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51. Obama Likely to Address Russian Cyberattack at Year-end News Conference
December 16, 2016
President Barack Obama will likely face questions about allegations of a Russian cyberattack related to the U.S. election and the continuing violence and upheaval in Syria during his year-end news conference – and the final one of his presidency -- Friday at the White House.
Typically, Obama begins the news conference to review his administration's efforts during the past year. He then begins calling on individual reporters takes questions on a wide range of topics.
Shortly after... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
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52. Tanzania Charges Whistleblower Website Owner With Obstructing Police
December 16, 2016
Tanzania on Friday charged the co-founder of a website where people can post comments on officials they believe are corrupt with offences including obstructing a police investigation.
Maxence Melo Mubyazi was arrested on Tuesday and has since been held by police, who have also searched his office and home.
A charge sheet seen by Reuters showed that Mubyazi, 40, managing director and co-founder of jamiiforums website, has been charged with multiple counts of obstructing justice and... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
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53. 'Tis The Season to Be Festive with Big Movie Productions
December 16, 2016
This holiday season has a lot of offerings for moviegoers who may feel like celebrating with a film full of special effects, nods to Hollywood classics, A-list actors, thrills, action and of course, romance. Some of these films will also dominate the awards season after the new year. VOA Entertainment reporter Penelope Poulou explains. ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Penelope Poulou)
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54. Africa 54
December 16, 2016
Vincent Makori heads up the reporting team to inform you about Africa, the U.S. and the world. ... (read more)
Author: VOA News
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55. China Seizes US Navy Underwater Drone in South China Sea
December 16, 2016
The Chinese Navy has seized a U.S. naval underwater drone from international waters in the South China Sea.
The U.S. has demanded the unmanned vehicle, which is used to measure water temperature and salinity levels, be returned after it was taken about 50 miles off the western coast of the Philippines.
The Chinese seized the drone Thursday just before a U.S. Navy oceanographic survey ship was set to retrieve it. ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
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56. Zimbabwe's Mugabe Tries to Unite Fractious Party
December 16, 2016
Africa’s oldest head of state, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, says he has no immediate plans to step down. In fact, on Friday the Zimbabwean leader said he was not happy with some members of his ruling ZANU-PF party who are calling for him to resign.
Speaking at the official opening of the ZANU-PF annual conference in Masvingo, about 300 kilometers south of Harare, the 92-year-old leader urged his party to unite as Zimbabwe heads toward its next elections in 2018.
His... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Sebastian Mhofu)
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57. Congo Gold Mine Innovates to Solve Illegal Mining Dilemma
December 16, 2016
When Guy Robert Lukama looked out at thousands of illegal gold diggers hacking away at the verdant hills in remote northeastern Congo, he glimpsed opportunity where previous owners saw only an intractable problem.
Lukama's former employer, South Africa's AngloGold Ashanti, had for years sought to develop the 3,260 square kilometre Mongbwalu concession but pulled out partly due to concern over the sprawling blue-tented camps full of miners.
When he led a buyout of... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
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58. Syria Suspends Aleppo Evacuation
December 16, 2016
The Syrian government suspended the evacuation of civilians from eastern Aleppo Friday after blasts and gunfire were hard in parts of the city and both rebels and government forces accused the other of breaking the fragile cease-fire agreement.
The Syrian government ordered trucks and buses that had been carrying people out of the rebel-held parts of Aleppo to turn around as the army set up roadblocks along the highway that had been used in the evacuation.
Turkey, which has been... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
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59. Venezuelans Scramble as Most-used Banknote Becomes Void
December 16, 2016
Venezuela became a country without cash Friday.
As the country's most widely used banknote went out of circulation, the higher-denomination bills that were supposed to replace the 100-bolivar note had not yet arrived at banks or ATMs. In the capital, people were relying on credit cards and bank transfers, or avoiding making purchases altogether.
President Nicolas Maduro made a surprise announcement Sunday that the 100-bolivar note would go out of circulation by the... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
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60. Duterte Government Says it Won't Bow to America to Get Aid
December 16, 2016
The Philippines' top diplomat criticized the United States on Friday for deferring a decision on a major aid package over human rights concerns and said the Philippines can survive without it.
Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. said the uncertainty over the aid package emerged after President Rodrigo Duterte declared he would chart a foreign policy independent of the United States.
A U.S. government aid agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, said this week that its board... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
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61. Immigrant Elector Who Backed Cruz Says He'll Vote for Trump
December 16, 2016
Hector Maldonado took one oath to support the U.S. Constitution when he became a citizen, a second when he enlisted in the U.S. Army and another earlier this year when he became an elector and promised to support whichever Republican presidential candidate won Missouri.
The Mexican immigrant and former Ted Cruz supporter said he will make good on his most recent promise and pick President-elect Donald Trump in what's shaping up to be an unusually controversial Electoral College vote... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
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62. Israeli Group Asks US Court to Block Boeing Deal With Iran
December 16, 2016
An Israeli advocacy group on Thursday asked a U.S. federal court to block aerospace giant Boeing Co.'s planned $16.6 billion deal with Iran Air, saying the Tehran government must first pay off billions of dollars in damages to families of people killed or wounded by Iranian-backed militant groups.
In papers filed in the Northern District of Illinois court, the Shurat Hadin-Israel Law Center organization said it was seeking a lien against Boeing until the damages against Iran are... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
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63. Democrats to Use Hearings on Trump Picks to Court Working Class
December 16, 2016
Determined to hold around two dozen Senate seats in 2018, Democrats will use the coming series of confirmation hearings to try to distinguish themselves from President-elect Donald Trump's billionaire nominees and convince working-class voters who elected him that he's not on their side.
While Democrats have little leverage to stop the Republican's picks in the Senate, they still plan a fight. To highlight what they say is the hypocrisy of Trump's campaign promise to... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
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64. Thai Lawmakers Approve Tighter Control of Internet
December 16, 2016
Thailand's military-appointed legislature approved a bill Friday tightening the country's already harsh Computer Crime Act, defying critics who said it infringes on the right to free expression.
The National Legislative Assembly voted 168 to 0 with four abstentions to approve amending the 2007 law.
Internet activists had campaigned against the amendment, which will allow the authorities to intercept private communications and block websites deemed harmful to national security... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
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65. Radio Station Serves 'Our Ghetto' in Nairobi
December 16, 2016
Mtaani radio, founded three years ago, has been the voice of the people in Nairobi's Dagoretti area, boasting an estimated 5,000 listeners. From making announcements on lost children to calling out pickpockets and lobbying politicians to keep to their promises, the radio station has impacted the community in positive ways.
Mtaani is a Swahili slang word that means "our ghetto." The 100 watt station broadcasts both in Swahili and Sheng, a dialect that youth in this area... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Rael Ombuor)
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66. Bergdahl Due Back in Court for Pre-trial Hearing
December 16, 2016
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on accusations that he endangered fellow service members by walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009.
The Friday hearing will likely include further arguments on whether prosecutors should be allowed to admit evidence of injuries to service members who searched for Bergdahl.
The judge has also threatened to require testimony from government officials about the pace at which the defense is receiving classified... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
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67. With Boko Haram on Backfoot, Cameroon, Nigeria Reopen Border
December 16, 2016
The border between Nigeria and Cameroon has been completely reopened for the first time in three years. It’s a key sign of progress in the war against Boko Haram. Officials from the two countries met this week in Yaounde to review security issues.
They were welcomed by a military band before sitting down to discuss Boko Haram.
Officials here say the threat of terrorist attacks has been greatly reduced due to joint cross-border military raids targeting the Islamist militant... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Moki Edwin Kindzeka)
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68. What Does Trump Gain from Taiwan Call, What Can China do?
December 16, 2016
China has expressed “serious concerns” about President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to call into question the United States’ continued adherence to the “one China” policy. Since 1979, no United States president or president-elect has spoken directly with Taiwan. It’s a policy based on a series of communiqués between Washington and Beijing and grounded in the Taiwan Relations Act.
White House spokesperson Josh Earnest called the practice an important diplomatic tool... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Steve Miller)
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69. Philippines Rejects Trump Associate’s Housing Project
December 16, 2016
Philippine environment officials have canceled a compliance certificate for a housing project by President-elect Donald Trump’s business associate, saying it would endanger a watershed that supplies drinking water to 12 million people.
Century Communities Corp. seeks to build the 58-hectare (143-acre) housing project within the 2,000-hectare (4,942-acre) La Mesa Watershed in the capital. It is the source of metropolitan Manila’s drinking water.
“That’s the watershed of 12 million... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
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70. Japan, Russia Summit Produces Economic Deals, No Peace Treaty
December 16, 2016
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin ended two days of talks without any significant breakthrough on the major issue that divides them, a territorial dispute that dates back to World War II.
The two leaders met Friday in Tokyo after holding talks the day before at a hot spring resort in southwest Japan.
In the Japanese capital, police kept nationalist protesters away from the summit. The demonstrators were demanding that Russia give back the southern... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Brian Padden)
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71. Pakistan ‘Willing’ to Discuss Freedom for Doctor Who Helped Find Bin Laden
December 16, 2016
Pakistan says “it would be willing” to discuss with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s administration freedom for a jailed Pakistani doctor who helped the United States track down Osama bin Laden.
The doctor, Shakil Afridi, is serving 33 years in a Pakistani prison on treason charges. U.S. authorities have denounced Afridi’s treatment as unjust and unwarranted and have frequently demanded his release.
“Pakistan would be willing to look at how we could move forward in a resolution of... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Ayaz Gul)
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72. Philippines Won’t Protest China’s Islands, Defense Systems
December 16, 2016
The Philippines would not protest China’s moves to militarize its man-made islands in the South China Sea, Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay said Friday, amid Manila’s efforts to improve ties with Beijing.
China has deployed anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems on the artificial islets it has built in the disputed Spratly Islands, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in findings reported by Reuters this... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
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73. Mexico Braces for Fresh Flood of Central American Asylum Seekers
December 16, 2016
Mexico expects a sharp increase in people seeking asylum from Central America next year, fleeing gang warfare and poverty in their home countries, a senior official said on Thursday.
There has been a steady surge of Central Americans applying for asylum in Mexico since 2015. Cinthia Perez, a director of Mexico's refugee agency COMAR, said in an interview that she is receiving about 9 percent more applications each month.
There were 3,424 asylum applications in 2015, and she... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
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74. EU Offers More Funds to Africa to Curb Migration
December 16, 2016
The European Union offered Niger 610 million euros ($635 million) Thursday to curtail migration from Africa through the Mediterranean to Europe and said it was seeking more such money-for-migration deals ahead.
Some 1.4 million refugees and migrants arrived in Europe this year and last, and the EU wants to cut back on the uncontrolled influx of people.
Niger's desert city of Agadez is a popular way station for people trying to cross the Sahara to reach Libya and eventually Europe... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
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75. Brazil Prosecutors Hit Ex-president Lula with More Corruption Charges
December 16, 2016
Prosecutors on Thursday charged former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, his wife and a former finance minister with more corruption charges in the investigation of graft at state-run oil company Petrobras.
It is up to federal judge Sergio Moro to decide if the new charges will result in another trial for Lula, who is already accused in Moro's court in southern Brazil with separate corruption charges. A ruling on those charges is not expected before late January or early... ... (read more)
Author: webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
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