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 […]
UN, Syria Agree to New Framework for Peace Plan
Posted April 19th, 2012 at 10:35 am (UTC-5)
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India Declares Itself Major Missile Power; Beijing Within Reach
Posted April 19th, 2012 at 4:05 am (UTC-5)
India Thursday said it successfully test-fired a new missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead as far as Beijing – announcing itself as a major “missile power.” Indian media showed video of the long-range Agni-V missile in-flight after its launch from a test range in the eastern state of Orissa. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated […]
NATO Finalizing Long-Term Commitment in Afghanistan
Posted April 18th, 2012 at 6:30 pm (UTC-5)
NATO’s chief says coalition members have begun outlining their future commitments to Afghanistan after international combat troops leave the country by a 2014 deadline. During Wednesday’s meeting of NATO foreign and defense ministers in Brussels, Secretary-General Anders-Fogh Rasmussen told reporters that a number of member-states put forward planned financial contributions to Afghan security forces. He […]
Pentagon Investigating Photos of Afghan Insurgent Remains
Posted April 18th, 2012 at 5:35 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday an investigation is under way into photographs published by the Los Angeles Times newspaper, showing U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan posing with the remains of suicide bombers. Panetta, who is in Brussels for a rare joint NATO foreign and defense ministers meeting, issued a condemnation and said the individuals […]
Guinea-Bissau Junta Seeks New “Constitutional Arrangements”
Posted April 17th, 2012 at 8:05 pm (UTC-5)
Guinea-Bissau’s military junta says it wants to work out a new “constitutional arrangement” for the country, defying international demands for the current constitution to be restored. A spokesman for the junta, Lieutenant Colonel Dahba Na Walma spoke by phone to VOA on Tuesday. He said junta leaders are in consultation with opposition parties, trying to […]
UN Monitors Begin Syria Mission, Activists Say Security Forces Kill 14
Posted April 16th, 2012 at 6:20 pm (UTC-5)
An advance team of six United Nations observers has begun monitoring a four-day-old cease-fire in Syria even as the truce appeared to be unraveling with activists reporting at least 14 civilians killed by security forces in a continuing crackdown on a year-long uprising. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told VOA the civilians were […]
Pentagon: Haqqani Network Behind 18-Hour Afghan Assault
Posted April 16th, 2012 at 1:25 pm (UTC-5)
The Pentagon says the militant Haqqani network, based in Pakistan, is likely behind the coordinated attacks carried out throughout Afghanistan. Nearly 18 hours of fighting in the capital and parts of three provinces ended early Monday, when Afghan troops backed by NATO helicopters attacked a building in Kabul where the last militants were hiding. Witnesses […]
UN Security Council Condemns N. Korean Rocket Launch
Posted April 16th, 2012 at 12:15 pm (UTC-5)
The U.N. Security Council has strongly condemned North Korea for its attempted launch of a long-range rocket last week. The resolution calls Friday’s launch “a serious violation of existing Security Council resolutions” aimed halting Pyongyang’s use of ballistic missile technology. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice says the failed launch caused “grave security […]
UN Chief Calls for Calm in Syria Ahead of Truce Monitors’ Arrival
Posted April 15th, 2012 at 2:05 pm (UTC-5)
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on Syria’s government to maintain the fragile ceasefire in the war-torn country, hours before a team of international observers is set to arrive in Damascus. During a meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo Sunday, Mr. Ban said he was urging “in the strongest possible terms that this […]
Coordinated Taliban Strikes Rock Afghanistan
Posted April 15th, 2012 at 11:00 am (UTC-5)
Taliban militants in Afghanistan have carried out coordinated attacks in the capital, Kabul and three eastern provinces as part of what they call their “spring offensive.” The attacks took place near NATO headquarters in Kabul and an area that includes the U.S., German and British embassies. Suicide blasts in the capital were followed by intense […]
