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From Washington, this is VOA news. Suicide bombing in Mogadishu kills at least five. An Arab teenager is ruled to have been burned alive. And the World Cup now is down to its final four. I'm Vincent Bruce reporting from Washington.
Argentina qualified for its first trip to the World Cup semifinals in nearly a quarter century Saturday, while the Netherlands secured its second straight visit to the semifinal round. The Argentines knocked off Belgium, 1-0, in Brasilia. Also in Salvador, the Netherlands posted a 4-3 penalty shootout win over the surprise of the World Cup, Costa Rica, following a scoreless draw. Argentina and the Netherlands face each other in the semifinals on Wednesday in Sao Paulo. VOA's Carla Babb has more on the other semifinals. Germany and Brazil eliminated their opponents in the World Cup quarterfinals Friday, setting up an epic battle in the semifinals between what many believe are the world's top two football powers. But Brazil will be without its biggest star for the rest of the World Cup. Neymar, who by the way has scored four goals in the tournament, broke a vertebrae when Colombia's Juano Zuniga kneed the Brazilian striker in the closing minutes of Brazil's 2-1 victory. Neymar was carried off the field on a stretcher. Germany beat European rival France 1-0. The championship game is on July 13th in Rio de Janeiro. Carla Babb, VOA news. The death toll from a suicide car bombing outside Somalia's parliament is now at least five, including at least two soldiers guarding the building. Somali police say the car loaded with explosives blew up when it was stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint before reaching the entrance to parliament in the capital, Mogadishu. The Palestinian attorney general says an autopsy on the body of the Arab teenager, Mohammed Abu Khudair, killed in a suspected revenge attack shows he was burned to death. The charred body of Khudair was found in a Jerusalem forest Wednesday about an hour after he was forced into a car by kidnappers. His father says the teen's body was burned beyond recognition and could only be identified by his DNA. Israeli police [have not yet confirmed] have not yet determined who killed the teenager or why. They are investigating whether it was revenge for the murders of three Israeli teens allegedly kidnapped by Hamas militants. More on these stories at voanews.com. An Egyptian court Saturday handed down deaths to 10 defendants and ordered life imprisonment for 37 others, including three top leaders of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Edward Yeranian reports for VOA from Cairo. Members of the audience, attorneys for the defense and many of the defendants themselves tried to shout down the judge at several points before eventually falling silent. Presiding Judge Hassan Farid blamed the defendants for the violence in a province north of Cairo during protesters last July against the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, and said they had acted out of "terrorist" motives. On its Arabic website, Ikhwan Online, the Brotherhood condemned the verdicts, and said, "Ten innocent people were condemned to death." Edward Yeranian, for VOA news, Cairo. Ukrainian troops have overtaken the pro-Russian rebel stronghold of Slovyansk in the country's east. In a statement in Kyiv, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko stated armed forces had taken the city from terrorists and raised the flag of Ukraine. A strike by 220,000 engineers and metalworkers has dealt another blow to South Africa's economy just a week after settlement of the most damaging previous work stoppage in the country's history as Gillian Parker reports for VOA from Johannesburg. The industrial action was called by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, or NUMSA, the country's largest union. NUMSA is demanding a 12 percent pay raise and better housing allowances for workers. This latest strike affects around 10,500 companies, including steel producers, foundries, construction companies and automotive suppliers. Police fired rubber bullets Thursday at workers who were blocking an entrance to the Eksom Medupi power station construction site. There were local radio reports of striking workers assaulting people and looting offices in Johannesburg. NUMSA has denied the allegations. Gillian Parker, for VOA news, Johannesburg. One of the two candidates in Afghan's presidential runoff election, Ashraf Ghani, has demanded the release of preliminary results without further delay. Ghani said his camp has respected the temporary delay for results until July 7th, but that officials must comply with this time frame. Abdullah Abdullah, the other candidate, has vowed to reject the election results. More at voanews.com. I'm Vincent Bruce in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |