The U.S. Defense Department says the Obama administration will propose to Congress that U.S. ground forces be cut by 100,000 as part of nearly $500 billion in defense budget cuts during the next decade. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters at the Pentagon Thursday that the administration will request a 2013 defense budget of […]
Panetta Outlines US Defense Budget Decisions
Italy Signs Deal to Provide Long-Term Aid to Afghanistan
Italy has agreed to a strategic partnership aimed at supporting Afghanistan after combat forces withdraw from the country in 2014. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Italy “will not abandon Afghanistan,” as the two leaders signed the long-term agreement Thursday in Rome. The deal calls for Italy to assist Afghanistan […]
Yemen’s President Remains in Oman, Departure for US Uncertain
Outgoing Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh remains in the Persian Gulf sultanate of Oman and it is unclear when his planned trip to the United States for medical treatment will take place. An official at the Yemeni embassy in Washington told VOA Thursday he has no information on when Mr. Saleh might arrive. Mohammed Albasha […]
Kazakhstan Charges Police, Opposition in Riot
Kazakh prosecutors are pressing charges against a newspaper editor, an opposition leader and three policemen in connection with deadly clashes last month in a western oil town. Kazakhstan’s National Security Service on Monday arrested the editor of the weekly Vzglyad newspaper (Igor Vinyavsky), as well as Vladimir Kozlov, leader of the unregistered Alga party, on […]
President, Arizona Governor Clash Over Memoir
The Internet is buzzing over photos of an intense discussion between U.S. President Barack Obama and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer over what the governor said was something she wrote in a recent memoir. A pool report said the two officials traded words, out of earshot, when the governor greeted the president at a Phoenix airport […]
Suicide Bomber Attacks Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan
Afghan officials say a suicide car bomber has killed four civilians in an attack on a NATO-affiliated provincial reconstruction team in southern Afghanistan. A spokesman for the governor of Helmand province said Thursday’s attack took place in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. Officials say the bomber hit a convoy of armored vehicles passing near the […]
EU Says Greece May Need More Eurozone Aid
The European Union’s top economic official says that Greece’s public creditors may have to hand it more financial aid to cut its staggering debt because a prospective deal with private lenders is not likely to be big enough. EU economics commissioner Olli Rehn said Thursday that he expects the Athens government will reach a deal […]
Australian Police Rescue PM from Unruly Crowd
Riot police in the Australian capital moved in Thursday to rescue Prime Minister Julia Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott from a crowd of unruly protesters who were supporting indigenous rights. Photographs and television footage show plainclothes security personnel clutching the prime minister as they pulled her away from a Canberra restaurant surrounded by protesters […]
Report: South Africans, Kenyans Top Twitter Users in Africa
A new study says South Africans and Kenyans are Africa’s most active Twitter users and that the social networking site is rapidly becoming a key information tool across the continent. Researchers analyzed more than 11.5 million tweets from specific locations in Africa during the last three months of 2011. They found South Africans made more […]
US Economy: Mixed Signals
The sluggish U.S. economy produced mixed signals Thursday about how fast it is advancing. The U.S. government reported that orders for durable goods — those designed to last at least three years — surged 3 percent in December, suggesting that manufacturing is a strong segment of the national economy. Orders for cars, commercial airplanes, machinery, […]