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From Washington, this is VOA news. Coming up, clashes at a refinery in Iraq. Israel expanding a West Bank crackdown following kidnapping. Hello everyone, I'm Steve Norman.
The U.S. Army chief, General Martin Dempsey, says the Iraqi government is requesting U.S. air strikes to aid the fight against Sunni Islamist militants who've taken over key cities in the northern part of Iraq. Meantime, Iraqi government forces clashed with Sunni militants at the oil refinery in Beiji, north of Baghdad, damaging that complex. Edward Yeranian reports. An official at Iraq's largest oil refinery in the town of Beiji, 200 kilometers north of Baghdad, says that Sunni militants have clashed with government security forces and now control three quarters of the facility. Militants entered the town several days ago but later withdrew. Iraqi military spokesman Qassem Mohammed Atta insisted that government forces beat back the attack on the Beiji refinery, although eyewitnesses dispute his claim. Edward Yeranian, for VOA news, Cairo. And you can get more on Iraq at our website voanews.com. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has proposed instituting a unilateral cease-fire in eastern Ukraine as part of a peace plan to address months of conflict in the region. The comments come a day after he discussed a possible cease-fire in a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Wednesday that officials believe an explosive device was responsible for a blast at a pipeline carrying Russian gas to the rest of Europe. This is Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. He called Wednesday's explosion "sabotage." He said it was designed to undermine Ukraine's reputation as a reliable partner in transferring energy. The blast that happened about 200 kilometers east of the capital, Kyiv, came as Moscow and Kyiv face a stalemate over natural gas pricing that led Moscow on Monday to cut supplies to Ukraine. Analysts say an extended cutoff could interfere with gas deliveries across the wide area of Eastern Europe and beyond. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, told the U.N. Security Council the apprehension on Sunday of Ahmed Abu Khatallah near Benghazi, Libya, was justified to prevent more attacks. Abu Khatallah is accused of carrying out the deadly 2012 assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, in which four Americans, including the ambassador, were killed. He is being questioned by American authorities aboard [a ship] a U.S. ship in the Mediterranean. The U.S. Justice Department says he will be brought to Washington to face three terrorism-related charges, including one that carries the death penalty if he is convicted. A massive Israeli search for three teenagers said to be kidnapped in the West Bank continued for a sixth day on Wednesday. More than 250 Palestinians have been arrested so far in the case. Robert Berger has details. As Israeli forces sweep the West Bank in search of three missing teenagers, they have rearrested more than 50 Palestinians freed in a prisoner swap in 2011. Most of them are members of the Islamic militant group Hamas. Thousands of Israeli troops have been conducting house-to-house searches, focusing on the biblical town of Hebron and surrounding villages -- the area where the Israeli seminary students disappeared while hitchhiking nearly a week ago. Israel says the military operation is two-fold: to find the kidnapped teenagers and to deal a severe blow to Hamas. Robert Berger, for VOA news, Jerusalem. Hamas has praised the kidnapping but did not claim responsibility for it. An Indian-born researcher whose work fueled a huge increase in wheat production has won the 2014 World Food Prize. Sanjaya Rajaram was announced as the winner of the annual prize at the U.S. State Department here in Washington on Wednesday. He worked with other scientists to cross-breed wheat varieties and make them more adaptable to different soil types and climates. He also developed wheat types with increased resistance to disease. I'm Steve Norman. That's the latest world news from VOA. |