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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting. President Barack Obama says the U.S. is fully lifting the 50-year ban on the sale of military equipment to Vietnam.
"As with all our defense partners, sales will need to still meet strict requirements, including those related to human rights, but this change will ensure that Vietnam has access to the equipment it needs to defend itself and removes a lingering vestige of the Cold War." At a joint press conference in Hanoi with Vietnam's president, Mr. Obama said the two countries still have differences over human rights and that each individual weapons sale will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Responding to a reporter's question about increased Chinese aggression in the region, Mr. Obama said the decision to sell arms to Vietnam was not in response to China. Mr. Obama will give a speech in Hanoi Tuesday expected to focus on improved relations between the United States and Vietnam and the need for constructive dialogue. Media reports say a series of bomb blasts Monday in two Syrian coastal cities left at least 100 people dead and dozens wounded. Four bombs exploded in Jableh, killing at least 53 people. Forty-eight people were killed by explosions in Tartus. Both cities are government's strongholds. Norbert Hofer, the Freedom Party candidate in Austria's presidential election, has conceded defeat. While the results from Sunday's vote have not yet been officially announced, Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Green Party chief running as an independent, appears to have won a significant chunk of the 90,000 absentee ballots that remained to be counted. Van der Bellen says a lot of people in his country feel they have not been heard and that a new political culture is needed. This is VOA news. A Baltimore police officer was found not guilty on charges related to the death of Freddie Gray, a black suspect who died last year after suffering injuries while riding in the back of a police van. Officer Edward Nero was acquitted by a judge Monday of all charges. Gray's hands and feet were cuffed when he was arrested and put in the van but he was not buckled into his seat as required. Attorneys for Nero argued that he did not make the arrest and that it was the driver's responsibility to ensure that Gray was secure. Five other officers are facing charges. Three of the officers are themselves black. In U.S. political news, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has turned down an invitation to debate her opponent, Bernie Sanders, on Fox News before the California primary election . Campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri says Clinton will spend her time campaigning in the remaining primary states. Clinton and Sanders are both hoping for a win in California as the primaries wrap up. The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a death sentence imposed on a black murderer by an all-white jury. The high court found that state prosecutors improperly kept blacks off the jury in the trial of Timothy Foster, who was convicted in the 1986 murder of an elderly white woman. In writing his opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said the Georgia "prosecutors were motivated in substantial part by race. Protests against Kenya's electoral commission took place in several cities on Monday. Local media are reporting at least three demonstrators were killed in western Kenya. In Nairobi, riot police formed a line around the commission headquarters, waiting much of the afternoon to deter the protests. Director-general Margaret Chan of the World Health Organization says the world is not ready to cope with the threats posed by emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Chan told some 3,500 delegates attending the annual World Health Assembly. Lisa Schlein reports. World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan told a gathering of health ministers and providers that countries could no longer work in isolation to contain infectious diseases and overcome other health threats. She says few threats are local anymore. She says people and goods move around in this interconnected world and so do diseases. Chan says WHO's health emergency management system is undergoing a major reform to ensure its teams are able to respond more quickly and effectively to outbreaks and humanitarian emergencies. Lisa Schlein, Geneva. Taking a brief look at market activities, on Wall Street, U.S. stock indexes were down at the close of trade today. In Washington, I'm David DeForest. That's the latest world news from VOA. |