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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting. The U.N. has called for Europe to play a larger role in helping migrants and refugees.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees described the current crisis in Europe as an "absolutely dramatic situation." Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva that the U.N. has called on the European Union to take charge of migrant processing centers. The U.N. refugee agency reports 5,600 refugees arrived in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia on Thursday, the highest number for one single day, and it says 3,300 arrived in Hungary that day. More than four million Syrian refugees have sought asylum in neighboring countries. The agency says governments should consider larger resettlement and humanitarian admission quotas, expanded visa and sponsorship programs and scholarships to students. Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva. U.S. President Barack Obama hosted Saudi Arabia's King Salman Friday, with the Saudi leader expressing support for a nuclear deal worked out between Iran and six world powers. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, speaking after the meeting, said Mr. Obama had assured the king the agreement keeps Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. "The president explained and affirmed that the agreement prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, has a robust and unprecedented inspections regime that includes inspections of all sites, including military and suspected sites." A White House statement said the two leaders also discussed the conflict in Yemen, the political situations in Iraq and Syria, and global climate change. This is VOA news. Russian President Vladimir Putin says that his country wants to form an international anti-terrorism coalition, and that Syria's president is ready to hold early parliamentary elections that could even include members of the opposition. Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok Friday, Mr. Putin said he wanted to "create some kind of international coalition to fight terrorism and extremism." He said his government is "holding consultations with our American partners" on the issue, and that he had personally discussed it with President Barack Obama by telephone. The Russian leader said that steps toward creating such a coalition should run parallel with what he called "certain political processes in Syria itself." Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, he said, agrees with this and is prepared to hold early parliamentary elections, as well as to establish contacts with "the so-called healthy opposition" and bring them into the government. Syria's antiquities chief says that Islamic State militants destroyed three ancient tower tombs in the central city of Palmyra, continuing its efforts to demolish a World Heritage Site. Maamoun Abdulkarim said Friday that the militants destroyed the three famed tower tombs in recent days, including the Tower of Elahbel that dates back to the year 103. He said his information was based in part on satellite images provided by Boston University. This marks one of a series of deliberate vandalism acts carried out by Islamic State since it captured Palmyra from the Syrian government in May. A gay couple in the state of Kentucky has received a marriage license one day after a county clerk was jailed for refusing to license same-sex couples. James Yates and William Smith Jr. entered the Rowan County clerk's office Friday and received a marriage license from a deputy clerk, ending a months-long standoff. The county clerk, Kim Davis had defied a U.S. Supreme Court order to sign the marriage permits, saying that it violated her religious beliefs. A federal judge ordered her to jail for contempt of court and said she would be freed if she agrees to approve the licenses. Five of Davis's six deputy clerks have said that they will carry out the judge's ruling that they must issue marriage licenses while Davis is in jail. And the U.S. unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in 7 and a half years in August, 5.1 percent. That's down two-tenths of a percent from the previous month. The Labor Department also reported that the economy gained 173,000 jobs, which was less than most economists had predicted. The news sent markets lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.66 percent. I'm David Byrd in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |