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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Forrest reporting. A "yes" in Vienna.
Negotiators have reached an agreement with Iran that will limit the country's nuclear program in exchange for eased economic sanctions after nearly three weeks of meetings. EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini stood beside Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to announce the agreement. "Let's consider this everybody's achievement and let's thank all of our colleagues, particularly, the political directors and deputy ministers who have done much of the work, most of the work, throughout this process." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Vienna that he and the other leaders got the deal that they wanted. Not everyone thinks the agreement with Iran is a good idea, though. An opponent is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "The leading international powers have bet our collective future on a deal with a formal sponsor of international terrorism. They've gambled that in 10 years' time, Iran's terrorist regime will change, while removing any incentive for it to do so." :Benjamin Netanyahu. Greece's government has submitted legislation to parliament supporting stringent reforms demanded by European creditors in exchange for a debt bailout. The bill specifies new taxes, pension reforms and tighter supervision of government finances. European creditors are demanding parliamentary approval by Wednesday as a starting point for new negotiations on another bailout worth nearly $95 billion. Rwandan lawmakers approved a measure Tuesday that would pave the way for President Paul Kagame to seek reelection when his second term ends in 2017. That proposal now will be taken up by a parliamentary committee. This is VOA news. Iraq's army and allied paramilitary forces attacked Islamic State positions Tuesday around Ramadi. Commanders say it is the latest push to recapture the Anbar capital from the IS jihadists. An unmanned U.S. space probe is to become the first to take close-up photos of the distant dwarf planet, Pluto. The New Horizons space probe is scheduled to pass 12,500 kilometers from Pluto, taking pictures and collecting data as it zooms past the icy world at 50,000 kilometers an hour. The United Nations is calling for an immediate end to militant attacks targeting civilians in Afghanistan. More than 100 civilians have been killed or wounded by the attacks within the last two days. Authorities in India say at least 27 people were killed in a stampede on the banks of a river where people had gathered to observe a Hindu festival. The stampede occurred Tuesday in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Human Rights Watch is calling for urgent action to arrest Rwandan rebel leader Sylvestre Mudacumura. Nick Long has more. The International Criminal Court, ICC, is seeking to bring Sylvestre Mudacumura to justice for alleged crimes committed by fighters under his command in 2009 and 2010. Human Rights Watch says during that period, it could document killings of more than 700 civilians by the FDLR. The rights group says since 2012, FDLR fighters have killed another 94 civilians, raped dozens of women and girls, forcibly recruited children into their ranks and destroyed countless homes. Human Rights Watch researcher in Congo Ida Sawyer told VOA Mudacumura has served as military commander of the FDLR since 2003. Nick Long, Kinshasa. Last week, an international panel opened long-anticipated hearings into the territorial dispute in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines. Simone Orendain has more. The tribunal's five judges have two key questions to decide. First is whether it has jurisdiction to resolve the dispute. If it does, it will then decide on Manila's case to declare invalid China's so-called "nine-dash line," which Beijing uses to show its territorial claims. Even though Beijing is not directly participating in the proceedings, the arbitration panel has said it is taking into consideration any and all communications from China, including a position paper it released in December last year. China has until August 17 to submit a written response. Simone Orendain, Manila. Chinese police say they have shot and killed three people described as knife-wielding militants from the mainly Muslim far western region of Xinjiang. Officials and state media described the men as ethnic Uighurs. From the VOA news center in Washington, I'm David Forrest. That's the latest world news from VOA. |