls-on-us-to-pressure-beijing/1594899.html#relatedInfoContainer Fighting between two banned Islamist militant groups in Pakistan’s restive northwestern tribal belt along the Afghan border has killed at least 70 people and wounded scores more since fierce clashes broke out last week.  Local residents told VOA Radio Deewa that the Pakistani Taliban, the largest alliance of militant groups in Pakistan’s remote tribal area, launched a new offensive Monday that led to the capture of five strategic hilltops from a rival faction, the pro-government ... http://www.voanews.com/content/death-toll-pakistan-militant-clashes/1592498.html http://www.voanews.com/content/death-toll-pakistan-militant-clashes/1592498.html Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:02:03 -0500 Asia Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/death-toll-pakistan-militant-clashes/1592498.html#relatedInfoContainer North Korea's latest threat to conduct its third nuclear test and launch more long-range rockets is not just bluster but part of a deliberate effort by an increasingly confident Pyongyang to build up its atomic weapons capacity, analysts say. The National Defense Commission, the North's highest military body, said Thursday the planned moves include a series of satellite and long-range rocket launches as well as a nuclear test "of a higher level" targeting what it called its ... http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korean-nuclear-threat-not-just-bluster/1590390.html http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korean-nuclear-threat-not-just-bluster/1590390.html Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:19:58 -0500 Asia Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korean-nuclear-threat-not-just-bluster/1590390.html#relatedInfoContainer With singer Jennifer Hudson crooning the ballad "Let's Stay Together," U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle took the spotlight at two inaugural balls in Washington Monday evening. Michelle Obama, wearing a red Jason Wu gown designed especially for the night, sang in her husband's ear as they danced. The balls, an inaugural day traditions, cap off two days of official ceremonies as President Obama begins his second term. Earlier, flag-waving crowds of ... http://www.voanews.com/content/obamas-public-inaugural-unfolding-in-washington/1587941.html http://www.voanews.com/content/obamas-public-inaugural-unfolding-in-washington/1587941.html Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:31:56 -0500 USA Kent Klein, Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/obamas-public-inaugural-unfolding-in-washington/1587941.html#relatedInfoContainer The execution-style killings of three female Kurdish activists in Paris early Thursday comes just days after Turkish media reported significant progress in talks between a jailed rebel leader and senior Turkish intelligence officials. News reports identified one of the women as Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged an armed campaign for self-rule against the Turkish state since 1984.  The conflict has claimed 40,000 lives. Another ... http://www.voanews.com/content/killing_of_kurdish_activists_comes_as_peace_talks_ramp_up/1581278.html http://www.voanews.com/content/killing_of_kurdish_activists_comes_as_peace_talks_ramp_up/1581278.html Thu, 10 Jan 2013 10:43:51 -0500 Europe Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/killing_of_kurdish_activists_comes_as_peace_talks_ramp_up/1581278.html#relatedInfoContainer The United Nations said Tuesday that about one million Syrians are living without adequate food supplies and that serious fuel shortages and rising violence are disrupting aid distribution across the war-torn country.  According to U.N. World Food Program spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs, the agency is distributing rations to about 1.5 million people in Syria every month, the vast majority internally displaced. That is well below the 2.5 million people in need of assistance.  ... http://www.voanews.com/content/un_says_1_million_syrians_need_emergency_food_aid/1579972.html http://www.voanews.com/content/un_says_1_million_syrians_need_emergency_food_aid/1579972.html Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:24:24 -0500 Middle East Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/un_says_1_million_syrians_need_emergency_food_aid/1579972.html#relatedInfoContainer Independent astronomers say North Korea's newly launched satellite may be malfunctioning, tumbling end over end instead of pointing consistently at the Earth. It also is allegedly failing to emit expected ultra high-frequency radio broadcasts. Dr. Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told VOA Monday that optical observers from around the world have been using orbital data to predict the satellite's movements. They also have been measuring its ... http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korean-satellite/1566898.html http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korean-satellite/1566898.html Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:31:57 -0500 Asia Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korean-satellite/1566898.html#relatedInfoContainer If negotiations aimed at preventing the United States from sliding over the so-called 'fiscal cliff' fail, the impact could be devastating to Mexico, America's third-largest trading partner. The U.S. and its southern neighbor had $500 billion worth of trade in goods and services last year, mostly in electrical machinery, vehicles and crude oil. Mexico exported $15.8 billion worth of agricultural products to the United States in 201, making it the second-largest supplier of such ... http://www.voanews.com/content/mexico-would-take-hit-if-us-debt-talks-fail/1564498.html http://www.voanews.com/content/mexico-would-take-hit-if-us-debt-talks-fail/1564498.html Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:36:11 -0500 Americas Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/mexico-would-take-hit-if-us-debt-talks-fail/1564498.html#relatedInfoContainer China’s anti-corruption commission has begun an inquiry into a top official in the southwestern province of Sichuan, state media reported Wednesday.  He's the most senior person to be investigated since Xi Jinping became Communist Party leader last month. Li Chuncheng, Sichuan's deputy party chief, has not been seen in public since November 19 according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency. Li was promoted last month to be one of the 171 alternate members of the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/china-targets-top-sichuan-official-in-anti-graft-drive/1559265.html http://www.voanews.com/content/china-targets-top-sichuan-official-in-anti-graft-drive/1559265.html Wed, 05 Dec 2012 16:18:45 -0500 Asia Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/china-targets-top-sichuan-official-in-anti-graft-drive/1559265.html#relatedInfoContainer China and India are rapidly expanding their naval forces, increasing the possibility of future confrontation as Asia's two leading emerging economies seek to project their power. India's navy chief, Admiral D.K. Joshi, this week called the modernization of China's naval forces "truly impressive" and a source of "major concern," pledging to protect Indian interests in the South China Sea. China's rising power in the region is raising concerns in New Delhi ... http://www.voanews.com/content/china-india-expand-navies-regional-interests/1558617.html http://www.voanews.com/content/china-india-expand-navies-regional-interests/1558617.html Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:52:45 -0500 Asia Mark Snowiss U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly criticized an Israeli plan to develop a disputed area near East Jerusalem, calling it an "almost fatal blow" to chances of achieving peace with the Palestinians, who claim the land for an independent state. In a statement issued Sunday, Ban said the potential construction of thousands of Jewish homes in the barren area that Israel refers to as E-1 "risks completely cutting off" East Jerusalem from the rest of the West ... http://www.voanews.com/content/israel-to-withold-tax-transfer-to-palestinians-over-un-bid/1556911.html http://www.voanews.com/content/israel-to-withold-tax-transfer-to-palestinians-over-un-bid/1556911.html Sun, 02 Dec 2012 08:02:07 -0500 Middle East Robert Berger, Mark Snowiss, Michael Lipin http://www.voanews.com/content/israel-to-withold-tax-transfer-to-palestinians-over-un-bid/1556911.html#relatedInfoContainer The Arab Spring has given Kurds across the Middle East new hopes for independence through political means. But some are worried an armed Kurdish insurgency operating in four countries may ultimately derail national aspirations. In recent months, Turkey's conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has escalated rapidly, with some of the heaviest fighting in decades. More than 700 people have died since large-scale hostilities resumed in summer 2011, the highest casualty rate ... http://www.voanews.com/content/kurdish_insurgency_faces_crossroads/1544836.html http://www.voanews.com/content/kurdish_insurgency_faces_crossroads/1544836.html Tue, 13 Nov 2012 11:50:31 -0500 Middle East Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/kurdish_insurgency_faces_crossroads/1544836.html#relatedInfoContainer With Kurds asserting themselves throughout the Middle East, Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region has stepped up its profile on the world's oil scene.  A series of recent petroleum deals signals a direct challenge to Baghdad's claim of total control over the country's oil exports and a possible step by the Kurds toward their longstanding aspirations for increased autonomy, or outright independence. Within the last few months, Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG, ... http://www.voanews.com/content/iraqi-kurdistan-pushes-limits-on-oil-autonomy/1544758.html http://www.voanews.com/content/iraqi-kurdistan-pushes-limits-on-oil-autonomy/1544758.html Tue, 13 Nov 2012 11:05:22 -0500 Middle East Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/iraqi-kurdistan-pushes-limits-on-oil-autonomy/1544758.html#relatedInfoContainer Turkey launched a new retaliatory strike Monday after a mortar bomb fired from Syria hit the Turkish countryside as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned of "extremely dangerous" fallout from the escalating border conflict. Ban also said he is "deeply concerned" about the continuing flow of weapons to the Syrian government and opposition forces and the impact of the Syrian crisis on neighboring Lebanon. He reiterated calls for a political solution, which he said is the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey_again_returns_fire_after_syrian_mortar_attack/1522555.html http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey_again_returns_fire_after_syrian_mortar_attack/1522555.html Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:02:59 -0400 Middle East Edward Yeranian, Mark Snowiss http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey_again_returns_fire_after_syrian_mortar_attack/1522555.html#relatedInfoContainer