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From Washington, this is VOA news. Coming up, diplomatic efforts to ease Ukraine tensions. Turkey holding local elections seen as a referendum on Erdogan's rule. Hello everyone, I'm Steve Norman.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Paris on Sunday to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. They talked about Ukraine. Mr. Kerry called on Moscow to pull back thousands of troops massed along the Ukrainian border, saying those forces are creating a "climate of fear" inside Ukraine that does not support diplomatic dialogue. He also said both Moscow and Washington are in agreement on the right of Ukrainians to decide their own future. He also said both sides made suggestions on how to de-escalate the crisis that was spawned by Moscow's annexation of Crimea. Mr. Lavrov said he "agreed to work with the Ukrainian government and people to achieve progress in rights of minorities and linguistic rights." The search for the missing Malaysian passenger plane resumes shortly. On Sunday, they covered approximately 252,000 square kilometers of ocean looking for any sign of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. The pilot of an Australian P3 Orion search aircraft reported sighting some objects. Flight Lieutenant Russell Adams spoke late Sunday to reporters after his plane returned to Perth. "We did encounter an area within approximately five nautical miles which included at least four orange colored objects greater than approximately two meters in size each. I must stress that we can't confirm the origin of these objects. However, the details of these, in association with a GPS buoy have been passed on to our rescue coordination center. It's for the rescue coordination centre to analyze these and send investigators to investigate as they see appropriate." Objects previously recovered were described as fishing equipment and flotsam. No objects recovered have yet been verified as coming from the Boeing 777. Eight people were killed Sunday in clashes during Turkey's local elections. The balloting is largely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule. He is battling a corruption scandal that forced the resignation of several of his cabinet ministers. More on the story now from Dorian Jones in Istanbul. Voters were still lining up to vote at some polling stations when the official closing time passed. The local elections are widely seen as of critical importance. The election is the first since widespread anti-government protests in May and June last year. The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is marred in corruption allegations and he has made the poll a referendum on his rule. Observers say the opposition has fielded strong candidates in key cities, in particular Istanbul, which is expected to be a close vote. Prime Minister Erdogan said it is a difficult election for the ruling AK Party. He says the people will give the final verdict today and what they say is what matters. Dorian Jones, VOA news, Istanbul, Turkey. Egypt announced the dates for the first round of voting for a new president. Voting will be held on May 26th and 27th, with the results expected in early June. It is a second round if necessary (If a second round is necessary, it) will be held they say in mid-June. Egypt's election commission says candidate nominations will open Monday later today and will be taken through April the 20th. The country's powerful former military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who led the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last July, has announced his bid already for office. A series of attacks on security forces and civilians in Iraq killed more than 12 people Sunday a month before scheduled parliamentary elections there. In the deadliest attack, gunmen shot dead seven soldiers at a security checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul. In Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle on a main bridge, killing at least five people and wounding others. Part of the bridge, a key crossing for Ramadi's residents, fell into the Euphrates River. Iraqi security forces are still trying to retain full control of Ramadi after anti-government fighters seized parts of the city back in January. Two Spanish journalists returned home Sunday, winning their freedom after being kidnapped by an al-Qaeda-linked group and held for six months in Syria. It's not clear whether the two journalists had escaped or were released. They were abducted September the 16th as they tried to cross the Syrian border to Turkey and covering from (after covering) the civil war in Syria. Get more news at voanews.com. |