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From Washington, this is VOA news. Israel says it has started a new offensive to stop what it calls daily terrorism by Hamas militants. And Vietnam's fishermen call on China to free a detained Vietnamese fishing crew. I'm Michael Lipin reporting from Washington.
Israel says it has begun a military offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The launch of the operation, which Israel calls Operation Protective Edge, comes a day after Hamas militants who control Gaza sharply increased their rocket campaign against southern Israel. Israel says more than 80 rockets struck its territory on Monday -- the most intensive barrage from Gaza so far this year. Israeli authorities say one person was wounded by a rocket that hit the Israeli city of Ashdod. Hamas had vowed revenge for the deaths of seven of its members inside a tunnel in Gaza on Sunday. It blamed Israel for the deaths, but Israel denied striking the tunnel. Meanwhile, Israeli investigators say three Jewish extremists arrested in connection with the killing of a Palestinian teenager have confessed to the crime and re-enacted it for authorities. Israel detained the extremists and three suspected accomplices on Sunday four days after the 16-year-old Palestinian, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, was found burned to death in East Jerusalem. His killing sparked days of rioting by angry Palestinians in East Jerusalem and Israeli Arabs in northern and southern Israel. Israeli authorities believe the Jewish extremists killed the Palestinian youth in revenge for last month's kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers by suspected Hamas militants. Afghan authorities have released preliminary results from last month's presidential runoff election, showing Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani well ahead of his rival Abdullah Abdullah, who led the first round of voting. Abdullah has accused Ghani supporters of carrying out massive fraud. Ayaz Gul has more from Islamabad. The results were supposed to be announced last week but recounts at nearly 2,000 polling stations where fraud was alleged forced the Afghan Independent Election Commission to delay them for few days. Even on Monday, journalists had to wait for several hours before Commission chief Ahmad Yousuf Nouristani arrived to declare the results. He said that more than 8 million Afghans voted in the runoff election and that over 56 percent of the tally went to Ashraf Ghani while his rival Abdullah Abdullah received approximately 44 percent. However, the chief election commissioner cautioned against drawing any conclusions at this stage. Nouristani says "the announcement of preliminary results does not mean that the leading candidate is the winner", adding that "probe into rigging complaints might change the outcome." Ayaz Gul, for VOA news, Islamabad. A Vietnamese fishing association is demanding that Chinese authorities release a Vietnamese ship and crew taken into custody in the South China Sea last week. Beijing has said its security forces detained six Vietnamese fishermen on July 3rd off the Chinese island of Hainan. But the deputy leader of Vietnam's Fisheries Association said China carried out the arrest to the southeast in waters near the Paracel Islands. Speaking to VOA's Vietnamese service, Vo Van Trac said, "In reality, the fishing boat was operating within Vietnam's waters. Fishermen who witnessed China's capture of the boat and the Vietnamese unit overseeing fishing ships have confirmed that the incident took place within Vietnam's sovereignty. Vietnamese state media say Hanoi has demanded that Beijing reveal the exact location where the incident took place. And the United States says it will work with Germany to resolve concerns about whether a German intelligence employee was a double agent spying for Washington. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday the U.S. relationship with Germany is important, but he added that he could not comment on intelligence matters. German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to reporters about the alleged double agent case while on a visit to Beijing. She said the reports that a German intelligence employee spied for the United States would be serious if they are proven to be true. If the allegations are true, the case would be a clear contradiction of trusting cooperation between partners. I'm Michael Lipin in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |