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From Washington, this is VOA news. At least three dozen people are dead and 40 inmates escaped after a prison break north of Baghdad. I'm Molly Johnson reporting.
Officials say the dead, according to others, nearly doubled those numbers. The loss is there very heavy. Officials say it started when a fight broke out among the inmates. [who] The prisoners then overpowered the guards who came to intervene. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the prison attack, saying 30 Islamic State militants were included among the escapees. Also in the Iraq capital today, at least seven people were killed and 14 others were wounded in the attack on a Shiite pilgrims. The French news agency says that it was claimed responsibility by the Islamic State group. The World Health Organization has declared Liberia officially free of the Ebola virus. And in doing so, the president of that country says that the outbreak was "a scar on the conscience of the world" and "the pain and grief will take a generation to heal." Anne Look reports from Dakar. Dr. Peter Graaff, head of UNMEER, the U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, says the real credit goes to Liberians. "It was the communities that self-organized, and it was the communities that understood what this disease was all about. The government and the international community having worked so closely together and having worked with communities of course made a major contribution, but I think when the history is going to be written about this, the real efforts and the real, sort of, bending of the curve was because of the communities themselves." Anne Look reporting. This is VOA news. Egypt's deposed leader Hosni Mubarak and his two sons were sentenced to three years in prison and a fine in a retrial on corruption charges. The corruption case dubbed by the Egyptian media as the presidential palaces affair concerns charges that Mubarak and his two sons embezzled millions of dollars with the state funds over the course of decades. The funds were supposed to pay for presidential palace maintenance, but instead for upgrades to their private residences. Mr. Mubarak was sentenced to three years, his sons to four in the case. His appeal sparked the retrial. It was all happening since his ousting from office. Russia staged a huge military parade in Moscow today to mark the 70th anniversary of victory in the Second World War over Nazi Germany. Henry Ridgwell reports. Saturday's anniversary parade is intended to honor the events of 70 years ago. But many Western leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have declined invitations to attend because of Russia's military intervention in Ukraine. Victory Day should also reflect on the suffering that followed 1945 in the Soviet Union, says historian Andrei Zubov. Zubov says that the Soviet Union's totalitarian regime did not fall then, but became stronger. "And that is another reason why this was a victory with tears in our eyes, not only because of huge losses but also because the victory had not brought about the end of the totalitarian Stalinist regime," he says. Henry Ridgwell, the VOA news. The U.S. State Department has urged North Korea to refrain from actions that raise regional tensions after Pyongyang said it had successfully test-fired a submarine-based ballistic missile. The State Department said launches using ballistic missile technology are "a clear violation" of U.N. Security Council resolutions. North Korea is under U.N. sanctions banning it from developing or using missile technology. The South Korean military officials say North Korea test-fired three anti-ship cruise missiles into the sea, one day after warning it would strike South Korean vessels without notice if they intrude into the North's territorial waters. Officials in Seoul say the missiles were fired over the span of about an hour Saturday from an area near the eastern port city of Wonsan. Spanish officials are confirming at least three people dead in a crash of a military plane near Seville's airport. Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Saturday up to 10 crew members were on board the new Airbus A400M. The aircraft was under flight trials at the airport, but had not yet been delivered to the Spanish military. The airport authority said that Seville airport had been closed and its fire crews went to the scene outside the airport perimeter. Flights to Seville are being diverted to other nearby airports. An amateur video shows thick black smoke rising from the site north of the San Pablo Airport. I'm Molly Johnson in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |