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From Washington, this is VOA news. Coming up, Russian president prompts an action plan for Ukraine cease-fire. President Obama warns Islamic State militants.
Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled steps he says are needed for a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine. Mr. Putin says his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, is [agreement] brought agreement with the plan to halt the separatist rebellion. It calls for a large-scale Ukrainian military pullback in the Russian-speaking east and the deployment of international monitors. Hours later, Mr. Poroshenko released a statement that avoided direct reference to details of Mr. Putin's announcement. But he acknowledged the talks with the Russian leader, saying there is no denying that people must stop dying. President Obama condemned Russia's intervention in Ukraine on Wednesday as a "brazen assault" on the country's integrity, and assured Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia that NATO would defend them against any aggression by Moscow. "First, we will defend our NATO allies, and that means every ally. In this alliance, there are no old members or new members, no junior partners or senior partners -- there are just allies, pure and simple." President Obama spoke to a crowd of 2,000 people at the concert hall in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, after meeting with leaders of the three Baltic states that joined the U.S.-European military alliance in 2004. President Obama also says the United States will not be intimidated by the beheading of a second American journalist, vowing to "degrade and destroy" the Islamic State militants. Mr. Obama said in Estonia Wednesday that the killers of Steven Sotloff this week and James Foley last month have failed in whatever they were trying to achieve because the world is "repulsed by their barbarism." And in the northeast U.S. state of New Hampshire, Vice President Joe Biden used blunt language concerning American resolve to fight the Islamic State militants. "We will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice because hell is where they will reside. Hell is where they will reside." :U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. [The United States] The United Nations, that is, World Health Organization is calling for a coordinated global response to combat the growing Ebola outbreak affecting parts of West Africa. Margaret Chan, the director-general of the global health body, says the outbreak has so far killed more than 1,900 people and infected at least 3,500 others in the region. The WHO is estimating it will cost upwards of $600 million to tackle the epidemic. Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas Thabane returned to the capital, Maseru, [Tuesday] Thursday four days after he fled to South Africa following an apparent bid by the military to oust him. The prime minister arrived in the country on Wednesday guarded by South African police. He has accused the army and Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing of seeking to oust him from power. The military denied trying to start a coup. And Pakistan's military says it has killed more than 900 militants and lost 82 soldiers since June, when it launched a major counter-insurgency offensive in a volatile tribal region near the Afghan border. It claims eliminating terrorist bases from major towns of North Waziristan, including its administrative center, Miransha. A new report by the World Economic Forum ranks the most competitive nations as we hear now from Lisa Schlein. Switzerland comes out on top for the sixth year in a row followed by Singapore and the United States, which has moved up two places to third position in the competitiveness rankings. Completing the list of the top 10 most competitive economies are five European countries plus Japan and Hong Kong. Senior economist at the World Economic Forum, Benat Bilbao, tells VOA very little separates the top 10 in the rankings. He says they all score high in areas such as structural reforms, health and primary education and technological readiness. Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva. The second largest drug store chain in the United States has stopped selling tobacco products, giving up $2 billion in annual sales to reposition itself as a health-conscious retailer. Despite years of government campaigns against smoking, surveys show that about 18 percent of Americans still smoke. That's the latest world news from VOA. |