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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Molly Johnson reporting.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has announced plans for an international meeting on Syria this week, stepping up diplomatic efforts to reach a political settlement of the prolonged bloody civil war there. Kerry spoke to reporters from Vienna late Friday after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The U.S. and its allies have made it clear that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not be part of the solution but Russia is sending military support to his regime. Zlatica Hoke reports. During the stop in Berlin Thursday, Kerry said the meeting of four parties should be a precursor to a broader participation of countries that need to be at the negotiating table. He said all parties agreed that a solution must be found to end the violence in Syria. With anti-Assad Turkish and Saudi leadership, Russia is Assad's strongest ally. It is not clear what solution Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is bringing to Vienna. But Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a hint Thursday at an international forum in Sochi. Putin said that protracted Western interference in the Middle East has disrupted the balance of power in the region, turning it into a powder keg. Zlatica Hoke, VOA news, Washington. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter says hostages rescued Thursday in a joint U.S.-Kurdish operation on Islamic State compound in Iraq were facing imminent execution. [At a press conference today, Carter said a grave had been prepared for the hostages, which he described the site as an "execution center."] At a press conference today, Carter said a grave had been prepared for the hostages at the site, which he described as an "execution center." The daring raid at the Islamic State compound west of Kirkuk freed about 70 hostages, but resulted in the death of Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, who was the first U.S. service member killed in combat in the year-long campaign against IS extremists. A spokesman with the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq noted Kurdish forces also took casualties. This is VOA news. Many people are feared dead after a pair of suicide explosions that ripped through a couple of mosques in Nigeria ,the most recent in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state in northeastern Nigeria. This blast was during afternoon prayers and came after at least 18 people were killed and 20 wounded in a suicide bomb that went off during morning prayers at a mosque in Maiduguri, the latest in a series of bomb attacks in the birthplace of the Boko Haram militant group. Israel has lifted age restrictions on Muslim worshippers at the very sensitive al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem and allow the prayers to go on today, which they did without further tension or problems. Also today, Israel's military says a Palestinian accused of stabbing a soldier in the West Bank was shot by other troops. Again, these latest incidents come a day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation. In their second Oval House meeting in as many years, President Barack Obama and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to deepen counterterrorism as well as economic cooperation, while also calling on the Afghan Taliban to enter into direct talks with the Kabul government. VOA correspondent Aru Pande reports from the White House. In a joint statement following the talks, President Obama condemned the December, 2014 militant attack on a Peshawar school that killed 140 students while praising Pakistan's efforts to go after the Tehrik-e-Taliban and other al-Qaeda-linked militant groups, including in the June, 2014 offensive in the country's North Waziristan tribal region. During Thursday's talks, Obama and Sharif also discussed Afghanistan, with the leaders calling the Afghan Taliban to enter into direct talks with the government. Aru Pande, VOA news, the White House. At least 42 people, mostly retirees, are believed dead in a road accident near the French city of Bordeaux in what has been called the nation's worst traffic accident in three decades. French President François Hollande traveling in Greece says the government has "fully mobilized" to help cope with what he called the terrible tragedy. Officials say a truck crashed into a bus full of passengers, mostly elderly, causing both [trucks and] vehicles to burst into flames. Hurricane Patricia, a storm strong enough to cause catastrophic damage, is barreling down on the southwestern Pacific coast of Mexico. It's expected to hit sometime today with maximum sustained winds near 325 kilometers per hour. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Patricia is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the eastern North Pacific. It could bring rainfall between 15 and 30 centimeters up to 50. I'm Molly Johnson. That's the latest world news from VOA. |