VOA NEWS

August 31, 2014

From Washington, this is VOA news. The European Union Commission warns Russia against moves in Ukraine, and the prime minister flees a coup in Lesotho. I'm Joe Parker reporting from Washington.



European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso is warning Russia the crisis is reaching the "point of no return" after discussions in Brussels with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko today.

This is President Poroshenko: "We are too close to the border where from it would be no return to the peace plan. And every participant of the conflict should understand the responsibility of that."

Mr. Barroso says Europe is ready to take new measures but added the door remains open to a political solution with Russia.



The prime minister of Lesotho has fled to South Africa to escape what he says is a coup attempt in the tiny southern African kingdom.

Major Ntlele Ntoi, a spokesman for the Lesotho military, says there is nothing to be alarmed about. "All is going well in Lesotho as we have seen even in downtown, the capital, Maseru, even here, at the gates of one of our barracks. And I can assure you this is how it is always in Lesotho."

However, Prime Minister Thabane says the military action amounts to a coup: "The focal point is the army getting out of order, running around the streets, threatening people, and the army quite openly stating that they want my neck."

Mr. Thabane said he left for neighboring South Africa after receiving intelligence that he was the target of a military assassination attempt.



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The Liberian government has lifted the quarantine imposed on an impoverished Monrovia neighborhood in an attempt to contain the spread of Ebola.

The government on Saturday removed barricades around the seaside district of West Point. That move prompted celebrations from residents and led shopkeepers to reopen their stores.



A suicide bomber targeting the Iraqi military has killed at least 17, I beg your pardon, 11 people, including four soldiers, in a town near Baghdad.

Iraqi authorities say the bomber detonated explosives in his car at an army checkpoint, about 20 kilometers south of the capital. At least 24 people were wounded in the attack.



Thirty-two United Nations peacekeepers have been rescued after heavy fighting in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The U.N. said Saturday that 40 of its soldiers remain under fire near the Syria-Israel border.

Philippine Defense Chief Voltaire Gazmin said militants on Saturday attacked one of two camps manned by the peacekeepers. There were no immediate reports of casualties.



U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called for a broad global coalition to combat Islamic State militants, also known as ISIS.

In an article published in The New York Times today, Mr. Kerry said the terrorist group is a rising threat and exhibited repulsive savagery and cruelty, but could be checked with a united response of the "broadest possible coalition of nations" led by the United States.

He said that threat is not just in Iraq and Syria, but anywhere they could manage to travel undetected, including the United States.



Afghan officials say at least six people were killed Saturday when Taliban militants launched an attack on an intelligence headquarters in the eastern city of Jalalabad.



It's Labor Day weekend in the United States. The entire weekend is considered a final summer celebration before the country settles into an autumn routine.

U.S. President Barack Obama in his weekly address sounded an optimistic tone regarding the economy.

"Last month, for the first time since 1997, we created more than 200,000 jobs for six straight months. And for the first time in over a decade, business leaders worldwide have declared, two years running, that the number one place to invest isn't China, it's America."

Representative Larry Bucshon from Indiana said in the Republican address that the Obama administration's policies continue to harm the nation's economy and families struggling to make ends meet.

"But traveling around Indiana this week, going from job fairs to listening sessions to small businesses, it was easy to see how our workers are still hurting. We're seeing some jobs come back, but too many of our fellow Americans are stuck in part-time work or have stopped looking altogether."

Now officially, Monday is Labor Day making this the final three-day weekend of the summer.



For more on all these stories, visit our website at voanews.com. This is Joe Parker reporting from Washington on VOA. That's the latest world news from VOA.