Voice of America
October 24
he Voice of America (VOA) will increase
its broadcasts in Uzbek by 15 minutes starting on Sunday, 28 October. The
additional block will expand VOA's Uzbek schedule to 30 minutes daily
from 1500-1530 UTC (10:00-10:30 a.m. Washington time). Another 30 minutes of
broadcast time from 1230-1300 UTC will be added in the near future.
Uzbek is spoken in Uzbekistan and in parts of northern Afghanistan.
"The Voice of America recognizes the importance of Uzbekistan to events in the region," said William Royce of VOA's South and Central Asia Division. "We want the Uzbek people to receive reliable, accurate news and information on events in the world and in neighbouring Afghanistan, along with clear statements of US government policies and actions in the war against terrorism."
VOA is committed to providing up-to-the-minute news to Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the surrounding region. Following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, VOA sent two full-time correspondents to Islamabad, Pakistan, to cover events in that country, and VOA also moved two reporters into northern Afghanistan. A two-person television team from VOA is in Islamabad to provide TV coverage of events in that country and the region. VOA's correspondents in the United States and other parts of the world have continued to report on the campaign against terrorism.
Since the 11 September attacks, VOA has twice expanded its broadcasts into Afghanistan. Dari and Pashto - the two principal languages spoken in Afghanistan - are now on the air two hours and fifteen minutes a day and will soon be expanded to three hours each. VOA has also expanded broadcasts in Arabic to the Middle East, Farsi to Iran and Urdu to Pakistan...