VOA NEWS

June 7, 2016

From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting. The Islamic State group is imposing a harsh set of rules on residents of areas it controls in Syria and Iraq during the month-long of Ramadan observance.



Ramadan began on Monday. The rules include forbidding the use of satellite TV receivers, limiting the hours of daily work and instituting strict dress codes for women.



The Norwegian Refugee Council says Islamist extremists in Iraq are shooting and killing civilians fleeing from battles between Islamic State and Iraqi government forces in Fallujah.

Iraqi forces have been battling with the IS fighters for a few weeks in an effort to retake the city, which has been controlled by the group since 2014. The offensive has so far surrounded the city on three sides, [with only, with the only] with the only area remaining unclaimed being the western bank of the Euphrates.



The International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday North Korea appears to have reopened a plant to reprocess plutonium, an indication of its widening arms effort.

The agency says satellite evidence shows the North is likely to have resumed activities at the plant at Yongbyon.

Yukiya Amano is the head of the IAEA. "However, as we do not have inspectors on the ground we are only observing through satellite imagery. We cannot state for sure."

The information matches evidence found by the U.S. monitoring website 38 North.



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Jordan's King Abdullah will travel to the U.S. to attend the funeral of American boxer Muhammad Ali.

A family spokesman says the funeral will be held Friday in Ali's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.



This is VOA news.



The U.S. Navy has banned its personnel in Japan from drinking and has restricted their off-base activities. The actions were taken after a U.S. sailor on Okinawa was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

Peter Cook is a U.S. military spokesman: "The department remains committed to working with the government of Japan and the people of Japan to prevent such incidents in the future."

The Navy has been under pressure from Okinawa residents who are calling for the removal of U.S. bases.



Poland and more than 20 NATO member nations are launching a large-scale military exercise. The exercise will involve 31,000 troops. It's part of a move to reassure central and eastern European countries worried by Russia's aggression in Ukraine.

That's Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He says the exercises bring a negative reaction from his government.

The exercise is dubbed Anakonda-16 will be led by Poland.



Israeli customs officials say they have found a cache of ancient coins and artifacts hidden in a diplomatic vehicle used by the Norwegian embassy.

They said Monday that the valuables were discovered in May during an inspection at a crossing point between the West Bank and Jordan.

Media reports say the Norwegian car was being driven by a Palestinian and was carrying a Jordanian diplomat.

The driver was arrested and charged with attempting to smuggle antiquities.



At least one protester was shot and killed, 20 wounded, Monday in the Kenyan city of Kisumu as Kenya's opposition resumed its weekly protests against the country's electoral commission. Demonstrations took place in six cities. Jill Craig has more.

The demonstration in Kisumu descended into police gunfire and burning tires.

In the capital, Nairobi, a more peaceful protest took place. Hundreds of opposition supporters marched to the headquarters of the electoral commission, known as the IEBC. They waved tree branches and held signs that read "Kenyans Don't Trust IEBC."

Kenya's high court this morning declined to block the planned protests. The judge also ordered the police to provide security for the demonstrators.

Jill Craig, Nairobi.



Preliminary vote counts Monday in Mexico showed the ruling PRI party is heading for defeat in state elections held Sunday. PRI has apparently lost several of its strongholds to candidates of the center-right National Action Party.

Voters were said to be unhappy about government's scandals and crime.



A 77-year-old former World Bank economist has a slim lead over Keiko Fujimori in Peru's presidential run-off election. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, Pedro Kuczynski has less than a one percent lead over Fujimori.



In Washington, I'm David DeForest.

That's the latest world news from VOA.