Armed Malian Islamists are destroying shrines and mausoleums in Timbuktu. Witnesses told VOA Saturday that members of the Ansar Dine Islamist group are attacking the historic sites with axes and other instruments. Witnesses say the mausoleum of a revered Muslim saint, Sidi Mahmoud, has been destroyed. Timbuktu has been listed by UNESCO as an endangered […]
UNHCR: Refugee Status Ends for Angolans and Liberians
Posted June 30th, 2012 at 7:10 am (UTC-5)
The U.N. refugee agency says Angolans and Liberian refugees who live abroad are no longer regarded as refugees. The UNHCR says their refugee status came to an end Saturday because both countries have “enjoyed many years of peace and stability after bitter civil wars.” Adrian Edwards, a UNHCR spokesman, said the agency is working with […]
World Powers Begin Talks on Syria
Posted June 30th, 2012 at 6:40 am (UTC-5)
World and regional powers have begun closed-door talks aimed at salvaging international envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan to end the bloody violence in Syria and find a political solution to the crisis. Officials from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France – gathered Saturday […]
World Powers to Hold Talks Saturday on Syria
Posted June 30th, 2012 at 4:50 am (UTC-5)
World and regional powers gather Saturday for a meeting called by international peace envoy Kofi Annan, who wants an agreement on new ideas for dealing with the Syrian conflict. As he arrived for the meeting in Geneva, British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Russia and China to agree with Western powers on a political transition […]
World Powers to Hold Talks Saturday on Syria
Posted June 30th, 2012 at 3:05 am (UTC-5)
World and regional powers plan to gather Saturday for a meeting called by international peace envoy Kofi Annan, who wants an agreement on new ideas for dealing with the Syrian conflict. The meeting in Geneva will come a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton failed to agree […]
