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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting. Brussels braces for a possible terrorist attack.
Belgium is maintaining its highest alert level and closing schools Monday in the capital amid what is called a "serious and imminent" threat of terrorist attacks. Prime Minister Charles Michel announced a higher vigilance Sunday at a national security council meeting. Meanwhile, Belgian prosecutors announced they've arrested 16 people in raids. Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam is not among those arrested. U.S. President Barack Obama says he is confident the U.S. and its allies will destroy the Islamic State jihadists. Speaking in Malaysia, where he attended the ASEAN summit, the president said ISIL would be destroyed on the battle field and their land taken back. The president warned against succumbing to fear. "We do not succumb to fear. Thatfs the primary power that these terrorists have over us. They cannot strike a mortal blow against the United States or against France or against a country like Malaysia, but they can make people fearful." :President Obama. Malian authorities searched Sunday for at least three suspects they believe are connected to Friday's attack on a hotel in the capital Bamako. Meanwhile, an Army commander says two gunmen who were killed in the assault on the Radisson Blu Hotel were armed with assault rifles, explosives and a large amount of ammunition. Iran said Sunday it has sentenced Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian to an unspecified prison term. Rezaian was convicted on espionage charges. A spokesman announced the sentence on Iran's state television's web site, but said it was "not finalized." This is VOA news. Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Sunday signed a declaration establishing a formal economic, political, security and socio-cultural community. Steve Herman reports. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak hailed the establishment of the ASEAN Community "as a landmark achievement" being realized more than a dozen years after it was first proposed. "Our ASEAN way has guided us and will continue to be our compass as we seek to realize a politically cohesive, economically integrated, socially responsible and a truly people-oriented, people-centered and rules-based ASEAN." Many tariff barriers have already been eliminated among ASEAN states although many politically sensitive sectors remain protected. Steve Herman, Kuala Lumpur. Exit polls show the center-right mayor of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, appeared headed for a victory as polls closed in Argentina's first-ever presidential runoff election Sunday. The vote was widely seen as a referendum on the left-leaning policies of the outgoing president. Egyptians voted Sunday in the second stage of parliamentary elections. The vote will produce the country's first legislature in more than three years. Tens of thousands of policemen were deployed in Cairo and the 12 other provinces where voting took place. The bodies of nearly100 people have been recovered from a landslide Saturday near a jade mine in northern Myanmar. Local officials say more than 100 people remain missing after the incident in Kachin state. A 21-year-old Israeli woman was stabbed by a Palestinian in the West Bank. The military says the Palestinian was shot and killed by soldiers nearby. In an earlier attack, the military said a woman pulled out a knife at a military base entrance and began approaching civilians. A local West Bank settler said he veered his vehicle off the road and struck the woman. A soldier then killed her. Israel says the current violence is due to a Palestinian campaign of lies and incitement surrounding a religious site revered by both Muslims and Jews. Palestinians say the violence is rooted in frustration over nearly a half-century of what they call Israeli occupation. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry departed Sunday on a trip to the Middle East that will focus on the Syrian civil war and multinational efforts for a political transition in that nation. He will also discuss violence in Israel. Local residents say an al-Shabab official believed to be a leader of the pro-Islamic State faction has been shot and killed in an ambush in southern Somalia. Sources say Sheikh Hussein Abdi Gedi and four others were ambushed by al-Shabab fighters. In Washington, I'm David DeForest. That's the latest world news from VOA. |