VOA NEWS

August 21, 2014

From Washington, this is VOA news. President Obama condemns Islamic militant beheading of American journalist. Ebola death toll rises in West Africa. I'm Ray Kouguell reporting from Washington.



The U.S. Defense Department says it attempted but failed to rescue U.S. hostages being held in Syria by the Islamic State, including beheaded journalist James Foley.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says the mission did not succeed because the hostages were not at the location where they were believed to have been held.

A top U.S. official says President Obama authorized the mission earlier this summer. Mr. Obama said earlier Wednesday the videotaped beheading of James Foley by an Islamic State militant has appalled the world. Luis Ramirez reports.

President Obama interrupted his vacation in the U.S. state of Massachusetts to issue a stern and solemn statement after U.S. intelligence confirmed the authenticity of a video showing a militant killing journalist James Foley.

"Today, the entire world is appalled by the brutal murder of Jim Foley by the terrorist group, ISIL."

President Obama recently ordered airstrikes that have helped Iraq forces including Kurdish fighters stop the militants from approaching the northern city of Irbil. The militants have said they killed Foley in retaliation for the airstrikes.

Mr. Obama said U.S. operations will continue and warned the U.S. will seek justice.

Luis Ramirez, VOA news, at the White House.



The Ebola epidemic gripping West Africa claimed another 106 lives, raising the overall death toll to 1,350.

The World Health Organization reported the new figures Wednesday as officials in Liberia imposed a general quarantine on two suburbs of the capital, Monrovia, in hopes of curbing the outbreak.

Liberia is where 90 percent of the new deaths reported.



This is VOA news.



Israel and Hamas carried out dozens of attacks on one another Wednesday, with one Israeli airstrike killing the wife and infant son of the Hamas military leader in Gaza.

Israel said it hit more than 90 targets. One struck the house of Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Hamas says Deif survived but his wife and seven-month-old son did not.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military would conduct an extensive campaign in Gaza until calm and safety is restored for Israeli citizens.

In New York, the U.N. Security Council urged both sides to call an immediate humanitarian cease-fire and return to talks on a long-term truce.



U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder met with community leaders and residents of the Midwestern town of Ferguson, Missouri, in response to 11 days of unrest after a local police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager.

Holder told the community Wednesday that he has assigned the federal government's most experienced agents and prosecutors to the case.

As he visited Ferguson, dozens of protesters demonstrated peacefully in front of a courthouse where prosecutors are expected to begin presenting evidence in the fatal shooting.

A grand jury convening in the nearby city of Clayton will review the evidence and determine whether to charge Officer Darren Wilson in the August 9th death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.



The Ukrainian military says it's reclaimed control of a crucial town of Donetsk province after heavy fighting with pro-Russian separatists. VOA's Gabe Joselow has more from Kyiv.

Ukraine's national security spokesman Andriy Lysenko says the military is now in control of the town of Ilovaisk.

During yesterday and part of today, he said, the Ukrainian army managed to "enter the town completely." He says he cannot say the city is fully freed of terrorists, but says it is under the control of Ukrainian forces.

Lysenko described the town, 40 kilometers from the city of Donetsk, as a crucial logistical hub for separatist fighters with train lines and major roads serving as supply lines.

The spokesman said separatist fighters are continuing to launch counter-attacks against Ukrainian forces from the area.

Gabe Joselow, VOA news, Kyiv.



A medical aid group says at least 31 people were wounded in the Central African Republic Wednesday when a local militia clashed with international peacekeepers.

Doctors Without Borders says the fighting flared in the PK5 neighborhood of Bangui, home to more than 2,000 Muslims holed up to avoid sectarian violence.

Doctors Without Borders says all of the people it treated at Bangui's General Hospital displayed gunshot wounds.



At least 35 people died Wednesday when landslides buried dozens of houses on the outskirts of Hiroshima. There were 24 millimeters of rain within a 24-hour period loosening hills already soaked by recent storms.



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