VOA NEWS

August 23, 2014

From Washington, this is VOA news. The Ebola virus effects in Nigeria have spread. U.S. is critical of Russia's humanitarian convoy in Ukraine. I'm Vincent Bruce reporting from Washington.



Officials in Nigeria say the Ebola virus in the country has for the first time spread to people who did not have direct contact with the country's first victim, widening the circle of those infected.

Nigeria's health minister announced Friday that two new people were confirmed to have Ebola, and neither patient had direct contact with Patrick Sawyer, an infected Liberian-American who first brought the disease to Lagos from Liberia.



The United States has strongly condemned the movement of a Russian convoy of humanitarian aid into eastern Ukraine without the approval of the Ukrainian government.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby addressed reporters Friday: "We strongly condemn this action and any actions that Russian forces take that increase tensions in the region. Russia should not send vehicles, persons or cargo of any kind into Ukraine, whether under the guise of humanitarian convoys or any other pretext, without Kyiv's express permission."

Kirby said the U.S. is consulting with international partners to determine the next steps.



President Barack Obama's administration says the killing of American journalist James Foley by militants from the Islamic State group amounts to a direct terrorist attack on the United States.

Foley, a freelance photojournalist, was kidnapped in Syria in 2012. The Islamic State group has its headquarters in Syria, and that is where Foley is believed to have been beheaded.

Ben Rhodes, President Obama's deputy national security advisor, said Friday the U.S. is ready to take additional action against Islamic State fighters to protect Americans.

More on all these stories at voanews.com. This is VOA news.



The U.N. refugee agency reports its largest aid operation in a decade to bring emergency supplies in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region is in full swing.

The operation, which began Wednesday, aims to improve conditions of close to half a million people who have fled [burial] brutal attacks by the militant Islamic State. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.

The operation is set to last 10 days. The U.N. refugee agency plans to ship 2,410 tons of non-food aid into Irbil, Kurdistan, by air, land and sea. Three airlifts of thousands of items, such as tents, plastic sheeting and kitchen sets, have taken place.

The UNHCR says it plans a fourth and final flight on Saturday. On the same day, a first ship is due to sail to Bandar Abbas in Iran. From there, the agency says the ship's relief cargo will be trucked into Irbil.

Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.



In Kigali, defense chiefs from 10 East African countries have pledged a total of 5,000 troops to a new regional standby force for deployment by December. That's according to Rwanda's army spokesman.

The East African region's heads of state, 10 of whom are signed up to the plan, decided in June that they want their regional standby force to be operational by December of this year.

The African Union is aiming for all of the forces to be in place by December 2015, but some regions are more advanced than others.

Rwanda's military spokesman, General Joseph Nzabamwita, told VOA why the goal was moved forward.

"It is a year earlier from December 2015, when the African standby force is supposed to be completely operational. So, the East African standby force heads of state decided that due to the insecurity that is prevailing in the East African region the member countries need to take urgent steps."



Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip reportedly have executed 18 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel.

Witnesses say that in one incident, the militants lined up seven men outside a mosque in one of Gaza's main squares. A note posted on a nearby wall said the men had leaked information about the location of tunnels, fighters and weapons that were later struck by Israel.

The executions took place one day after Israel killed three top Hamas military commanders.



The U.S. Defense Department says a Chinese fighter jet has conducted a "dangerous intercept" with a U.S. warplane off the coast of China.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby says the Chinese jet made several close passes, coming within 10 meters of the U.S. Navy jet.

He also says the Chinese plane crossed under the U.S. aircraft of P-8 Poseidon jet.



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