VOA NEWS IN REGULAR ENGLISH

September 22, 2014

From Washington, this is VOA news. Coming up, presidential power-sharing deal in Afghanistan. Sierra Leone ending the Ebola lockdown.



Afghanistan's election commission has named a new president just hours after the leading candidates signed a power-sharing deal.

Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani, the chairman of the commission, made the announcement that Ashraf Ghani is president.

The agreement gives Ghani the title and creates a chief executive position for his one-time rival Abdullah Abdullah.

The announcement follows weeks of political bickering since the country's June 14th runoff presidential election. But the commission did not release final vote totals out of concern that doing so could inflame tensions.

Mr. Ghani's inauguration ceremony is scheduled for Monday, September the 29th.



Ukraine says it will not pull back troops from the frontline against pro-Russian separatists until cease-fire violations stop.

A Defense Council spokesman on Sunday said separatists and Russian troops agreed to launch attacks against Ukrainian security forces.

Also on Sunday, thousands marched in Moscow against the Kremlin's support for the Ukrainian separatists

[Counter-demonstrations] Counter-demonstrators who support the Kremlin called the marcher traitors.



Sierra Leone has ended a three-day nationwide lockdown aimed at stopping the Ebola outbreak.

The government ordered six million people to stay home Friday, Saturday and Sunday so teams could go door-to-door, trying to locate hidden Ebola patients and educate others on how to avoid the deadly disease.

Officials said the outreach would continue in some hot spot communities.



This is VOA news.



Islamist militants are advancing in northern Syria overrunning several Kurdish towns in a move that could strengthen the group's grip along the Turkish border.

Clashes erupted Sunday as Turkey closed its border with northern Syria to halt a massive influx of Kurdish refugees fleeing the juggernaut of the Islamic State militants. Edward Yeranian reports.

Turkish security forces fired tear gas at clusters of Syrian Kurdish refugees trying to cross the border into Turkey. Witnesses say Turkish authorities closed their border with Syria after tens of thousands of refugees entered Turkish territory since Friday.

Arab media reports that Islamic State militants have seized 64 Kurdish towns and villages in a major onslaught during the past several days.

U.N. refugee agency officials say the flood of Kurdish refugees into Turkey is the largest such influx since the conflict in Syria began in March 2011. U.N. officials say 100,000 Kurdish refugees have entered Turkey.

Edward Yeranian, for VOA news, Cairo.



A confusing and tumultuous day in Yemen that started in flames ended Sunday night with the formation of a national unity government.

In a written statement, the Yemeni government said President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi signed a deal at the presidential palace in Sana'a with delegates from the Shiite opposition group Ansarullah and leaders of the country's major political parties.

The accord calls for an immediate cease-fire, increased government transparency and economic and security reforms.

Yemeni officials estimate that more than 100 people died in a wave of Houthi-organized demonstrations that escalated into armed clashes in the last month and continued with shelling in the capital overnight.

The group is demanding greater political participation.



U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held a rare face-to-face meeting with Iran's foreign minister on Sunday, saying there is an opportunity for progress on nuclear talks.

Mr. Kerry spoke with Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York City for more than an hour.

Both are there for this week's U.N. General Assembly. A U.S. official said Secretary Kerry intends to move forward this week on the nuclear talks and will meet again with Zarif as needed.

Iran and the Group of 5 plus (one) - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - face a November deadline for an agreement for Iran to curb its uranium enrichment in exchange for lifting Western sanctions.



And Pope Francis is denouncing extremists around the world who in his words are "perverting" religion to justify violence.

On arriving in Albania's capital on Sunday, the pope praised Albania for an "inspiring example," with Christians and Muslims living together in peace.



That's the latest world news from VOA.