WASHINGTON - The following is a statement from International Association of Fire Fighters General President Harold A. Schaitberger on the certification of Sen. Joe Lieberman on the ballot for November:
“Even though the Democratic establishment is abandoning the three-term senator to line up behind Ned Lamont, the IAFF will continue to stand with Connecticut Senator Joe […]

YONKERS, N.Y. - Consumer Reports (CR) tested 14 drinks containing both Vitamin C and sodium benzoate for benzene, a potent carcinogen and found at least 2 parts per billion (ppb) of benzene in some samples of Fanta Pineapple soda, Kool-Aid Jammers Orange juice drink (the maker recently eliminated sodium benzoate), and Sunkist Grape and Orange […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Ali Asad Chandia was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for conspiring to and providing material support to the terrorist organization Lashkar- e-Taiba, U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg of the Eastern District of Virginia announced today. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release at the completion of his incarceration.
On […]

SHREVEPORT, La. - Cicero Patterson, 45, of Alexandria, La., has been indicted by a federal grand jury for claiming to be a hurricane victim in order to fraudulently obtain FEMA relief funds, U.S. Attorney Donald W. Washington of the Western District of Louisiana announced today.
The indictment charges Patterson, a correctional officer at the U.S. Penitentiary […]

HCJB World Radio Medical Team Spearheads Effort That Eliminates Blindness in Menacing Tropical Disease 
By Michael Ireland
Special Correspondent, ASSIST News ServiceQUITO, ECUADOR (ANS) – At one time, river blindness was thought only to be present in Africa. But now a medical team sponsored by HCJB World Radio is spearheading an effort to eliminate the tropical disease […]

JERUSALEM - Israel has purchased two more Dolphin class submarines which have the capacity to carry nuclear warheads. Israel already has three older nuclear weapons-capable Dolphin submarines but the new Dolphins have propulsion systems that allow them to remain submerged for longer periods of time, according to the Jerusalem Post, making it harder for them […]

Two Christians arrested in Savannakhet province in southern Laos
The Government is trying to stem growing evangelization according to human rights group 
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST MinistriesDEPONE, LAOS (ANS) – Two Protestant Christians have been arrested in southern Laos to stop them from pursuing their evangelization work, according to the Lao Human Rights Movement (LHRM), which […]

TOKYO - Iran’s former president has warned the world against pressuring Tehran about its nuclear program. Mohammad Khatami comments come just days before a United Nations Security Council deadline for Iran to halt its uranium enrichment activities.
Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Friday accused the West of starting a crisis over his country’s nuclear programs.
Speaking […]

BEIJING - A Chinese court has sentenced a researcher for the New York Times newspaper to three years in jail on fraud charges in a case his lawyers and press freedom advocates say is riddled with abuses of power. The court dropped the more serious charge of leaking state secrets, saying prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence.
A […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - The United States Thursday welcomed apparent progress in Europe toward fielding an upgraded U.N. peacekeeping force for Lebanon. At the same time, the State Department condemned as “preposterous” Syria’s stand that the U.N. force should not be allowed to patrol its border with Lebanon.
Officials here view deployment of the upgraded U.N. force […]

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. - The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) and the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) issued a statement today in response to the illegal bulldozing of a portion of the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park this past weekend by a handful of local developers. Purposely and without permission, the developers dug a deep […]

KANSAS CITY - Sixteen defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury for participating in an identity theft conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Bradley J. Schlozman of the Western District of Missouri announced today.
Carlton Strother, 38, Arlester E. Scott, Jr., 41, Michelle Williams, 39, Cedric Anson, 36, Henry Durham, Jr., 37, Charles W. Vann, 32, Miles […]

MOSCOW (RFE/RL) — A delegation from Iran’s nuclear energy organization is expected to tour a Russian nuclear plant today as part of the nuclear cooperation between the two countries. The timing of the visit is raising a few eyebrows. 

The Iranian delegation arrived in Moscow as Tehran was nearing its deadline to formally respond to a […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department says Iran’s response to a U.S.-backed incentives package aimed at ending the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear programs “falls short” of United Nations’ conditions needed to avoid sanctions. 

Iran said on August 22 that it’s ready for “serious talks” on the package. But there was no indication it had agreed to […]

WASHINGTON - Russian authorities have repeatedly said that the violence in the breakaway region of Chechnya is over. But while military action no longer takes place and the situation in the province is largely under Moscow’s control, there are almost daily reports of violence in neighboring regions of Russia.  
In recent months, Russian Special Forces have […]

IRBIL, IRAQ - The news media often focus on the conflict between Shi’ites and Sunni Muslims in Iraq. But there are other ethnic and religious groups under attack.  The small Christian community in Iraq is now finding itself caught in the crossfire of sectarian violence.   VOA’s Brian Padden reports many Christians are moving north to […]

PENTAGON - A senior U.S. military spokesman says Iranian forces have infiltrated Iraq to provide training, money and equipment to Shi’ite extremists and fuel their insurgency. The officer went farther than others have in detailing Iran’s alleged role in Iraq’s violence.
U.S. officials frequently criticize Iran for supporting Iraqi Shi’ite extremists. But in the past they […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - The U.S. State Department Wednesday appealed for the immediate and unconditional release of two journalists from the Fox News network kidnapped in Gaza August 14. U.S. diplomats have been working with Palestinian authorities on the case.
There have been at lease seven cases of kidnapping of foreigners in Gaza since Israel withdrew its […]

WASHINGTON - Drivers looking for alternatives to high gasoline prices are increasingly turning their attention to hybrids and so-called “smart cars”.  But as VOA’s Mil Arcega reports some are taking a look back at older technologies and finding a new generation of cleaner, more efficient diesel cars. 
Thirty years ago they were the noisy, smelly alternative […]

WASHINGTON - The recently foiled terrorism plot in Britain has once again raised questions about whether airport security personnel should begin screening airline passengers based on race and religion.  At least one U.S. Congressman has publicly called for extra screening procedures for people of Middle Eastern or South Asian heritage. That proposal has provoked angry […]

PENTAGON - Senior U.S. officials are planning several days of meetings on the Pacific Island of Guam next month to discuss the expansion of the U.S. military presence on the island. The plan, including the transfer of 8,000 U.S. marines from Japan and expanded use of the island’s air force base, is a key element […]

WASHINGTON - Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and judicial abuse, announced today that Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, who last week ruled the government’s warrantless wiretapping program unconstitutional, serves as a secretary and trustee for a foundation that donated funds to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, […]

Joy Junction: 20 Years Old and Still Called “Home” by Many 
By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ANS) – According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, about 3.5 million people nationally, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in any given year.
In view of these statistics, we can […]

LONDON - Iran responded to a package of international incentives on nuclear technology Tuesday. No details were immediately available, but Iranian officials have already said Iran will not suspend uranium enrichment, which is the key demand of the permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany.
Iranian top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani delivered his government’s response in […]

HANOI - Vietnam is acting on a U.S. request to see whether North Korea has opened accounts in several Vietnamese banks.  If it finds that the money in these accounts came from illegal activities, Vietnam says it will shut the accounts down. 
Vietnamese State Bank governor Le Duc Thuy said Tuesday that a number of Vietnamese […]