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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting. An attack is reported on a hotel popular with foreigners in Burkina Faso.
Witnesses in the capital of Ouagadougou say that gunfire and explosions occurred near the upscale hotel. A car was in flames in front of Splendid in downtown Ouagadougou. Witnesses reported several gunmen exchanging fire with security forces at the hotel and a cafe across the street. A senior security official said gunmen had stormed the hotel and taken several hostages. It is not clear who was behind the attack, but the French embassy has called the incident a "terrorist attack." The U.S. embassy in Ouagadougou tweeted that "We are closely following the situation downtown." Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Vienna, Austria, Saturday for consultations with Iran's foreign minister and the European Union's high representative on the implementation of a nuclear agreement with Iran. Meanwhile, the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to verify whether Tehran is complying with its commitment to curtail its nuclear program. At the White House Friday, spokesman Josh Earnest said that tough verification will remain in place. "We have basically created a system that will allow independent, international nuclear experts significant access into Iran and their nuclear program to verify their ongoing compliance with the agreement." If the IAEA verifies Iran's compliance, some of the sanctions against it will be lifted. For more on these stories, please log on to our website voanews.com. This is VOA news. Worries about China's slowing growth, further drops in oil prices and a disappointing report on U.S. retail sales all contributed to a global stock selloff on Friday. The cost of a barrel of oil slid to around $29. Analysts say that oil supplies already outstrip demand, and Iran is preparing to sell more crude as sanctions that have crimped its industry are lifted. In New York, the S&P index fell nearly 2.2 percent by the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off nearly 2.5 percent while the NASDAQ plunged 3.1 percent. Sam Stovall is with S&P Capital IQ: "I think you have a lot factors that are playing into the market's decline this week. First and foremost is the continued decline in oil prices. We had a bit of a rally on Thursday. It did not follow through on Friday. And I think investors are now worried." London's FTSE index lost nearly two percent. Germany's DAX and France's CAC were around 2.5 percent lower. Earlier Friday, key Asian markets fell sharply. Shanghai stocks dropped by 3.5 percent to end at their lowest level in more than a year. The French government is launching an inquiry into a drug trial of an experimental medication that has left one person brain dead and five others hospitalized in serious condition. As Lisa Bryant reports, 90 volunteers had been testing the drug. Health Minister Marisol Touraine says what happened is unprecedented. Touraine says six men ages 28 to 49 who were participating in the drug trial have been hospitalized since Sunday. One was declared brain dead and the others remained hospitalized, with all showing the same type of neurological symptoms. A research company called Biotrial had been testing the drug manufactured by a Portuguese company, which is meant to help with anxiety and other mood disorders. In a statement, Biotrial said there were "serious adverse effects," but the trial had been fully compliant with international regulations. Lisa Bryant, for VOA news, Paris. The U.N. Human Rights chief has spoken out against increasing violence in Burundi. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesman Rupert Colville said in Geneva the increasing ethnic violence is a cause of deep concern. "The suggestion that an ethnic dimension is now starting to emerge is reinforced by one of the sexually abused women who said that her abuser told her she was paying the price for being a Tutsi." Burundi has been in crisis since late April when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would run for a third term, sparking political demonstrations that were met with violence. I'm David Byrd in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |