By Ravi Khanna Washington 23 October 2009 Afghanistan is getting ready for a second-round presidential election between President Hamid Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, after a fraud investigation brought Mr. Karzai's totals to...
By Lisa Schlein Geneva 23 October 2009 The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is urgently appealing for the protection of the civilian population in Pakistan as the level of violence rises throughout the country. The ICRC says it is par...
By Anjana Pasricha New Delhi 23 October 2009 UN envoy Walter Kalin (C) arrives at a camp for displaced in Vavuniya, north east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, 25 Sep 2009 Over the coming weeks, the Sri Lankan government plans to release nearly 40,000 ethnic...
By Selah Hennessy London 22 October 2009 The United Nations has released a report that says mobile phone use is growing faster in Africa than anywhere else in the world. The report also says Internet connections have a long way to go. Mobile phone u...
By Lisa Schlein Geneva 22 October 2009 A new survey finds asylum applications in 44 industrialized countries rose by 10 percent in the first half of 2009, compared to the same period last year, bringing the total of asylum claims to 185,000. The rep...
By Lisa Bryant Paris 22 October 2009 France is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Astrix, the comic book character whose adventures find him battling the armies of Julius Caesar with his Gallic buddies in Brittany more than 2,000 years ago. Since A...
By Brent Latham Abuja 22 October 2009 The FIFA Under-17 World Cup is set to begin in Nigeria on Saturday, after months of speculation over whether the country would be ready in time to host the biennial youth football (soccer) tournament. The second...
By Carol Pearson Washington 22 October 2009 According to the WHO, smoke kills one person every six seconds Tobacco deaths rarely make headlines, but the World Health Organization says tobacco smoke kills one person every six seconds. Studies have sh...
By Kent Klein White House 22 October 2009 President Barack Obama, 22 Oct 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama is welcoming the Treasury Department's order to slash top executives' pay at seven big companies that have not paid back their government bailo...
By Laurel Bowman Washington 22 October 2009 As jobs disappear across the United States, advocates of solar energy say their industry can employ hundreds of thousands. But analysts say that to establish a hold on the world market, the U.S. must catch...
By Hilary Heuler Warsaw 22 October 2009 As Vice President Joe Biden tours Central Europe this week, missile defense is high on the agenda. In Poland on Wednesday, Biden secured an agreement to host U.S. antiballistic missiles after original plans fo...
By Al Pessin On Board a U.S. Military Aircraft 22 October 2009 Robert Gates, 21 Oct 2009 U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew to Slovakia to ask NATO defense ministers to help the United States respond to the request for more resources made by t...
By Kurt Achin Seoul 22 October 2009 US Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks during joint news conference in Seoul, 22 Oct 2009 The United States and South Korea have wrapped up an annual security meeting with assurances that South Korea is on track...
By David Gollust Washington 22 October 2009 The first aerial view of the coastal strip, a former war zone where the Tamil rebels made their last stand, videotaped by VOA The United States is calling on the Sri Lankan government to thoroughly investi...
By Peter Heinlein Kampala, Uganda 22 October 2009 U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres at camp for Darfur refugees (file phot At least 46 African nations are expected to sign a declaration Friday, obligating governments and armed reb...
