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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Michael Brown reporting.
Warplanes belonging to Russia and the Syrian government conducted a massive air raid on targets in rebel-held areas of Aleppo Friday. The attack comes on the eve of a new round of talks to curb the violence in Syria. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Saturday. It's the first meeting between the two representatives since Washington and Moscow cut off diplomatic talks early this month. The West accuses Russia and its Syrian allies of war crimes for bombing hospitals and U.N. relief convoys in and around Aleppo as they target Syrian rebels looking to topple President Bashar al-Assad. The Obama administration announced Friday the easing of restrictions on Cuba in an attempt to create more economic opportunities between the two countries. The administration approved a package of regulatory changes that is intended to expand scientific, humanitarian, trade and commercial opportunities between the U.S. and Cuba. South Sudan's exiled former vice president and opposition leader, Rieck Machar, says he does not want to take his movement back to an all-out war, but will do so if a peace deal with the government cannot be restored. Machar, the leader of the Sudan People Liberation Movement in Opposition, told VOA that his movement is reorganizing itself to stage what he called a popular armed resistance against the government of President Salva Kiir. At the same time, Machar wants to revive the August 2015 peace deal between his opposition movement and the government. This is VOA news. Two more women have alleged that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made unwanted sexual advances toward them, including a contestant in Trump's television show, "The Apprentice," who told reporters that Trump kissed and grabbed her at a hotel where she had gone to discuss potential jobs. An attorney for the woman says she did not come out about the accusations because of financial gains. "She didn't file a lawsuit, and she's not seeking either money or fame, and actually to the contrary, she was very reluctant to come forward and speak here today, but did so because she felt after hearing the 'Access Hollywood' tapes and after hearing his denial that she needed to do so." In his latest battle to the allegations he sexually assaulted women during a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, Friday, Trump lashed out his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and the media. "They make up lies. They have people come around. Oh, Donald Trump did this or that. I never saw these people before. I don't know who they are. And then you watch these phony networks, and dishonest networks, who are 100 percent -- let me tell you something about Hillary Clinton. She's got nothing going, she's got nothing. The only thing she's got going is the media. She's got nothing going." Trump rival Hillary Clinton is off the campaign trial Friday but President Obama campaigned on her behalf at a rally in Cleveland, Ohio, repeating that Trump is unfit to be president. The sexual allegations against Trump have prompted numerous Republican officials to distance themselves from Trump, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, the highest ranking Republican in the U.S. But Ryan stopped short of withdrawing his endorsement of Trump. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is facing scrutiny for a batch of hacked emails that indicate she told Chinese officials they need to control North Korea's aggression, or face a buildup of U.S. defense missile systems in the region. The emails released this week said Clinton told a conference of investment bankers in 2013 that her message to China had been: "You either control them or we're going to have to defend against them." WikiLeaks has disclosed thousands of what it said to be internal emails hacked from inside the Democratic candidate's campaign. Those released this month have prompted some analysts to theorize that WikiLeaks is trying to thwart Clinton's presidential bid in the final days before the November 8 presidential election. The Obama administration announced Friday the easing of restrictions on Cuba in an attempt to create more economic opportunities between the two countries. Haiti has announced that its long-delayed presidential and legislative elections will be held on November 20 after a delay due to Hurricane Matthew, which killed hundreds of people in the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation earlier this month. Haiti's elections had been scheduled for last week. I'm Michael Brown reporting in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |