VOA NEWS

July 27, 2015

From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Michael Lipin reporting from Washington. U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in Ethiopia on the first ever visit to the country by a serving American leader.



Mr. Obama flew to Addis Ababa on Sunday for two days of talks with African leaders on issues such as terrorism, human rights and the civil war in South Sudan.

Earlier in the day, he ended a landmark visit to Kenya with a speech to thousands of students at a stadium outside the capital.

VOA White House correspondent Aru Pande has more from Nairobi.

I'm sorry we don't have, seem to have that report, but we will try to get it for you next hour.

We're staying with Mr. Obama's visit to Africa. He is due to hold talks on Monday with Ethiopian leaders who have been key U.S. allies in the fight against Somalia's al-Shabaab militant group.

On Tuesday, the U.S. president is expected to visit the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa before flying back to Washington.



Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has acknowledged that his military has given up some regions of the country as it battles insurgents.

In a speech broadcast live on state television on Sunday, President Assad said "We must define the important regions that the armed forces hold onto so that they don't allow the collapse of the rest of the Syrian areas."

Mr. Assad also said that countries that stand up for their rights ultimately go on to win their battles, as Iran eventually did in its nuclear negotiations with the world community.



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Al-Shabaab militants have claimed responsibility for a car bombing outside a Somali hotel that hosts the Chinese and Egyptian embassies in the capital, Mogadishu.

Sunday's attack killed 13 people and wounded 25 others.

It targeted the Hotel Jazeera near Mogadishu International Airport. The hotel often is used by Somali members of parliament and journalists as well as foreign diplomats.

Local media reported that most of those killed were civilians, including a local TV journalist. Somali officials have released no details about the victims.



Nigerian authorities say a female suicide bomber has killed 14 people at a market in the country's northeast. Witnesses said the early Sunday blast also wounded around 50 other people.

The attacker struck the entrance of a market in the town of Damaturu, the capital of Nigeria's Yobe state.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.



Israeli police and Palestinian rioters have confronted each other at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem's Old City.

The Palestinians threw stones and fireworks at Israeli security personnel after Jewish ultranationalists visited the raised platform housing the mosque on Sunday. Israeli police responded to the rioters with stun grenades.

The Israeli security forces briefly entered the Al-Aqsa mosque and locked the demonstrators inside to try to restore calm.

The Jewish ultranationalists' visit coincided with the Jewish observance of Tisha B'av, the annual day of mourning for the destruction of the historic Jewish temples at the site, which Jews revere as the Temple Mount.

Muslims call the site the Noble Sanctuary, the third holiest site in Islam. Many Muslims consider any visits to the site by Jews to be provocative.

Israeli police arrested several of the rioters.



Afghan authorities say the Taliban militant group has captured a key northeastern military base in overnight fighting which ended with more than 100 Afghan security forces surrendering to the insurgents.

Officials said the fighting in the Tirgaran area of Badakhshan province erupted on Friday night when Taliban fighters staged coordinated attacks on several Afghan security outposts.

A provincial official said border police personnel at the base surrendered to the Taliban because they were besieged and did not get reinforcement from the Afghan central government.

In a statement, the Taliban said its fighters took control of several security installations in the area and captured 110 Afghan national security personnel.



I'm Michael Lipin in Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.