A team of U.S. scientists have completed five-year multi-million dollar project mapping nearly all the microbes that inhabit healthy human bodies, including bacteria viruses, and fungi. The scientists collected 5,000 samples taken from different body parts of 250 volunteers of both sexes. Experts have known for years that the human body plays host to trillions […]
Center for Intelligence Sharing Opens in DR Congo
Posted June 13th, 2012 at 8:00 pm (UTC-5)
Intelligence chiefs from 11 countries of Africa’s Great Lake region opened a new Center for Intelligence Sharing Wednesday in the eastern Congolese city of Goma. The executive secretary of the new center and a former minister in the Democratic Republic of Congo government, Professor Ntumba Luaba, said they chose Goma because there are a number […]
Moody Slashes Cyprus, Spain Ratings
Posted June 13th, 2012 at 7:10 pm (UTC-5)
Moody’s Investors Service has cut the credit rating of Spain and Cyprus as the markets brace for Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Greece, which could take the country out of the eurozone and undermine the European common currency. On Wednesday, Moody’s cut its rating on the Spanish government debt by three notches despite the $125 billion […]
Burma’s Pro-democracy Leader Starts Europe Tour
Posted June 13th, 2012 at 6:35 pm (UTC-5)
Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has arrived in Switzerland at the start of a historic European tour, which will see her accept the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to her more than two decades ago. Aung San Suu Kyi arrived at the Geneva airport Wednesday from Munich (Germany). Switzerland is the first stop on […]
US Anti-Doping Agency Bans Lance Armstrong from Triathlons
Posted June 13th, 2012 at 6:30 pm (UTC-5)
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has brought formal charges against seven-time Tour de France cycling champion Lance Armstrong. In a letter obtained by The Washington Post newspaper, officials accuse Armstrong of using several banned performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids and human-growth hormones. The letter says the charges are based on evidence uncovered during an investigation of his […]
Attacks Targeting Shi’ite Pilgrims Kill 72 in Iraq
Posted June 13th, 2012 at 6:20 pm (UTC-5)
At least 72 people have been killed in a coordinated wave of attacks across Iraq targeting Shi’ite Muslim pilgrims gathered for an annual religious commemoration. Nearly 260 other people were wounded in one of the bloodiest days since U.S. troops withdrew from the country. Most of the bombs exploded in Baghdad and the southern Iraqi […]
Azerbaijani Reporter Detained After Covering Anti-government Protests
Posted June 13th, 2012 at 5:55 pm (UTC-5)
Police in Azerbaijan have detained a photographer and blogger on charges of “hooliganism”, in another case activists link to the state repression of independent news media. Mehman Huseynov, who works for the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Security and is active in the social media, was detained in Baku on Tuesday evening. The 23-year-old photographer […]
US Drops Case Against Ex-Senator John Edwards
Posted June 13th, 2012 at 5:50 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. federal prosecutors say they will not retry former Democratic senator and one-time presidential candidate John Edwards on charges of breaking federal election laws. A judge declared a mistral last month after the jury acquitted Edwards on one count and deadlocked on five other counts. Wednesday’s decision means the Justice Department is dropping its case. […]
Tunisia’s Ousted President Sentenced to Life in Prison
Posted June 13th, 2012 at 5:45 pm (UTC-5)
A Tunisian court has sentenced ousted Tunisian leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to life in prison for his role in the killing of protesters during last year’s uprising that triggered Arab Spring demonstrations across the Middle East. The court in Kef sentenced the former leader in absentia Wednesday because he is living in exile in […]
UN Envoy Visits Strife-Torn Western Burma
Posted June 13th, 2012 at 4:35 pm (UTC-5)
A top aide to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Burma’s western Rakhine state Wednesday, as security forces there grappled with sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims that has left at least 21 people dead. U.N. officials told VOA that Vijay Nambiar, the U.N.’s top envoy to Burma, traveled to Rakhine accompanied by Burma’s Border […]
