VOA NEWS

January 6, 2016

From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting. U.S. casualties in Afghanistan.



One U.S. service member was killed, two wounded, Tuesday during fighting in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

U.S. defense officials said American special forces units were involved in an operation near the city of Marja.

Here is Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook: "This is an ongoing situation. There is still a fight going on in the immediate surrounding."

The U.S. soldier killed Tuesday was not identified.



Authorities Tuesday recovered the bodies of at least 36 migrants who drowned off the coast of Turkey after their boats overturned in rough waters. The migrants were trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos.

Twelve migrants were rescued.



[The U.N. mission in the Central African Republic says it is], I should say, the U.N. mission in the Central African Republic says it is investigating new allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. peacekeepers and international forces in that country's capital.

There have been at least 17 previous accusations of sexual misconduct by members of the U.N. mission in the CAR.



The Israeli military says a Palestinian stabbed a soldier Tuesday in the West Bank. The attacker was then shot and killed by troops.

The attack in the Gush Etzion area was the latest in what has been nearly daily Palestinian attacks that have left more than 20 Israelis dead in the past three months.



India's defense minister said Tuesday a total of six militants have been killed in an attack on an air base in northern India. He said an effort to secure the site is still ongoing.

The gunmen who launched the attack Saturday on the Pathankot base near the Pakistani border killed seven security personnel.



This is VOA news.



All countries and militias line up behind regional power players -- Iran and Saudi Arabia, and analysts say the diplomatic crisis that is causing is already having an impact on the region. Heather Murdock has a look.

Kuwait is the latest Sunni-dominated country to withdraw its ambassador from Iran, following Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates, which have all either cut ties or downgraded their relationships with Iran following an international dispute over Saudi Arabia's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

After the Saturday execution, the Saudi embassy in Tehran was attacked and Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties.

Heather Murdock, Cairo.



U.S. President Barack Obama has announced a series of measures meant to reduce gun violence bypassing Congress on an issue that has sharply divided the American public.

Mr. Obama rolled out the new policies Tuesday during a White House address, where he chided lawmakers for failing to enact tighter gun control measures despite a wave of mass shootings.

"All of us need to demand a Congress brave enough to stand up to the gun lobby's lies, all of us need to stand up and protect its citizens, all of us need to demand governors and legislators and businesses do their part to make our communities safer."

The executive actions will require more gun sellers to get licenses and more gun buyers to undergo background checks. The measures will also tighten enforcement of existing laws, increase mental health treatment and expand research into gun safety technology.

U.S. gun sales, meanwhile, soared in recent weeks. Some buyers were worried that terrorist attacks might happen. Others were worried about President Barack Obama's impositions of new restrictions.



Anti-government activists pressed on with their occupation of a wildlife reserve in the northwestern U.S. state of Oregon on Tuesday. The father and son who are at the center of the group's protest, meanwhile, are distancing themselves from the activists.

What began with a splinter group from peaceful protests backing local ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond has turned into a four-day standoff.



The governor of Yemen's port city of Aden survived an apparent assassination attempt Tuesday.

A car bomb blew up as the convoy carrying Governor Aidarous al-Zubaidi passed by. Al-Zubaidi was apparently unhurt, but witnesses say several bodyguards were wounded.

No one has claimed responsibility.



Peace talks between Burundi's government and the nation's opposition groups have been postponed. There has been no word as to when they may resume.

The talks, which opened in Uganda last month, were set to continue Wednesday in Tanzania.

A senior official in Burundi's Foreign Affairs Ministry says the government will not participate due to the inclusion of those who he said are "supporting violence."



From the VOA news center in Washington, I'm David DeForest.

That's the latest world news from VOA.