Archive for the ‘Americas’ Category
By VOA News 11 July 2006Highway police in Peru says 555 people have been killed in road accidents in the first six months of 2006, a third more than in the same period last year.Police said Tuesday that 759 traffic accidents occurred on Peruvian roads between January and June. Officials ...
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By Greg Flakus Houston12 July 2006In Mexico, leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador continues his efforts to challenge the narrow result from July 2 election that gave victory to ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon. Meanwhile, Calderon is acting more and more like a president elect.Speaking to reporters in Mexico ...
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By VOA News 12 July 2006Colombia's ambassador to the United States has resigned over the nomination of a disgraced former president as ambassador to France.Andres Pastrana, himself a former president, stepped down Tuesday, saying he had little choice after President Alvaro Uribe appointed Ernesto Samper to the post. The government ...
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By VOA News 13 July 2006Guatemala's former dictator, Efrain Rios Montt, has denied charges by a Spanish judge that he carried out genocide against Mayan Indians while he led the country from 1982 to 1983.Spanish High Court Judge Santiago Pedraz issued warrants last week for the arrest of Rios Montt ...
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By Dan Robinson Capitol Hill13 July 2006Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his government have come in for more criticism during a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill, Thursday. State Department officials testified about what they say is evidence of Venezuelan support for terrorist groups, and the failure of Venezuela to respond ...
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By Rosanne Skirble Washington, D.C.12 July 2006Visitors to the 40th annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington [June 30-July 11] celebrated the music of New Orleans and of the Latino community in Chicago, attended demonstrations of basket weaving and learned about the culture and crafts from Alberta, Canada, storytellers, oil miners ...
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By VOA News 05 July 2006Canada has confirmed a new case of mad cow disease in central Manitoba province, the country's sixth since 2003.The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Tuesday no parts of the cow's carcass entered human or animal feed systems. The agency also said the cow was born ...
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By Lisa Ferdinando Miami14 July 2006A top U. N. official says at least 20 people, including children, have been killed in recent violence in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. Experts on Haiti express deep concern about the current situation in the impoverished nation.The communications chief for the U.N. stabilization mission in ...
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By Lisa Ferdinando Miami14 July 2006The U.N. mission in Haiti says three U.N. peacekeepers have been injured in a clash with gangs in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The latest violence comes a week after gang violence claimed the lives of more than 20 people in the city. From our Miami bureau, ...
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By VOA News 14 July 2006Mexico's leftist presidential candidate has accused Mexican businesses of financing a campaign to discredit him.Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says companies funded a series of television advertisements during the campaign season that he says contained subliminal messages to undermine his candidacy. The allegations come as thousands ...
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By VOA News 16 July 2006Canada's foreign ministry says seven Canadian citizens have been killed by Israeli air strikes in Lebanon and three other Canadians have been wounded.On Sunday, Israeli forces hit the house where the Canadians were staying in southern Lebanon, near the Israeli border.Earlier, Canadian foreign minister Peter ...
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By Susana Seijas Mexico City17 July 2006Thousands of people marched to Mexico City's main square in support of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is demanding a recount in the July 2 presidential election. Lopez Obrador, who lost the election by a narrow margin, has called on his supporters to hold ...
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By VOA News 18 July 2006Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano has spewed gas and ash for a fourth straight day, forcing nearby residents to evacuate their villages.Emergency officials said Monday that at least 1,600 people have taken refuge in shelters.Tungurahua, 130 kilometers south of Quito, has covered farmland and villages with volcanic ...
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By VOA News 18 July 2006The rights group Amnesty International says Guatemala is failing to take action to stop an increase in murders of women.The London-based group said Tuesday that 2,200 women and girls have been killed in Guatemala since 2001, adding that the murder rate has risen each year.It ...
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By VOA News 18 July 2006Panama's President Martin Torrijos has authorized holding a referendum October 22 on whether to expand the nation's canal.Mr. Torrijos signed the measure Monday, two days after lawmakers agreed to the vote on the more than $5-billion project.The plan would add a third set of locks ...
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By Scott Stearns St. Petersburg17 July 2006President Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have agreed to continue improving cooperation on alternative energy and trade. The leaders met in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the sidelines of the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations.President Bush says ...
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By VOA News 19 July 2006A U.S.-based press watchdog group has sent a delegation to Venezuela to study allegations of repression against journalists in the country.Members of the Inter American Press Association say they hoped to discuss the concerns with officials, but add Information Minister William Lara had refused to ...
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By Gary Thomas Washington, D.C.19 July 2006Border security in the United States has traditionally focused on the United States' southern neighbor, Mexico. But the emphasis at the borders has shifted radically since September 11, 2001, with a new priority on terrorism and more attention than before being given to the ...
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By Victor Morales Washington, D.C.19 July 2006While the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives hammer out their differences over reforming immigration laws, public opinion polls show that the majority of Americans want to stem the tide of illegal immigration into the country. But many economists point out that the ...
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By Greg Flakus Houston, TX20 July 2006Mexicans are still not completely sure who won their presidential election, more than two weeks after the voting. Official results showed ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon winning by less than six-tenths of a percentage point over leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has ...
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By VOA News 20 July 2006Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is embarking on a two-week tour that will take him to seven countries. Mr. Chavez is expected to first visit Brazil before continuing on to Argentina for a summit Friday of the South American trade bloc, Mercosur.From South America, the Venezuelan ...
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By VOA News 20 July 2006Jamaican police have returned to work after staging a sick-out in protest of stalled salary increases.Police union leader Corporal Hartley Stewart said Wednesday more than one-fourth of the nation's 8,000 officers took part in the protest. He said they returned to work after the Minister ...
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By Lisa Schlein Geneva20 July 2006A new report says the economies of the world's 50 poorest countries grew by nearly six percent in 2004, the highest rate in two decades. But the report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development says this positive result is having little effect on ...
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By Rosanne Skirble Washington, D.C.21 July 2006A new global survey published by the World Health Organization and collaborating American and Canadian Health Agencies finds that young people are facing increasing health risks from secondhand smoke. Health experts meeting at the 2006 International Cancer & Tobacco Control Conferences this month, [July ...
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By Andrew Baroch Washington, D.C.19 July 2006One of the dirty secrets about many of the world's conflicts is that, in many cases, children and teenagers are forcibly recruited to do much of the fighting. Saji Prelis, the director of the Peace-building Institute at American University in Washington, D.C., says that ...
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