By Peter Fedynsky Moscow 10 March 2008 Disturbing video of sadistic prison brutality has emerged in Russia. Authorities there do not dispute the images, but claim they are from the early 1990s. Russian human-rights activists say the violence occurred...
By Nancy Palus Saly, Senegal 10 March 2008 Human rights groups are calling on the Organization of the Islamic Conference, meeting in Dakar this week, to push for an end to violence in Sudan's Darfur region. Activists and religious leaders say the wor...
By Bill Rodgers Washington 10 March 2008 Policymakers often view economic sanctions as an attractive middle option between doing nothing, or intervening directly to change an intractable government's behavior. But sometimes providing the 'carrot' of...
By Nico Colombant Dakar 10 March 2008 As a week-long international Islamic conference gets under way in Dakar, Senegal, aid workers are raising the alarm on tens of thousands of Senegalese children who have been given away by their parents to Koranic...
By Naomi Schwarz Dakar 10 March 2008 With more than three months remaining in the peak meningitis season, outbreaks in Burkina Faso and Central African Republic have already taken hundreds of lives. But the World Health Organization says a new, low-c...
By Scott Bobb Johannesburg 10 March 2008 Economic sanctions are imposed primarily as a non-violent way to press a specific government to change. But sanctions are often controversial and their effectiveness is not assured. VOA's Scott Bobb in Johanne...
By Margaret Besheer New York 10 March 2008 For decades, sanctions have been used as a diplomatic tool to pressure governments to change their bad behavior. VOA's Margaret Besheer takes a look at how sanctions are imposed and enforced. When a country...
By Kurt Achin Seoul 10 March 2008 South Korean officials says they are replacing the male astronaut they intended to send on a space voyage with a woman. The shift in plans, coming just weeks before the scheduled launch, is due to an apparent violati...
By Paula Wolfson White House 10 March 2008 President Bush says the United States will help modernize the Polish military as part of a deal to put components of a missile defense system in Poland. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports the announcement came as t...
By Kurt Achin Seoul 10 March 2008 The United States Ambassador to South Korea says Washington must receive a complete nuclear declaration from Pyongyang before it can remove North Korea from American list of states sponsoring terrorism. As VOA Seoul...
By Lisa Bryant Paris 09 March 2008 France's left made gains in the first round of local elections Sunday marked by a relatively high turnout. Lisa Bryant has more on the preliminary results from Paris. Initial results by the CSA-Dexia polling agencie...
By Lisa Bryant Paris 09 March 2008 France has launched a groundbreaking program to educate future imams and Muslim chaplains about the country and its values. The goal: to put a French stamp on Islam, the second largest religion in France. Lisa Bryan...
By Peter Heinlein Addis Ababa 09 March 2008 The charity Save the Children USA is starting a campaign to dramatically decrease the number of children who die before the age of five. VOA's Peter Heinlein in Addis Ababa reports the campaign will focus o...
By Kari Barber Bensonville, Liberia 08 March 2008 As the world marks international women's day, health workers in Liberia are expressing concern about statistics on the deadly risks faced by pregnant women. A recent government study shows that more t...
By Daniel Schearf Irbil 08 March 2008 Thousands of people have protested in the streets of Basra, Iraq's second largest city, over lack of security. Meanwhile, a mass grave has been found northeast of Baghdad containing about 100 decomposed bodies. D...
