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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting. Europe struggles with a migrant issue.
European leaders meeting in Brussels are considering sending 400 border guards and setting up new checkpoints if the EU's frontier states drop their policy of giving migrants passage to other countries. A draft statement also broached the possibility of deploying more ships off the coast of Greece and agreeing not to send migrants from one country to another without prior agreement. Federica Mogherini is the EU foreign policy chief: "What is a stake here is the coherence of our response to process that is not going to disappear any time soon." Sunday's meeting is the latest in a series of top-level EU meetings. Meanwhile, the flow of migrants though the Balkans toward western Europe continued unabated. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday adding video surveillance to the Temple Mount site in Jerusalem, referred to by Muslims as Noble Sanctuary, is in Israel's best interest. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday Israel and Jordan have agreed on specific steps to help reduce violence, including the video monitoring. "We have to join together in calling for an immediate end to violence. We must stress the importance of avoiding provocative actions and rhetoric." :John Kerry. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Sunday eliminating the threat of what he called terrorists in his country would lead to a political solution to the civil war there. He met with a group of Russian lawmakers in Damascus. The Republic of Congo voted Sunday on constitutional changes that would allow President Denis Nguesso to seek another term. The proposed amendments would abolish a two-term limit for presidents and an age limit of 70 for presidential candidates. This is VOA news. Tanzanians went to the polls Sunday to elect a new president and parliament. Voting was peaceful in the capital and appeared to run smoothly, with no incidents of violence or unrest. Haitians voted for a new president Sunday. Turnout was reported large as voters faced a ballot featuring more than 50 presidential candidates. Long lines were seen at some polling stations in the capital, Port-au-Prince, before the voting ended. In Ivory Coast is holding the first round of presidential elections Sunday. President Alassane Ouattara widely expected to win says he wants a "first round know-out victory." Reporter Emilie Iob says he has good reason to expect that. "Three candidates already pulled out of the race, so that's why Alassane Ouattara believes that wining on the first round is more possible for him. Because the rest of the candidates are not big enough, at least some of them believe to beat him." :Emilie Iob. Argentines are voting in elections to choose their next president, the successor to President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Fernandez's chosen successor, Daniel Scioli, is leading in early vote counting. It's not certain whether he will get enough votes to avoid a runoff. Looking for a fresh start, Guatemalans went to the polls today and elected a comedian as president of their country. Jimmy Morales, a former TV comedian with no political experience, appears poised to beat former first lady Sandra Torres, according to opinion surveys. People in Poland voted Sunday in a parliamentary election, choosing 460 lawmakers in the lower house and 100 in the Senate. Based on an exit poll, it appears the opposition Law and Justice Party has gained a big victory, getting enough seats in parliament to govern alone. The world would be a better place if dictators such as Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi were still in power, according to top Republican U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump. He mad the comments Sunday. Calling Iraq the "Harvard of terrorism," Trump told CNN's State of the Union the country had turned into a "training ground for terrorists." A video posted online Sunday reportedly shows a joint U.S. and peshmerga raid on an Islamic State prison in northern Iraq last week that freed 69 hostages. In the two-minute video shared by the Kurdistan Regional Security Council, several commandos in uniform are seen leading a group of men quickly between rooms as non-stop gunfire crackles nearby. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has apologized for what he calls "mistakes" made during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In an interview with CNN, Blair also cites the invasion as a trigger for current conflicts in the region, including the rise of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. From the VOA news center in Washington, I'm David DeForest. That's the latest world news from VOA. |