VOA NEWS

June 27, 2014

From Washington, this is VOA news. Syria and Iran assist Baghdad against Sunni insurgents. Thousands flee eastern Ukraine as end of cease-fire looms. I'm Ray Kouguell reporting from Washington.



Syria and Iran have joined the fight against militant Sunni insurgents attempting to take over Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says Syrian warplanes targeted militants earlier this week on the Syrian side of the Iraqi-Syrian border.

The attacks occurred Tuesday. Mr. Maliki said he welcomed them but that he did not ask for them.

Iran is also supporting the Shiite-led Baghdad government, supplying tons of military equipment and deploying surveillance drones in the Iraqi skies.



Suspected al-Qaeda militants briefly seized a Yemeni airport Thursday in a gun battle with security forces before the army retook the airfield.

Authorities say at least six of the rebels were killed in the attack on the Seiyun Airport along with at least three soldiers.



Israel named two Palestinian suspects in the disappearance of three Israeli teenage boys from the West Bank earlier this month.

Israel's security agency says they are both members of the militant group Hamas who have served time in Israeli prisons for terrorism. Both suspects are at large.

The teens disappeared two weeks ago while hitchhiking home from school near Hebron.



Witnesses say thousands of Ukrainians fleeing violence in eastern Ukraine lined up late Thursday at a Russian border crossing in cars packed with their personal belongings in order to cross into Russia.

The exodus came hours before a week-long Ukrainian cease-fire was to expire, with little progress reported in talks aimed at ending a deadly armed rebellion by pro-Russian separatists.

Earlier Thursday, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko called on Russia to support his peace plan with "actions, not words."



Pakistan's military claims to have killed more than 330 suspected terrorists in its ongoing air and artillery offensive in the North Waziristan district on the Afghan border. The army action which started almost two weeks ago is forcing almost half a million people to flee to safety. Most of them are women and children. Ayaz Gul reports.

Thousands of displaced people with their belongings piled high on buses, tractors and donkey carts continue to pour out of North Waziristan. Most are ending up in host communities or renting houses around the nearby town of Bannu. So far, only a few hundred have taken shelter in government set-up relief camps.

The United States on Thursday announced it has contributed an additional $8 million to help Pakistan's government meet the food and nutritional needs of the internally displaced people from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Ayaz Gul, for VOA news, Islamabad.



North Korea is threatening retaliation against South Korea after accusing the South of conducting live fire military exercises near disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea.

The warning carried by North Korea's official news agency came after the Defense Ministry in Seoul said the North test-fired short-range missiles Thursday that traveled 190 kilometers into the Sea of Japan.



The World Meteorological Organization says an El Niño is likely toward the end of the year. That means the world can expect hotter, drier and wetter weather. Lisa Schlein has details.

El Niño is characterized by unusually warm ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific.

It recurs at two- to seven-year intervals and has a major impact on the climate around the world.

World Meteorological Organization Climate Prediction and Adaptation Branch Director Maxx Dilley says sometimes these conditions can be quite extreme.

The World Meteorological Organization says that it expects this year's El NiÑo to reach the same levels of strength as the last El Niño from 2009 and 2010, which was the hottest year on record.

Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.



Former U.S. Republican Senator Howard Baker, who became a household name during the 1973 Watergate hearings, has died at 88 following a stroke.

He was elected to the Senate from Tennessee in 1966 and remained relatively obscure until he was appointed vice chairman of the hearings investigating the Watergate scandal, where the Nixon White House was accused of covering up knowledge of the break-in at Democratic headquarters.

The Watergate scandal led to President Richard Nixon's resignation.



In World Cup foot ball action, the United States, Germany and Algeria advanced to the round of 16, which begins on Saturday.

Germany beat the U.S., 1-0, Germany finishing first. The Algerians played Russia to a one all tie. The U.S. will play Belgium, which defeated South Korea, 1-0.



I'm Ray Kouguell in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA.