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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Vincent Bruce reporting. Supposed plans for peace talks in east Ukraine are derailed by violence.
Fierce fighting continued Friday in a strategic town in eastern Ukraine as a new round of peace talks between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists failed to materialize. Ukrainian authorities say seven civilians were killed Friday by rebel shelling in the government-held town of Debaltseve, a rail junction that connects two rebel centers. Rebels say they are encircling government garrisons in the city and have also taken the nearby town of Vuhlehirsk. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Ukraine and Germany next week for talks with officials, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday that Kerry will travel to Kyiv, where he will meet with officials there. "I expect he'll talk with them about the progress they've made and needs to continue to make over the coming months. He'll meet, as I mentioned, with a range of officials and also talk about how we can continue to work together to de-escalate the situation on the ground." There had been speculation that Kerry would also travel to Moscow next week but State Department officials say no additional stops have been planned. The fates of two Islamic State hostages -- a Japanese journalist and a Jordanian air force pilot -- remained unknown Friday, a day after the latest deadline passed for a prisoner swap. Islamic State militants had threatened to kill the Jordanian pilot captured after his jet crashed in Syria last month. The uncle of the pilot is holding a belief the pilot is alive. "We haven't any material proof yet, but we have some signal that he is still alive. Otherwise, they will not negotiate with, about. Since the negotiation is going on, it means the officer is still alive." More at voanews.com. This is VOA news. The African Union Friday endorsed plans for a regional force of 7,500 troops to fight the militant group Boko Haram. The word came as the AU opened its annual summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed Boko Haram as part of his address to the summit. "This group continues to kill Christians and Muslims, kidnap women and children, and destroy churches and mosques. We will never forget the girls and boys kidnapped from Chibok last April, and I will never stop calling for their immediate and unconditional release." Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin recently agreed to work together against the militants. The number of new Ebola cases in West Africa is dropping. But the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warns complacency could lead to preventable deaths. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Red Cross headquarters in Geneva. For the first time since June, the World Health Organization said fewer than 100 new cases of Ebola were confirmed over one week in the countries most affected by the epidemic -- Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. This is certainly good news. But the International Red Cross Federation is warning against a false sense of security. The head of the agency's Ebola Coordination and Support Unit, Birte Hald, says the epidemic is far from finished. "We are at a stage where some of the curves are bending but they may flare up again." Hald says cases of Ebola continue to appear in Sierra Leone and Guinea. Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva. Iraqi Kurdish forces have repelled a major attack by Islamic State fighters in Kirkuk province that killed a senior Kurdish commander on Friday. Authorities say Brigadier General Shirko Fatih and at least five Kurdish fighters were killed Friday in clashes with IS militants near the city of Kirkuk. A reporter for VOA Kurdish in Kirkuk said IS militants from several fronts attacked peshmerga forces west and southwest of the city late Thursday. Pakistani authorities say [58 people were killed] at least 58 people were killed and many others wounded in a powerful bomb blast at a minority Shiite mosque in Sindh province during Friday prayers. The bombing occurred in Lakidar area of Shikarpur around 470 kilometers north of the port city of Karachi. Jundullah, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack -- the latest in a rising tide of sectarian violence in Pakistan. Visit our website voanews.com 24 hours a day for all of the latest. I'm Vincent Bruce in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |