|
From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting. Iraqi security forces clash with protesters inside Baghdad's Green Zone.
The protests exploded into violence Friday afternoon as thousands of demonstrators defied heavily armed guards and concrete barriers and charged into the International Zone. Security forces unloaded heavy machine-gun fire, stun grenades and tear gas as the crowds surged forward. Some of the protesters broke the security cordon and ran to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's offices, determined to find him, but he was not there. Many of the protesters are followers of Muqtada al-Sadr. The Shiite cleric has demanded that Prime Minister Abadi end a political quota system that guarantees political parties ministerial positions and replace the current government with technocrats. European Space Agency officials say one of their satellites has spotted an oil slick in the Mediterranean Sea near where an Egyptian airliner disappeared from radar early Thursday. The ESA says the slick is about 40 kilometers southeast of the last spot that the airplane was last known. Egypt said early Friday it had found debris from the downed aircraft off its coast. Brigadier General Mohamed Samir said on his Facebook page that personal belongings of the passengers and parts of the plane were found floating in the water. EgyptAir Flight 804 with 66 passengers and crew aboard crashed into the sea early Thursday morning on a flight from Paris to Cairo. No cause of the crash has been determined. For more, visit our website voanews.com. This is VOA news. The U.S. Defense Department is dismissing a Russian proposal to carry out joint airstrikes against al Qaeda-linked terrorists in Syria. Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu floated the notion Friday during a meeting that was broadcast on Russian state television. He said the strikes could begin as early as May 25 and would be coordinated with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters Friday the United States does not collaborate or coordinate with Russia on any operations in Syria. The U.S. suspended all military ties with Moscow following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent annexation of Crimea. The U.S. and Russia are both part of the International Syria Support Group, which met earlier this week in Vienna. NATO foreign ministers have agreed to extend the alliance's key training and support mission in Afghanistan beyond this year. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Afghan forces were doing well against Taliban rebels, benefiting from the current military training programs launched in 2015 after the alliance ended its direct combat role. After its longest military campaign ever, NATO has built up the Afghan army to some 350,000 troops but the Taliban remains a major threat. The leading U.S. gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, has endorsed Republican Donald Trump for president. He responded by saying he would not let NRA members down. Trump centered much of his remarks in Kentucky Friday on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, claiming that she wants to abolish the Constitution's Second Amendment, which gives citizens the right to bear arms. Trump said Clinton's proposals for greater restrictions on guns would leave law-abiding citizens at risk from criminals. "Hillary wants to disarm vulnerable Americans in high crime neighborhoods. Whether it's a young single mom in Florida or a grandmother in Ohio, Hillary wants them to be defenseless, wants to take away any chance they have of survival." Clinton has said she supports the Second Amendment, but that safety measures are needed to keep firearms out of the wrong hands. Meanwhile, here in Washington, the White House was briefly put on lockdown after uniformed Secret Service officers shot and arrested a man who was brandishing a gun near the building. Jose Endarra was visiting the area with his family. "???then I turned because I was on my phone. They used a gunshot, very strong, very you know. And then I turned a guy was on the floor. So I yelled to my family, 'The guy got shot, the guy got shot', then I hear the police guards come with their guns.???" The suspect was taken into custody. The president was not at the White House. I'm David Byrd in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |