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By VOA News 11 July 2009 President Barack Obama, Speaker of Parliament Joyce Bamford-Addo, left, greet crowd following address, 11 Jul 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama has wrapped up his visit to the West African nation of Ghana with a tour of a former slave center from which thousands of Africans once were shipped off to America. The president and his family on Saturday toured Cape Coast Castle, an ocean-front fortress that was converted to the slave trade by the British in the 17th century. Speaking to reporters after the visit, Mr. Obama said the tour reminded him of a visit to a German World War II concentration camp. He said both experiences reminded him of man's capacity for evil. He said it was particularly important for his daughters to see the slave center and witness how history can take cruel turns. Earlier Saturday, President Obama outlined his administration's policy for Africa during a speech in A...

By Paula Wolfson Accra 11 July 2009 Check out our Special Report for more information on President Obama's trip to Ghana President Barack Obama speaks to the Ghana Parliament in Accra, 11 Jul 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama is in Ghana on his first trip in office to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the emotional highpoint of a week-long journey that also took him to Moscow and the Group of Eight Summit in Italy. The president says he came to Accra at the end of his long trip to make a point. "I have come here, to Ghana, for a simple reason: the 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Accra as well," he said. The first African-American president of the United States received an enthusiastic welcome in the Ghanaian capital, where he was embraced as family. Obama praises Ghanaian democracy He responded with praise and warm words ...

By VOA News 11 July 2009 A British soldier of the 20th Battalion, Royal Welsh Regiment, stands guard at a crossroads in Basra (file photo) A group of Iraqi lawmakers loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has staged a protest against a proposal allowing British troops to remain in the country. The Sadrist politicians walked out of a session of parliament Saturday, suspending consideration of the proposal. The deal would allow up to 100 British troops to stay in Iraq beyond a previously approved withdrawal date. They would be responsible for helping the Iraqi navy protect oil installations off the southern coast. Moqtada al-Sadr has been a vocal and influential critic of the foreign military presence in Iraq, led by the United States. U.S. troops withdrew from Iraqi cities at the end of June, transferring security responsibilities to Iraqi forces. Since then, there have been a several deadly bombings across the co...

By Edward Yeranian Cairo 11 July 2009 Manouchehr Mottaki (File) Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is saying, Saturday, that Tehran is preparing to present a "new package" of proposals concerning international, political and security issues to the West for talks, soon. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad also indicated that a "package" was being prepared, several months ago. Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki alluded, Saturday, to Tehran's yet-to-come, but apparently imminent, new "package of proposals." He says that Iran is preparing a package on various political, security, economic and international issues and he says Iran considers this package a good basis for talks over different issues that the region and the world is struggling with today. During a press conference, with visiting Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah, Mottaki in...

By VOA News 11 July 2009 Rehman Malik speaks during a press conference in Islamabad, 11 Jul 2009 Pakistan's interior minister says the trial of five men accused of involvement in last year's deadly attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai will likely begin next week. Rehman Malik told reporters on Saturday that Pakistan's investigation into the role of the accused is nearly complete and that based on the evidence, "the culprits will be punished." The interior minister also rejected India's allegations that Pakistan was not serious about carrying out its investigation into the terror attacks that killed 166 people last November in India's financial hub. He said Pakistan went the "extra mile" in its probe. India blames the assault on militants trained in Pakistan. Earlier on Saturday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Press Trust of India news agency he hoped Pakistan would...

By Kent Klein Washington 11 July 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama (file photo) President Barack Obama says his economic recovery plan is working as intended. But the president cautions that it will take more time for the stimulus to have its full effect. President Obama says that his administration's swift and aggressive action early this year has helped pull the U.S. economy and financial system "back from the brink." While traveling overseas, the president is focusing his weekly address on the domestic economy. He says the Recovery Act was not intended to restore the economy alone, but to help stop its free fall. "It was designed to spur demand and get people spending again and cushion those who had borne the brunt of the crisis. And it was designed to save jobs and create new ones. In a little over 100 days, this Recovery Act has worked as intended," he said. Mr. Obama's $78...

By VOA News 11 July 2009 President George W. Bush (File photo) A review by top U.S. government investigators says a secret surveillance program approved by President George W. Bush after the September 11 terror attacks got too little legal review when it started. The program included wiretaps without court approval and some unprecedented intelligence collection efforts. News accounts say it is not clear how effective the highly controversial program was in producing useful intelligence. The report was published Friday by five inspectors general of agencies with intelligence responsibilities: the Defense and Justice Departments, along with the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The report concludes information gathered by the secret program played a limited role in the FBI's (Federal Bureau of Investigation) overall counterterrorism effo...

By VOA News 11 July 2009 A U.S. newspaper reports the Bush administration repeatedly discouraged efforts to investigate the 2001 mass killings of Taliban prisoners by the militia of an American-backed warlord. The New York Times reports the FBI, State Department and Red Cross pushed for a probe, but the White House failed to act because the warlord, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, was being paid by the CIA at the time of the killings. Dostum and his fighters are accused of killing hundreds, and perhaps thousands of Taliban prisoners who surrendered after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. Authorities believe the bodies were placed in a mass grave found in Dasht-e-Leili in 2002. The report says the Bush White House was also worried about undermining U.S.-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who named Dostum to his defense team. The U.S.-based Physicians for Human Rights called for a criminal probe into the alleged massacre...

By VOA News 11 July 2009 Chinese paramilitary police officers patrol in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, 11 Jul 2009 Chinese armored personnel carriers and trucks loaded with riot police are patrolling the streets of Urumqi, trying to bring calm to the city after deadly riots. Some residents in the capital of Xinjiang province tell news agencies they are afraid to leave their homes because of the unrest. Others mourned the dead or looked for missing relatives. Saturday's show of force by Chinese troops comes as officials raised the death toll in the western region to 184. Officials say 137 where from China's dominant Han ethnic group, and that most of the others were minority Uighur Muslims. The clashes began July 5 when Uighurs attacked Han Chinese. Han Chinese took to the streets two days later seeking revenge against Uighurs. Officials say at least 1,434 people have been arrested. Uighur groups abroad say hundre...

By VOA News 11 July 2009 Milton Jimenez (l), member of the delegation of ousted Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya, talks to Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias after negotiations San Jose, Costa Rica, 11 Jul 2009 Talks between the ousted and interim governments of Honduras have ended, with no solution in sight. Representatives of toppled President Manuel Zelaya and interim President Roberto Micheletti failed to reach an agreement Friday during their second day of talks in Costa Rica. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias is mediating the negotiations. He said the two sides have agreed to meet again. Friday's talks took place one day after President Arias met separately at his home with Mr. Zelaya and Mr. Micheletti, who have refused to talk together. The Costa Rican leader has been quoted as saying that resolving the crisis "could possibly take longer than one might have imagined." After the talks Thu...

By VOA News 11 July 2009 Space shuttle 'Endeavour' waits for launch on Launch Pad 39A The U.S. space agency NASA has postponed the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour , to investigate possible damage to instrument panels from lightning strikes at the launch pad. The shuttle had been scheduled to lift off Saturday on a 16-day mission to install a Japanese-built porch on the International Space Station. But NASA says the launch has been delayed at least until Sunday. Weather forecasters had predicted that thunderstorms could interfere with Saturday's liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in the southeastern state of Florida. Endeavour was to have headed into space last month, but was grounded by a hydrogen fuel leak. Officials believe they have resolved the problem that occurred with a hydrogen vent line on the launch pad. Five spacewalks are planned during the 16-day mission to install the final componen...

By Carol Pearson Washington 11 July 2009 The U.S. government has allocated $350 million to help the country prepare for the H1N1 flu virus as well as the seasonal flu. U.S. officials say a vaccine for the H1N1 flu could be available by October before the flu season starts in the northern hemisphere. The US government has allocated $350 million to help the country prepare for the H1N1 flu virus as well as the seasonal flu The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 400 people have died from the H1N1 flu virus out of some 90,000 confirmed cases. In June the WHO declared this outbreak to be the first pandemic in more than 40 years. Recently, WHO Director General Margaret Chan predicted the worldwide spread of H1N1 or the swine flu is certain. "Once a fully fit pandemic virus emerges, its further international spread is unstoppable," she said. Currently, countries in the southern hemisp...

By VOA News 11 July 2009 Fans in crowd hold up Michael Jackson photos during memorial at Steel Yard Stadium in Gary, Ind., 10 Jul 2009 More than 6,000 fans from around the world gathered in pop icon Michael Jackson's hometown for an upbeat memorial service Friday. The tribute in the Steel Yard stadium in Gary, Indiana, included performances of Jackson's hits and a speech by the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Children and teenagers from the crowd also performed some of the "King of Pop's" famous dance moves, and videos of Jackson's performances played on the big screen. Jackson spent his first eleven years in Gary, but left when the Jackson 5, a singing group of him and four of his brothers, hit big. Since then, he has rarely returned to the city. On Tuesday, an even larger crowd of fans gathered for a memorial service in Los Angeles. Among poignant tributes paid by well-known performers and family ...

By Anne Look Dakar 10 July 2009 On Sunday, the Republic of Congo will hold its second presidential election since the civil war, amid concerns that the vote could unleash a new round of civil unrest and conflict in the country. President Denis Sassou-Nguesso (file photo) This Sunday, incumbent president Denis Sassou-Nguesso faces 12 challengers in his run for a second seven-year term. As of mid-June, there were 17 candidates, but four have since been disqualified by the Constitutional Court, including main opposition candidate, Ange Edouard Poungui. The former prime minister was rejected because he had not continuously resided in the country for the past two years, as required by law. He has said the decision was politically motivated. Mr. Sasso-Nguesso has been president all but five years in the last three decades. He first took power in a 1979 coup before losing in a multiparty election in 1992. He seized ...

By Cathy Majtenyi Meru, Kenya 11 July 2009 Female genital cutting, or circumcision, is rampant in parts of Kenya. The procedure involves removing part or all of the external female genitalia and is typically performed on girls as a rite of passage into womanhood. Critics describe it as female genital mutilation, or FGM. In the town of Meru, Eastern province, the Catholic Church has come up with an alternative rite of passage for girls and young women. A group of grandmothers demonstrate how to serve food and which herbs to use to cure specific ailments A group of grandmothers demonstrate how to serve food and which herbs to use to cure specific ailments. They are teaching the next generation the secrets of womanhood, like their mothers and grandmothers before them. These girls and young women in the Meru area of Kenya are going through traditional training of how to be a good wife, mother and woman, but with ...