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From Washington, this is VOA news. Coming up, tensions between Israel and Hamas. No breakthrough in the Iran nuclear talks. Hello everyone, I'm Steve Norman.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blaming Hamas for what's happened lately in the Gaza Strip. "We're sorry for any, any accidental civilian deaths, but it's the Hamas that bears complete responsibility for such civilian causalities." He spoke on the U.S. television program, CBS's "Face the Nation," on Sunday as Israel extended its bombardment of Gaza for a sixth day. Israel's offensive is aimed at ending Hamas rocket attacks on Israel. Palestinian officials say the Gaza death toll has reached 160, including militants, women and children and more than 1,000 have been injured. Israel's military carried out its first ground operation in Gaza on Sunday, with commandos targeting a rocket launching site during a brief raid. Authorities say four Israeli soldiers were slightly wounded. The Libyan government is calling for an end to fierce militia clashes near the capital that killed six people and injured 25 on Sunday. The prime minister's spokesman Ahmed Lamin said at a news conference that the regional armed groups fighting to control Tripoli International Airport were acting without any orders or legitimate cover from the government. The violence broke out early on Sunday when armed Islamist attacked militiamen who had controlled the airport since the ouster Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Iraqi militants have attacked a town north of Baghdad seizing control of local government buildings and killing at least six people. Officials say the assault on Duluiyah, about 80 kilometers north of the capital, began early Sunday. Government forces recaptured the town last month after it was overrun my militants linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Meanwhile, Iraq's deadlocked parliament adjourned Sunday after failing to choose candidates for top positions as necessary steps toward forming a new government. Lawmakers plan to meet again on Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other top Western diplomats failed on Sunday to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, with a target date for a long-term agreement just one week away. As day-long talks ended in Vienna, British Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke with reporters: "There has been no breakthrough in these talks today, but it has been important, I think, for the ministers to come together and discuss the issues. We will leave our officials here to continue this over the coming days." The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany have been negotiating with Tehran for months to curb Iran's nuclear enrichment program. Iran says its enrichment activity is aimed at producing reactor fuel, while the United States and other Western governments fear Tehran is developing a nuclear weaponry. Tehran has repeatedly denied those accusations. Russian media say a shell fired in Ukraine has truck a Russian border town killing one person and wounding another. Reports say the shell landed Sunday in the Russian town of Donetsk, the same name as the region in Ukraine. Associated Press quotes a Russian official as saying the incident would be met with "an appropriate response" but gave no further explanation. On Saturday, the European Union said it is placing sanctions on 11 leaders of the pro-Russian rebellion in eastern Ukraine. A private U.S. company has launched an unmanned cargo carrier to re-supply the astronauts living aboard the International Space Station. Orbital Sciences Corporation launched its Cygnus spacecraft at midday on Sunday from the eastern U.S. state of Virginia. The spacecraft is packed with 1,600 kilograms of food, equipment, science experiments and tools. The launch is the second of eight missions the company has contracted with the U.S. space agency, NASA. The Cygnus is to arrive at the space station on Wednesday. And Germany has become the first European team to win a World Cup in the Americas, beating Argentina in Sunday's extra time final, 1-0, the final score. South American teams have won the seven previous times the tournament has been played in the Americas. Sunday's win marked Germany's fourth World Cup championship but the first as the unified country. West Germany won in 1954, 1974 and 1990. That's the latest world news from VOA. |