VOA NEWS

August 2, 2014

From Washington, this is VOA news. A Middle East cease-fire ends abruptly on Friday morning. A major plan launched to battle Ebola's outbreak. I'm Vincent Bruce reporting from Washington.



President Barack Obama has defended his handling of the conflict in Gaza as fighting shows no signs of letting up despite intense U.S. diplomatic efforts. VOA White House correspondent Luis Ramirez reports.

At a White House briefing Friday, President Obama hoped to focus on positive job growth numbers. Instead, he dealt with questions on the failure of U.S. diplomatic efforts to secure cease-fire in Gaza.

"I think it's going to be very hard to put a cease-fire back together again if Israelis and the international community can't feel confident that Hamas can follow through on a cease-fire commitment."

In Gaza, a cease-fire brokered with U.S. help collapsed moments after it was announced when two Israeli soldiers were killed and a third was captured.

Luis Ramirez, VOA news, at the White House.



The head of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, has warned the presidents of West Africa's Ebola-stricken nations Friday that the outbreak is moving faster than efforts to control it.

Dr. Chan met with the presidents of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone Friday in Guinea's capital, Conakry, and said if the epidemic continues to worsen, the consequences could be catastrophic in terms of lost lives and socioeconomic disruption. VOA's Lisa Schlein in Geneva has more detail.

The WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl tells VOA the outbreak is probably worse than the figures indicate.

"There could well be cases in the community that we have missed because this has been one of the biggest challenges in terms of also tracing contacts. People run away. They do not want to be treated in the health centers. They are afraid."

Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.



President Obama has spoken by telephone with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with Mr. Obama saying the United States remains deeply concerned about Moscow's increased support for separatists in Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters at the White House Friday, President Obama said he discussed his preference for a diplomatic solution with the Russian leader.

"Right now, what we've done is impose sufficient costs on Russia that objectively speaking they should, President Putin should want to resolve this diplomatically. Get these sanctions lifted. Get their economy growing again and have good relations with Ukraine."



More than two weeks after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 plunged from the skies over eastern Ukraine, a full team of international investigators reached the crash site Friday.

Parts of the plane are strewn across 50 square kilometers. It's believed that around 80 bodies are yet to be found.

Australian Federal Police commander Brian McDonald emphasized that his forces are in Ukraine only to recover bodies.



Uganda's Constitutional Court has overturned a tough anti-homosexuality law that allows life sentences for those convicted of consentual homosexual acts.

The court announced Friday it had struck down the measure because of procedural technicalities.



The U.S. unemployment rate rose slightly, 0.1 percent, to hit 6.2 percent in July.

Friday's report from the Department of Labor also said the economy had a net gain of 209,000 jobs.

The data surprised economists, who had predicted that the unemployment rate would be steady and economy would create thousands more jobs.

While the job participation rate has risen slightly, the job gains have yet to translate into bigger paychecks for most Americans.

Still, key indicators suggest U.S. recovery is finally gaining momentum five years after the financial crisis.

President Obama, speaking with reporters, said there could be additional actions to improve jobs, including rebuilding infrastructure and raising the minimum wage.

However, the president said none of those actions have been taken by Congress.

"And the fact is, we could be much further along, and we could be doing even better and the economy could be even stronger and more jobs could be created if Congress would do the job that the people sent them here to do."



Vietnam says all ships under the management of its Fisheries Surveillance Force will be equipped with weapons following a tense standoff with China over a disputed oil rig.

Vietnamese and Chinese ships clashed several times during the standoff over the oil rig near the Paracel Islands. Hanoi says several of its fishing vessels were damaged and one sank after being rammed by Chinese vessels. Beijing said Vietnamese ships were the aggressors.



More on these stories at voanews.com. I'm Vincent Bruce in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA.