A Syrian television station has aired an audio message purportedly from ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who slammed reports that he may have fled Libya in a convoy to neighboring Niger. In the comments broadcast Thursday on Al-Rai TV, Mr. Gadhafi called the reports “lies” designed to destroy morale and insisted he is still in […]
Pakistani Police Detain Dozens After Suicide Bombings
Posted September 8th, 2011 at 9:16 am (UTC-5)
Police say they have detained some 170 suspects in connection with Wednesday’s suicide bombings that killed 28 people in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta. Senior police official Hamid Shakil told VOA on Thursday that many of those being questioned are Afghan refugees. Two suicide bombers attacked the home of Farrukh Shehzad, the deputy head […]
Palestinians March for Statehood Recognition
Posted September 8th, 2011 at 9:05 am (UTC-5)
Palestinians have launched a series of public relations efforts for their bid to join the United Nations as a full member state, a day after American envoys tried to persuade them to drop the bid. About 100 Palestinian officials and activists marched Thursday to the U.N. office in Ramallah, where they presented a letter stating […]
US Jobless Claims Increase
Posted September 8th, 2011 at 9:00 am (UTC-5)
The number of unemployed workers seeking new U.S. government financial assistance edged up last week, more evidence that the country’s economy is slowing. The government said Thursday that 414,000 jobless workers sought their first unemployment compensation, 2,000 more than the previous week. The number of claims suggested that U.S. employers are not laying off significantly […]
European Stocks Higher in Midday Trading
Posted September 8th, 2011 at 7:45 am (UTC-5)
European stock prices are higher in midday trading Thursday. London’s Financial Times index is up just over one-half of one percent. The CAC-40 in Paris is more than six-tenths of one percent higher, and trading on the DAX index in Frankfurt is up nearly one-half of one percent. In New York, the S&P futures contract […]
Vietnamese Couple Bids For Record Book with 82-Year Marriage
Posted September 8th, 2011 at 7:01 am (UTC-5)
Vietnamese officials say they are looking for a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for a couple who have been married for 82 years. Huynh Van Lac, aged 110, and his wife Nguyen Thi Lanh, 106, have been married since 1933. The director of the Vietnam Records Book Center, said the couple broke […]
UN Chief: Syria Ignores Repeated Calls to End Violence
Posted September 8th, 2011 at 6:51 am (UTC-5)
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says violence against Syrians has continued despite his repeated calls for President Bashar al-Assad to halt “excessive and lethal” actions by government security forces. Speaking Thursday at the University of Sydney in Australia, Mr. Ban said he has urged Mr. Assad to carry out political reforms “before it is too late.” […]
Police: South Africa Murders Decrease; Rapes Increase
Posted September 8th, 2011 at 6:51 am (UTC-5)
South Africa’s minister of police says the country’s murder rate has fallen, but that the number of reported cases of rape remains unacceptably high. Minister of police Nathi Mthethwa said in a report released Thursday murders in South Africa have been drastically reduced since the 1995-1996 fiscal year, when more than 26,000 people were killed […]
Asia Markets Close Mostly Higher
Posted September 8th, 2011 at 6:50 am (UTC-5)
Major Asian stock markets closed mostly higher Thursday. Tokyo’s Nikkei index gained more than one-quarter of one percent to finish at 8,793. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell nearly three-quarters of one percent to finish the day’s trading at 19,913. Share prices were higher in Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei […]
British National Convicted of Sex Crime in Cambodia
Posted September 8th, 2011 at 6:35 am (UTC-5)
A Cambodian court has sentenced a British man to a 12-year prison sentence for sexually abusing three underage girls. Michael Julian Leach was arrested last September after he was discovered living with the three girls aged from 10 to 15 at a guest house on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. In addition to his jail […]
