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World Bank President Calls Oil Company Nationalization “Mistake”

Posted April 19th, 2012 at 12:35 pm (UTC-5)
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The President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, criticized Argentina’s plans to nationalize its largest oil company. Robert Zoellick spoke Thursday in Washington at a news conference. He cautioned policymakers against moves based on populism and protectionism that could hurt the economy. The Argentine government announced plans earlier this week to take over YPF, an […]

Tags: , , , , , Posted in Economy

2 More Tibetans Self-Immolate in China

Posted April 19th, 2012 at 12:10 pm (UTC-5)
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Two more Tibetans have set themselves on fire to protest China’s crackdown on rising Tibetan dissent in China’s Sichuan province. Sources with contacts in the region tell VOA the Tibetans, both in their 20s, set themselves ablaze near a monastery in the Sichuan provincial city known as Aba to Tibetans and Ngawa to ethnic Chinese. […]

Tags: , Posted in East Asia Pacific

World Bank President Calls Oil Company Nationalization “Mistake”

Posted April 19th, 2012 at 12:10 pm (UTC-5)
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The President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, says Argentina’s plans to nationalize its largest oil company are “a mistake.” Robert Zoellick spoke Thursday in Washington at a news conference. He cautioned policymakers against moves based on populism and protectionism that could hurt the economy. The Argentine government announced plans earlier this week to take […]

Tags: , , Posted in Economy

Police, Activists Clash in Bahrain Ahead of Formula One Return

Posted April 19th, 2012 at 11:45 am (UTC-5)
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Tensions mounted between government forces and opposition activists in Bahrain on Thursday, ahead of the controversial return of the Formula One Grand Prix to the Gulf kingdom. A firebomb exploded near members of India’s race team late Wednesday as police and protesters clashed near the capital, Manama. No one was hurt in the explosion. However, […]

Tags: , , , Posted in Middle East

Russia Criticizes NATO’s Withdrawal From Afghanistan

Posted April 19th, 2012 at 11:05 am (UTC-5)
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Russia is criticizing NATO’s plans to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday, “as long as Afghanistan is not able to ensure by itself security in the country, the artificial timelines of withdrawal are not correct and should not be set.” He made the comments […]

Tags: , , , Posted in South Asia

Karzai: Faster Afghan Security Transition After ‘Disgusting’ US Soldier Photos

Posted April 19th, 2012 at 11:05 am (UTC-5)
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the “disgusting” photos of U.S. soldiers posing with the dead bodies of insurgents only highlights the need for a faster foreign withdrawal from Afghanistan. In a statement Thursday, President Karzai said an accelerated and full transition of security responsibilities is “the only way to put an end to such painful […]

Tags: Posted in South Asia

Israel Remembers Victims of Nazi Holocaust

Posted April 19th, 2012 at 10:55 am (UTC-5)
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Sirens wailed across Israel Thursday, as the country paid tribute to the six million Jewish people who perished in the Nazi Holocaust some 70 years ago. For two minutes, pedestrians and traffic came to a standstill, and motorists stood next to their vehicles with heads bowed on one of the most solemn days on Israel’s […]

Tags: , , , Posted in Europe

IMF Loan Fund Growing

Posted April 19th, 2012 at 10:45 am (UTC-5)
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The chief of the International Monetary Fund says it is on the verge of sharply increasing the size of the fund it has to lend to economically troubled nations around the world. As global finance ministers gather in Washington for springtime IMF and World Bank meetings, the International Monetary Fund says it already has collected […]

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UN, Syria Agree to New Framework for Peace Plan

Posted April 19th, 2012 at 10:35 am (UTC-5)
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Amid a cease-fire repeatedly marred by violence, Syria’s government and the United Nations have agreed on a plan for implementing the peace agreement brokered by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan. A spokesman for Mr. Annan said Thursday the agreement outlines the role of an advance team of observers in Syria as well as provisions for […]

Tags: , , , Posted in Middle East

ICRC Meets With Guinea-Bissau President, Former PM Held by Junta

Posted April 19th, 2012 at 10:10 am (UTC-5)
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The International Committee of the Red Cross has visited Guinea-Bissau’s interim president and leading presidential candidate, who were arrested during a military coup last week. A spokesman for the aid group told VOA Thursday that “at first sight the two detainees looked in good condition.” Marie-Servane Desjonquères said a Red Cross delegate visited with President […]

Tags: , Posted in Africa