VOA NEWS

March 8, 2015

From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting.



President Obama has paid tribute to those who marched in Selma, Alabama, 50 years ago in a quest for voting rights.

Speaking in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge where the protests in 1965 turned into a violent confrontation with police, Mr. Obama said the Selma marchers were an inspiration to generations after them.

While acknowledging that the race for equal opportunity is no yet won, the president told thousands gathered in Selma that he rejects the notion that nothing has changed.

"239 years after this nation's founding, our union is not yet perfect, but we are getting closer. Our job's easier because somebody already got us through that first mile. Somebody already got us over that bridge."

The anniversary comes as the U.S. struggles with renewed racial tensions over police treatment of African-Americans. Several shootings of young black men by white police officers have set off several protests and calls for police reform.



The militant group Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to Islamic State amid reports that a series of bombings killed more than 50 people in Nigeria's Borno state, where Boko Haram is active.

The jihadist monitoring group SITE on Saturday quoted Boko Haram as saying, "We announce our allegiance to the Caliph" in a video purported to be from the Nigerian rebel group.

Saturday's announcement came hours after explosions in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, killed at least 55 people and wounded about 140 others.



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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says it is up to Tehran to prove that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

Speaking Saturday in Paris, Mr. Kerry said that there are still points of disagreement between Iran and the so-called P5 + 1 group.

"The reason we don't have an agreement is, we believe there are gaps that have to be closed. There are things that have to be done to further strengthen this. We know this."

As he has said before, Mr. Kerry reported there has been progress in talks between Iran and the world powers about the country's nuclear program, but gaps remain.

The P5 + 1 group negotiating with Iran hopes to reach a "framework agreement" -- the outline of an eventual full deal -- by the end of this month. There is a tentative deadline of June 30 for a final agreement acceptable to both sides.

Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. The United States and its allies want assurances that the program will not be used to develop a nuclear weapon.



The top U.S. military officer says Iraqi forces will take back the city of Tikrit from Islamic State, but only because of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey said on his way to Baghdad that the number of Iraqi forces fighting the extremists is overwhelming. But he said he does not believe the Iraqis could have made progress in Tikrit unless the U.S.-led airstrikes slowed down the militants.

Iraqi officials say they are meeting strong resistance from Islamic State near Tikrit, but General Dempsey said it is only a matter of time before the extremists are beaten.



The head of Russia's federal security service says that Russia has detained two suspects in the murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.

Alexander Bortnikov said the two men, Anzor Gubashev and Zaur Dadayev, are both from Russia's troubled North Caucasus region. He said they are suspected of carrying out the crime. It was not clear whether either men was accused of firing the shots.

Nemtsov was shot four times in the back as he and a female companion crossed a bridge over the Moscow River. His death came just days before he was to have led an anti-war and anti-Putin rally in Moscow.

The 55-year-old opposition figure had also been working on the report about Russian military involvement in the Ukraine conflict.



And Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian fisherman off the coast of the Gaza Strip Saturday.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said soldiers opened fire after four Palestinian boats strayed from a designated fishing zone.



Fore more, please log on to our website voanews.com. I'm David Byrd in Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.