VOA NEWS

November 20, 2015

From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting. He is dead.



Authorities are confirming that the suspected ringleader of last week's Paris attacks was killed in a police raid Wednesday. Officials say Abdelhamid Abaaoud had also been implicated in four of six foiled attacks this year.

European Union justice and interior ministers will hold crisis talks in Brussels Friday to discuss security issues raised by the Paris attacks.

French lawmakers voted Thursday to extend by three months the state of emergency declared after last week's attacks.



U.S. President Barack Obama says efforts to defeat the Islamic State group will not succeed until there is a political agreement in Syria. Mr. Obama said he does not believe that agreement should leave President Bashar al-Assad in power.

The president spoke Thursday on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific conference in the Philippines.



The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to suspend President Barack Obama's plan to resettle 10,000 Iraqi and Syrian refugees in the United States in the next year. Mr. Obama is promising to veto the measure if it passes the Senate and says he anticipates his resettlement plan will go forward.

The House vote was 289-137.



Russia has signed an agreement to build the first nuclear power plant in Egypt. The announcement concerning the Dabaa nuclear power station project came during a televised ceremony attended by Egyptian President Fattah el-Sissi.

Egypt's nuclear energy agency and Russia's Rosatom company signed the agreement on Thursday.



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The fallout from the Islamic State group's terrorist attacks in Paris has put the future of Europe's passport-free travel area, known as the "Schengen Zone," in doubt. Henry Ridgwell reports.

The Paris attackers were seemingly free to roam across Europe, coordinating the assault in France and Belgium.

The continent's Schengen Zone allows people to travel without passport checks across 26 countries. It is a cornerstone of the European Union, but its problems have been exposed, says border security specialist Calum Jeffray of Britain's Royal United Services Institute.

"I think particularly over the next few months you'll see countries quietly strengthening different aspects of their border security."

France has called on its European partners to urgently improve security and intelligence.

Henry Ridgwell, London.



Western officials, as well as allies in the Middle East, are trying to keep a close watch on what may be a growing chemical weapons program by the Islamic State terrorist group.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls issued a warning on Thursday.

Kurdish officials have repeatedly accused Islamic State fighters of trying to employ chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria.



The leading candidate for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination is calling for a more aggressive American campaign against Islamic State terrorists.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says a bigger U.S. aerial bombardment against the militants is needed.

"This is a time for American leadership. No other country can rally the world to defeat ISIS and win the generational struggle against radical jihadism."

Clinton said the goal should not be to contain the terrorist group, but to defeat it.



A majority of parliamentarians in Tanzania Thursday approved Majaliwa Kassim Majaliwa as the new prime minister. He pledged to work with the opposition.

President John Magufuli appointed Majaliwa, who [is a junior minister] was a junior minister for former President Jakaya Kikwete.



Two people have been killed and two wounded in a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. Reports say bystanders detained the Palestinian suspect after Thursday's attack and handed him over to police.

Israeli state radio says security forces are searching for another person who apparently assisted the attacker.



Police used water cannon Thursday to disrupt protests in Manila. The protests were aimed at Asia-Pacific leaders as they wrapped up a summit.

Left-wing protesters wanted to gain closer access to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

There were no reports of injuries.



The United Nations General Assembly's Human Rights Committee has again rebuked Iran for human rights violations. Earlier Thursday, the committee also passed a similar resolution condemning human rights violations in North Korea.



In Washington, I'm David DeForest.

That's the latest world news from VOA.