http://www.voanews.com/archive/europe/latest/594/611.html europe http://www.voanews.com/img/voa/rssLogo_VOA.gif http://www.voanews.com/archive/europe/latest/594/611.html en-US 2012 - VOA 60 Thu, 23 May 2013 15:28:10 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA Senior British officials say the two men detained for the gruesome murder of an off-duty British soldier on a London street had been identified earlier by security teams investigating suspected Islamist extremists. The victim, a 25-year-old father named Lee Rigby who had served in Afghanistan, died at the scene. The two suspects were shot and wounded by police. Media reports Thursday cited British Muslim hardliners and acquaintances who identified one of the suspects as 28-year-old Michael ... http://www.voanews.com/content/at-least-one-london-terror-suspect-is-of-nigerian-descent/1667112.html http://www.voanews.com/content/at-least-one-london-terror-suspect-is-of-nigerian-descent/1667112.html Thu, 23 May 2013 14:41:16 -0400 Europe VOA News The European Commission will seek the support of EU governments to launch talks with China on an investment pact that could be a precursor to a free-trade deal if Brussels and Beijing can overcome growing tensions.   EU trade chief Karel De Gucht said on Thursday he would ask the European Union's 27 countries to agree on a negotiating mandate for a deal with China that would reduce barriers to each other's markets and encourage new capital flows.   Documents seen by Reuters ... http://www.voanews.com/content/eu-trade-chief-to-seek-investment-pact-with-china/1667012.html http://www.voanews.com/content/eu-trade-chief-to-seek-investment-pact-with-china/1667012.html Thu, 23 May 2013 12:56:49 -0400 Europe Reuters By the middle of this century, two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities, posing a major environmental challenge. But a new report shows how developing "green" cities can generate growth and lead to a more sustainable planet.  About half the world's population lives in or near cities. These urban centers also generate about two-thirds of our greenhouse gas emissions. So it may seem alarming to hear the planet's urban population will likely more than ... http://www.voanews.com/content/oecd-green-cities-key-to-sustainable-future/1667006.html http://www.voanews.com/content/oecd-green-cities-key-to-sustainable-future/1667006.html Thu, 23 May 2013 12:47:07 -0400 Europe Lisa Bryant French singer and songwriter Georges Moustaki, beloved in France for his songs celebrating liberty and collaborations with Edith Piaf, died on Thursday after a long illness. He was 79.   The Greek-born singer grew up in Alexandria, Egypt, and arrived in Paris in 1951, where he began to play guitar at nightclubs and met some of the period's best-known singers.   He was introduced to Edith Piaf in the late 1950s and started to write songs for the Parisian star, the most famous of ... http://www.voanews.com/content/edith-pilaf-songwriter-singer-georges-moustaki-dies/1666989.html http://www.voanews.com/content/edith-pilaf-songwriter-singer-georges-moustaki-dies/1666989.html Thu, 23 May 2013 12:24:46 -0400 Arts & Entertainment Reuters France said on Thursday it hoped an initiative could be agreed upon by the end of June to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on the EU's list of terrorist organizations on grounds the group is importing Syria's war into Lebanon. Paris has traditionally been cautious about backing steps to sanction Hezbollah, fearing it could destabilize Lebanon and put U.N. peacekeepers at risk, but in recent weeks has said it would consider all options. Britain said this week it wants the EU to add ... http://www.voanews.com/content/france-wants-hezbollah-armed-wing-on-eu-terror-list-soon/1666977.html http://www.voanews.com/content/france-wants-hezbollah-armed-wing-on-eu-terror-list-soon/1666977.html Thu, 23 May 2013 12:02:46 -0400 Europe Reuters The gory killing of a British soldier at the hands of two suspected Islamist militants has shone a spotlight on Woolwich, the London district where it happened, stirring racial tensions in one of the most ethnically diverse parts of Britain.   Tucked away inside a bend of the River Thames to the southeast of central London, Woolwich has changed as quickly as the British capital itself in the last 20 years as successive waves of immigrants attracted by the area's cheaper housing have ... http://www.voanews.com/content/killing-of-British-soldier-stirs-tension-in-poor-corner-of-london/1666942.html http://www.voanews.com/content/killing-of-British-soldier-stirs-tension-in-poor-corner-of-london/1666942.html Thu, 23 May 2013 11:36:30 -0400 Europe Reuters ​Apple has operated almost tax-free in Ireland since 1980, welcomed by a government keen to bring jobs to what was then one of Europe's poorest country, former company executives and Irish officials have said.   ​Chief Executive Tim Cook faced criticism from a Senate subcommittee in Washington on Tuesday over the iPad and iPhone maker's tax practices, which had been shrouded from full view behind secretive tax-exempt Irish-based corporate entities.   Apple, one of ... http://www.voanews.com/content/apple-enjoyed-irish-tax-holiday-from-the-start/1666899.html http://www.voanews.com/content/apple-enjoyed-irish-tax-holiday-from-the-start/1666899.html Thu, 23 May 2013 11:17:18 -0400 Europe Reuters IMF chief Christine Lagarde was questioned in court by a French magistrate on Thursday over her role in a 285-million-euro [$366 million] arbitration payment made to a supporter of former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Lagarde risks being placed under formal investigation at the hearing for her 2007 decision as Sarkozy's finance minister to use arbitration to settle a long-running court battle between the state and high-profile businessman Bernard Tapie. Under French law, that step would ... http://www.voanews.com/content/imf-chief-lagarde-appears-in-paris-court-for-french-arbitration-case/1666897.html http://www.voanews.com/content/imf-chief-lagarde-appears-in-paris-court-for-french-arbitration-case/1666897.html Thu, 23 May 2013 10:57:37 -0400 Europe Reuters Moore, Oklahoma, the tiny suburb of Oklahoma City, is starting the difficult task of recovery following the powerful tornado that swept through on May 20, 2013. http://www.voanews.com/media/photogallery/1666354.html http://www.voanews.com/media/photogallery/1666354.html Thu, 23 May 2013 09:42:00 -0400 USA A man was killed in broad daylight on a south London street near an army barracks on Wednesday. Police have confirmed the victim was a soldier. http://www.voanews.com/media/photogallery/1666731.html http://www.voanews.com/media/photogallery/1666731.html Thu, 23 May 2013 08:31:00 -0400 Europe British Prime Minister David Cameron has described the killing of a British soldier in broad daylight on a London street as an 'attack on Britain' and a 'betrayal of Islam'. The attackers - who said they were taking revenge for the killing of Muslims - are thought to be British citizens of African origin. Witnesses say a British soldier had just left an army barracks in east London when he was hit by a car. The occupants got out and attacked the victim with meat cleavers and ... http://www.voanews.com/content/british-pm-seeks-answers-to-terrorist-attack/1666652.html http://www.voanews.com/content/british-pm-seeks-answers-to-terrorist-attack/1666652.html Thu, 23 May 2013 05:38:42 -0400 Europe Henry Ridgwell http://www.voanews.com/content/british-pm-seeks-answers-to-terrorist-attack/1666652.html#relatedInfoContainer Officials in Niger say a military base and a French-owned uranium mine were hit by separate bomb attacks early Thursday, wounding an unknown number of people. Paris-based Areva says 13 of its employees were wounded in the attack in Arlit, a mainly industrial town in the north-central part of the country. Witnesses say the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who blew up his vehicle outside the facility. Around the same time, Niger security officials say a car bomb attack occurred ... http://www.voanews.com/content/twin-bomb-attacks-strike-in-niger/1666649.html http://www.voanews.com/content/twin-bomb-attacks-strike-in-niger/1666649.html Thu, 23 May 2013 05:10:24 -0400 Africa VOA News An Italian judge has ordered the captain of the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia to stand trial for the deaths of 32 passengers. Captain Francesco Schettino has been charged with manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning ship before all the passengers were safe. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The Costa Concordia struck rocks and capsized off the coast of Tuscany, Italy on the night of January 12, 2012. More than 4,200 people were on board. Schettino says he is ... http://www.voanews.com/content/italian-judge-orders-criminal-trial-for-costa-concordia-captain/1666511.html http://www.voanews.com/content/italian-judge-orders-criminal-trial-for-costa-concordia-captain/1666511.html Wed, 22 May 2013 18:19:06 -0400 Europe VOA News The European Union has announced a series of measures to crack down on tax avoidance and fraud, including the automatic exchange of bank information to catch cheats.  European Union President Herman Van Rompuy hailed as "unprecedented" a series of measures against tax evasion agreed to Wednesday by the bloc's 27 leaders during a brief summit in Brussels. Among them: exchanging banking information to catch tax cheats, pushing financial havens like Monaco and Lichtenstein to ... http://www.voanews.com/content/europe-tax-fraud-bank-accounts/1666380.html http://www.voanews.com/content/europe-tax-fraud-bank-accounts/1666380.html Wed, 22 May 2013 14:51:20 -0400 Europe Lisa Schlein British Prime Minister David Cameron says the daylight killing of a man on a south London street near an army barracks appears to be a terrorist attack. A special government emergency committee was called into session after the attack Wednesday. Prime Minister Cameron called the killing "appalling" and said all indications point to a terrorist attack. Scotland Yard's counterterrorism unit is leading the investigation, but few details were officially released.   Police ... http://www.voanews.com/content/britain-cameron-london-killing-terrorism/1666336.html http://www.voanews.com/content/britain-cameron-london-killing-terrorism/1666336.html Wed, 22 May 2013 14:43:06 -0400 Europe VOA News http://www.voanews.com/content/britain-cameron-london-killing-terrorism/1666336.html#relatedInfoContainer A senior European Union official is calling for more humanitarian aid in Syria. EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Kristalina Georgieva, says there has been a rapid deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Syria and neighboring countries since her last visit to the region in December. Speaking Wednesday on her return from the region, she says there now are more than 1.5 million refugees. She says about one-third of Syria’s population of 22 million, including some five million ... http://www.voanews.com/content/eu-official-calls-for-more-syria-aid/1666187.html http://www.voanews.com/content/eu-official-calls-for-more-syria-aid/1666187.html Wed, 22 May 2013 12:15:34 -0400 Middle East Lisa Bryant Thorbjorn Jagland, secretary general of the Council of Europe, has told President Vladimir Putin that the human rights body is concerned about Russia's law requiring non-governmental organizations to register as foreign agents.   Jagland said Europe will watch how the Kremlin implements the law that went in effect last November, a measure requiring non-governmental organizations that receive foreign funding to register as "foreign agents" — a term synonymous with espionage ... http://www.voanews.com/content/council-of-europe-concerned-about-russia-human-rights-record/1666172.html http://www.voanews.com/content/council-of-europe-concerned-about-russia-human-rights-record/1666172.html Wed, 22 May 2013 11:58:56 -0400 Europe Jessica Golloher http://www.voanews.com/content/council-of-europe-concerned-about-russia-human-rights-record/1666172.html#relatedInfoContainer Authorities in Paris say a far-right French writer and activist has committed suicide in front of the altar in the city's famed Notre Dame Cathedral. Officials say 1,500 visitors were in the cathedral Tuesday when 78-year-old Dominique Venner shot himself in the head after placing a letter on the cathedral's altar. The contents of the letter were not immediately clear. However, recent posts on his blog included rants about France's recently passed same-sex marriage legislation ... http://www.voanews.com/content/suicide-at-notre-dame-in-paris/1665815.html http://www.voanews.com/content/suicide-at-notre-dame-in-paris/1665815.html Wed, 22 May 2013 01:36:53 -0400 Europe VOA News With the international economic crisis continuing to bite, the Turkish government has announced it will be seeking to tap into the $1 trillion Islamic financial industry. Although Turkey is a secular state, it is overwhelmingly Muslim. Under the decade-long rule of the country's Islamist rooted AK Party, Muslim-compliant businesses have flourished. Thee government move into Islamic finance is a smart strategy, said Attila Yesilada, an Istanbul-based political analyst with Global Source ... http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-seeks-benefits-from-islamic-banking-sector/1665391.html http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-seeks-benefits-from-islamic-banking-sector/1665391.html Tue, 21 May 2013 12:01:46 -0400 Europe Dorian Jones http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-seeks-benefits-from-islamic-banking-sector/1665391.html#relatedInfoContainer The right-hand man of Russia's most wanted insurgent was killed by security forces on Tuesday, officials said, as Moscow tries to contain militancy in its Caucasus region before it hosts the Winter Olympics near there next February.      Dzhamaleil Mutaliyev, a senior figure in a group fighting to establish an Islamist state, was killed along with another militant in a shootout in the town of Nazran in Ingushetia, a spokesman for local investigators ... http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-says-kills-senior-islamist-insurgent/1665296.html http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-says-kills-senior-islamist-insurgent/1665296.html Tue, 21 May 2013 11:02:24 -0400 Europe Reuters