Although scores of people remain missing, Ugandan authorities have called off a search for survivors from a landslide that struck the eastern Mount Elgon area Monday, killing at least 18 people. Uganda’s minister for disaster relief, Stephen Malinga, said there is “no hope of finding any more survivors.” He said workers, joined by the Ugandan […]
FBI Smashes Global Credit Card Fraud Ring
Posted June 26th, 2012 at 4:40 pm (UTC-5)
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation says it has smashed a global Internet credit card fraud ring. The FBI’s New York office calls it the biggest such operation in history, lasting more than two years and involving undercover law enforcement agents in 13 countries. Officials said Tuesday the operation protected 400,000 people from falling victim […]
Assad: Syria at ‘War’ as Damascus Suburbs See Heaviest Fighting
Posted June 26th, 2012 at 4:25 pm (UTC-5)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has acknowledged that his country is in a “state of war” as activists reported the heaviest fighting between government and rebels forces near the capital since the start of a 15-month opposition uprising. Syria’s state news agency SANA says Mr. Assad made the comment Tuesday as he addressed his new cabinet. […]
Key European Leaders Call for Tighter Financial Control
Posted June 26th, 2012 at 3:40 pm (UTC-5)
Key European leaders are calling for much tighter central control of spending by the 17 countries that use the euro in the latest effort to resolve the continent’s unrelenting debt crisis. Four officials produced the plan Tuesday — European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker and […]
British Monarch Arrives in Northern Ireland
Posted June 26th, 2012 at 3:30 pm (UTC-5)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth met with relatives of people killed in an Irish Republican Army bomb attack 25 years ago in the Northern Ireland town of Enniskillen. The 86-year-old monarch and her husband, Prince Philip, were welcomed to the seaside town by scores of villagers waving British flags. Enniskillen was the scene of one of the […]
Aung San Suu Kyi Urges France to Support Burma
Posted June 26th, 2012 at 2:25 pm (UTC-5)
Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has asked France to support her country’s fragile democratic movement. During a visit to Paris Tuesday, she told reporters that it is very important to make the country’s powerful military understand that democracy is for the good of everyone in Burma, not only one segment of society. The […]
Officials: US Drone Strike Kills 6 in Pakistan
Posted June 26th, 2012 at 2:15 pm (UTC-5)
Pakistani intelligence officials say a U.S. drone strike has killed at least six suspected militants in the country’s northwest. Two missiles hit a compound in the Shawal area of the North Waziristan tribal agency on Tuesday, in the latest strike to hit the al-Qaida and Taliban militant stronghold. Officials told VOA’s Deewa Radio that those […]
NATO Condemns Syria’s Downing of Turkish Jet
Posted June 26th, 2012 at 1:55 pm (UTC-5)
NATO has condemned Syria for shooting down a Turkish military jet last Friday, calling the attack an example of the Syrian government’s “disregard for international norms, peace and security, and human life.” Following a meeting of alliance envoys in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he does not expect the situation to escalate. He […]
UN: Insurgents Should End Attacks on Afghan Civilians
Posted June 26th, 2012 at 1:50 pm (UTC-5)
The United Nations is calling on insurgents to end attacks on civilians in Afghanistan. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said Tuesday that 214 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded last week in 48 separate incidents. UNAMA said “anti-government elements” were responsible for 98 percent of the casualties. On Friday, heavily-armed militants laid siege to […]
Korean Peninsula Faces Worst Drought in a Century
Posted June 26th, 2012 at 1:10 pm (UTC-5)
Large parts of the Korean peninsula are battling the worst regional water shortages in more than a century, with reports of North Korean soldiers hand-carrying water to irrigate parched farmland, and 80 percent of the South facing extreme drought. North Korean news reports on Tuesday said more than 20,000 hectares of cropland have been destroyed […]
