California Economy Sees Improvement, Continuing Trouble The economic recession hit California hard in 2008 and 2009, and parts of its economy remain dismal. The state's unemployment rate, at almost 12 percent, is nearly three points higher than the n...
Ethiopia has announced its intention to withdraw its troops from neighboring Somalia by the end of this year. But as correspondent Peter Heinlein reports from Addis Ababa, Ethiopian officials have assured the African Union their forces will remain o...
Pakistani officials say security forces have killed at least 460 al-Qaida-linked militants in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan. VOA's Ayaz Gul reports, the week-long clashes also have left 22 troops dead and forced more than 200,000 people to f...
U.S. President George Bush says Russia may be violating the terms of a cease-fire in Georgia less than a day after agreeing to stop the fighting in the former Soviet republic. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the president spoke...
By Phil Mercer Sydney 02 June 2008 Australian combat troops have begun leaving Iraq. Their departure fulfills an election promise by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who pledged to pull his country's out of Iraq by the middle of 2008. From Sydney, Phil Me...
By Brian Wagner Miami 03 March 2008 Ecuador and Venezuela have ordered troops to their borders with Colombia, after a Colombian attack on rebels inside Ecuador. VOA's Brian Wagner reports from Miami. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said he had reca...
By Lisa Schlein N'Djamena, Chad 07 September 2007 Before meeting Chadian President Idriss Deby, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told journalists he would discuss a proposal to deploy thousands of European Union troops and U.N. police officers to h...