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By Ish Mafundikwa Harare 07 July 2009 A Zimbabwean teachers' union is threatening to boycott classes every Friday if a number of their grievances including low pay are not addressed. Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe president Takavafira Zhou announced the intended boycott at a press conference in Harare. "We resolve to boycott classes and stay away from schools on Fridays beginning the 10th and 17th of July 2009. We will further boycott classes and stay away from schools on every Thursday and Friday starting on the 23rd of July if government does not respond to our action by the 17th of July 2009," Zhou said. In addition to the boycotts, Zhou said teachers would march in all urban centers on the Fridays they would not be at work. Zhou said his union has been pushed to act because the government had shown bad faith by not meeting any of the promises agreed to when the teachers went bac

By VOA News 09 July 2009 Chinese state media report that a strong earthquake has hit the southwestern part of the country Thursday, injuring more than 300 people. The official Xinhua news agency says the magnitude 6.0 quake hit Yunnan province and damaged thousands of homes late in the day. Xinhua says eight aftershocks followed. Xinhua says the provincial government is sending emergency tents, quilts and other relief materials. Some information for this report was provided by AP. Rate Me on BlogHop.com ! help?

By Julie Taboh Washington, D.C. 10 July 2009 Every year in the United States, more than 200,000 children are abducted by a member of their own family - usually a parent. In many cases in which a foreign-born parent is involved, these abducted children end up far from home, usually in the native country of the abducting parent. Under U.S. law, such abductions are a federal crime. But because they involve international jurisdictions and pursuing them can be expensive, many of these cases remain unresolved. A father's missing son Scott Carlson, photographed with his former wife, says, "Our kids deserve the full force and protection of our government" Up until a few years ago, Scott Carlson was living the American dream. He had a fulfilling job, he was married to a woman he loved, and he was relishing the joys of new fatherhood. Carlson says becoming a father was a life-changing experience. "I

By Scott Stearns Accra 10 July 2009 President Obama (left) and his family arrive in Ghana, 10 Jul 2009 Ghanian dancers and drummers welcomed Mr. Obama and his family to Accra's international airport where they were met by President John Atta Mills. After a brief meeting Friday evening, the two presidents are to be joined for breakfast Saturday by former Ghanian leaders John Kufuor and Jerry Rawlings. President Mills was elected earlier this year following a closely-contested vote in which President Kufuor's party peacefully gave up power. It was Ghana's fifth successive civilian election since 1992 - a democratic track record that President Obama says is one of the reasons he is making Ghana his first stop in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mr. Obama says he wants to highlight the achievements of stable countries that are governed well, where leadership is accountable to the people and institutions are strong

By Julia Ritchey Washington 10 July 2009 Watch or listen to President Obama's speech from Ghana live beginning at 1230 UTC, Saturday, 11 July President Obama's visit to Ghana has sparked new Facebook groups President Barack Obama arrives in Ghana Friday on his first trip to Sub-Saharan Africa since assuming the presidency and once again Mr. Obama will make widespread use of emerging information technologies to reach out to as many people as possible. Mr. Obama made the use of the internet and other technologies a mainstay of his campaign for the White House and he has continued that trend on trips overseas. Traditional radio and TV outlets in Ghana are trumpeting President Barack Obama's two-day visit to their country, hoping it will mark a turning point in their history. Back in Washington, Mr. Obama's new media team is hard at work figuring out how to get the president's messa

By David Gollust State Department 10 July 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday she hopes North Korea will grant "amnesty" to two American journalists held by Pyongyang since March. Reporters Euna Lee and Laura Ling were given 12-year prison terms last month for illegally entering North Korea and another unspecified offense. The Obama administration had previously been urging the release of the two journalists on humanitarian grounds. Now, in an apparent policy shift, it is calling for "amnesty" for the two women based on their expressions of remorse for their actions. The two women, who work for the California-based broadcast outlet Current TV, were arrested in mid-March along the China-North Korea border as they worked on a story about North Korean refugees crossing into China. On June 8, they were sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp for illegally entering North Korea and

By VOA News 10 July 2009 Pope Benedict XVI(R)walks with US President Barack Obama during audience at Vatican, 10 Jul 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama and Pope Benedict have met at the Vatican for wide-ranging talks on international issues as well as human rights. A Vatican statement released after the meeting listed the defense and promotion of human life and the right to freedom of conscience as leading issues. It said their discussions also included immigration, the Middle East peace process, and the global economic crisis and its implications for food security and development aid, especially for Africa and Latin America. Mr. Obama stopped at the Vatican following the summit in Italy of leaders of the world's eight richest countries. A Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, told reporters Mr. Obama assured the pontiff of his determination to reduce the number of abortions in the United States. At the

By Paula Wolfson Rome 10 July 2009 US President Barack Obama speaks during press conference at roup of Eight (G8) summit in L'Aquila, Italy, 10 Jul 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama says progress was made at the just ended Group of Eight Summit in Italy. But at the same time, he is raising questions about the future of the G8, saying it must become more inclusive. This was Barack Obama's first G8 summit. And he gave the meeting a mixed report card. He said there was progress in areas ranging from the global economy to climate change. But he admits he is not sure if this small grouping of eight traditional industrial powerhouses remains a proper venue for discussions of global problems. Speaking to reporters just after the formal sessions ended, Mr. Obama said there was a consensus on the need for further reforms to repair the global economy. He said discussions on climate change helped improve the