VOA标准英语2009年-UN Reports 40 Percent Increase in Afghan Civili

The United Nations says the number of civilians killed during 2008 in Afghanistan rose 40 percent from the year before. The 2,118 civilians reported killed last year is the highest number since the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban government in

VOA标准英语2009年-Clinton Pledges Improved Coordination With Japa

The subject of North Korea was prominent in talks in Tokyo between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and top Japanese government officials. Clinton is on her first overseas trip in her new job and her first stop in Asia is America's long-time

VOA标准英语2009年-State Department Says Nuclear-Free Korea Remain

The State Department said Tuesday the complete dismantling of North Korea's nuclear program remains the goal of the Chinese-led six-party negotiations with Pyongyang. The comment followed an assertion by a leading U.S. academic that North Korea appe

VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Orders More US Troops to Afghanistan

In his first major military move as Commander-in-Chief, President Barack Obama has approved a nearly 50 percent increase in the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, on top of a smaller increase ordered by former-President Bush and already implement

VOA标准英语2009年-Study Calls for New US Strategy in Afghanistan

A major independent research institute has issued a report calling for urgent and significant changes in U.S. military strategy toward Afghanistan. The call comes just as President Obama has launched his own strategy review, and as NATO defense mini

VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Marks First Major Presidential Achievemen

President Barack Obama marked his first major political achievement on Tuesday when he signed the economic stimulus bill into law in Denver, Colorado. The question now, most analysts say, is whether Mr. Obama will be able to build momentum with his

VOA标准英语2009年-Obama to Sign Massive Economic Stimulus Bill In

U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to sign the $787 billion economic stimulus plan into law at a ceremony in the western city of Denver, Colorado on Tuesday. Mr. Obama calls it a major milestone on the road to recovery for the U.S. economy, wh

VOA标准英语2009年-Japanese PM First Foreign Leader to Visit Presi

Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso will meet Tuesday with President Barrack Obama. He will be the first foreign leader to visit the White House since the new administration took office last month. Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso speaks during session a

VOA标准英语2009年-UN Agency Proposes Selective Industrialization

A United Nations agency is offering what it calls a conceptual breakthrough to uplift the world's poorest people. The U.N. Industrial Development Organization contends selective industrialization offers the best chance for smaller, developing countr

VOA标准英语2009年-Galveston, Texas Still Struggling to Recover fr

Five months after Hurricane Ike devastated Galveston, Texas, the island city on the Gulf of Mexico below Houston is struggling to recover. The economic slump in the nation as a whole has made the task more difficult, but many islanders are determine

VOA标准英语2009年-Signs of Progress Reported in Congo Peace Negot

Negotiators for the Congolese government and a rebel group in the country's east have reached a preliminary agreement, after talks in the eastern town of Goma. Neither side has released details of the discussion, which would only set the stage for f

VOA标准英语2009年-AU Says Somalia Attack Will Not Deter Peacekeep

The African Union said its peacekeeping mission in Somalia will not be deterred by Sunday's terrorist bomb attack in Mogadishu that killed 11 Burundian peacekeepers and wounded dozens more. AU tanks patrol the street in Mogadishu on 09 Feb 2009 The

VOA标准英语2009年-Freed Guantanamo Detainee is Back in Britain

Terror suspect Binyam Mohamed, who was a British resident, has returned to the United Kingdom after being released from Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, where he had been held by U.S. military authorities for more than four years. Mohamed says he went

VOA标准英语2009年-Pakistani, Afghan Diplomats to Meet With US Off

The foreign ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan are scheduled to take part in the Obama administration's strategic review of South Asia policy here in Washington this week. The three-party talks come on the heels of a peace agreement between Islam

VOA标准英语2009年-UN Chief Urges Burma to Release All Political P

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has again urged Burma's military government to release all political detainees after only a token number of political prisoners were freed during a general amnesty that began Saturday. The U.N. chief also says he i

VOA标准英语2009年-Egypt Temporarily Opens Gaza Crossing

Egypt is partially opening its border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The border crossings are a key issue in Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire talks. Palestinian men wave red Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Palestinian flags behi

VOA标准英语2009年-British PM Calls for Return of Traditional, Con

Writing in Britain's Observer newspaper, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is calling for a return to old-fashioned, conservative banking practices. It is a change for Mr. Brown who as Treasury Secretary for a decade was a proponent of the light regulator

VOA标准英语2009年-US Governors Debate Obama Mortgage Rescue Plan

President Barack Obama's plan to aid millions of Americans who are at risk of losing their homes is getting a mixed review from state governors who gathered in Washington for a three-day meeting. A rash of home foreclosures helped plunge the United

VOA标准英语2009年-European Leaders Discuss Common Ground in Econo

European leaders agreed to a common platform to combat the global financial crisis that includes oversight of all financial markets and products around the world. The proposed measures were drafted in Berlin in preparation for a key meeting of the w

VOA标准英语2009年-UN: Food Shortages, Poverty Forcing Rohingya to

The United Nation's World Food Program says food insecurity and malnutrition faced by Burma's Muslim Rohingya people, remains a key reason for thousands of Rohingya fleeing the region each year. The WFP is calling on Burma's military government to e