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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting.
Rescue workers have begun a massive relief operation after Cyclone Pam slammed into Vanuatu. Reports from the capital city, Port Vila, say that Vanuatu's National Disaster Management Office confirmed at least six deaths in and around the city. A nine-member U.N. team is due to arrive on Sunday to carry out an initial assessment of the damage. Reports of 44 deaths remain unconfirmed. Officials say the airport in Port Vila remains closed but they hope to open at least part of it Sunday so relief flights can land. Saturday, addressing a United Nations conference on disaster reduction in Japan, Vanuatu's President Baldwin Lonsdale appealed for international help in recovering from the disaster. "I stand to appeal on the behalf of the government and people of Vanuatu to the global community to give a lending hand in responding to this very current calamities that have struck us." With 270 kilometer-per-hour winds, Cyclone Pam destroyed entire villages, tearing off rooftops, downing power lines and toppling trees. Aid officials say the storm could be unprecedented in the country's history. A ferry carrying more than 200 people sank off the coast of western Myanmar Saturday, leaving at least 33 people dead and at least a dozen others missing. The Aung Takon went down late Friday after encountering high seas on a voyage in western Rakhine state. Authorities said 167 people were rescued, but the rest are believed to have drowned. Local residents say the death toll might be higher because the boat was overloaded. This is VOA news. The Kurdish government in Iraq says it has evidence that Islamic State militants used a chemical weapon against Kurdish peshmerga forces. The Kurdistan Region Security Council released a statement Saturday alleging that chlorine was used in a January suicide bombing in northern Iraq. The January 23 bombing took place on a road between the Islamic State-held city of Mosul and the Syrian border, according to the statement. A video of the incident shows Kurdish forces firing at a truck that is trailing white smoke behind it. The truck eventually explodes. An official with the Kurdish Council told the Associated Press that dozens of peshmerga fighters were treated for dizziness, nausea, vomiting and general weakness after the attack. The statement could not be independently verified. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says it is not clear whether the United States and other world powers will be able to reach a deal with Iran on its nuclear program by a March 31 deadline. Speaking Saturday at an international investor conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Kerry said "the purpose of the talks is not to get just any deal, it is to get the right deal." The secretary of state said one obstacle could be an open letter that 47 of Republican U.S. senators sent to Iranian leaders warning that the next U.S. president could revoke a deal at any time. "I can't tell you whether or not we can get a deal, whether we are close. One reason I can't tell you is because we have heard some comments from the Supreme Leader regarding the letter that was sent by the 47 senators." The United States and five other major powers resume negotiations with Iran Sunday in Switzerland. U.S. President Barack Obama has called for support of his "student aid bill of rights" to help young people attend and pay for college. In his weekly media address, Mr. Obama said that the bill of rights will help ensure "access to a quality, affordable education." "In America, a higher education cannot be a privilege reserved for only the few. It has to be available to everybody who's willing to work for it." Mr. Obama called a college degree "the surest ticket to the middle class," but said just when it's never been more important, a degree has never been more expensive." At least 10 U.S. aid workers who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone are being evacuated to the United States. U.S. officials said Saturday the individuals will be housed near the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the National Institutes of Health or Emory University in Atlanta. All three have been used to treat American Ebola patients in the past. None of the 10 workers has any symptoms. For more, I'm David Byrd in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |