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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting.
President Barack Obama has ordered an investigation into several cyberattacks blamed on Russia during this year's election. White House deputy spokesman Eric Schultz said the review will look at the tactics, targets, key actors and the U.S. government's response to the recent email hacks as well as incidents reported in past elections. He added that this is not an attempt to change November's result. "This is not an effort to challenge the outcome of the election. We have acknowledged who won the election. It wasn't the candidate that the president campaigned for. So we're not calling into question the election results. We are taking seriously our responsibility to protect the integrity of those elections." U.S. intelligence officials accused Russia of hacking into Democratic officials' email accounts in an attempt to interfere with the presidential campaign. In the months leading up to November's vote, email accounts of Democratic Party officials and a Hillary Clinton campaign aide were breached, emails were leaked to WikiLeaks and embarrassing and private emails were posted online. A new report from the World Anti-Doping Agency says that more than 1,000 Russian athletes including some medal winners benefited from a systematic doping program in Russia. WADA investigator Richard McLaren said on Friday the conspiracy involved the Russian Sports Ministry, the National Anti-Doping Agency and the FSB intelligence service, providing further evidence of state involvement in a massive program of cheating and cover-ups. The report is likely to heighten pressure on the International Olympic Committee to punish Russian athletes before the 2018 Winter Games are held in [Pyongyang] PyeongChang, South Korea. For more on these stories, visit our website. This is VOA news. The 193-member United Nations General Assembly adopted on Friday a resolution demanding an immediate end to attacks on civilians and all besieged areas in Syria. The nonbinding resolution passed by a vote of 122 to 13 with 36 abstentions. U.S. ambassador Samantha Power acknowledged the resolution was not perfect but said it was needed to stop the bloodshed. "No resolution negotiated among U.N. member states on a compressed timeline in response to an urgent catastrophe would be perfect. If ever there were time not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good and the decent, this is the time." The General Assembly also expressed grave concern at the continued deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country and called for increased humanitarian access. The move comes just days after the Security Council failed to adopt a similar resolution demanding a cease-fire in Aleppo, and China and Russia vetoed it. U.S. and Russian officials are scheduled to meet Saturday in Geneva to discuss the situation in Aleppo. U.N. special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said that he hopes that some resolution can be reached to let everyone who wants to leave get out of the besieged city. "... how to arrange a safe exit or withdrawal from the eastern Aleppo off the fighters, all of them, and in addition to them also the population those who want to leave with them." Friday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia and Syrian government forces would continue their bombing raids in Aleppo until rebels vacate the city. Speaking in Hamburg, Germany, Lavrov said that reporters misunderstood a statement he made Thursday that seemed to imply there had been a full cease-fire in declared in Aleppo. Meanwhile, Syrian civilians streamed out of the eastern part of the city on Friday, seeking shelter from a relentless government campaign to drive rebels out of the contested city. Ghana's president, John Mahama, has conceded defeat in Wednesday's national election to opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo. Akufo-Addo confirmed the result in a tweet. He said a few minutes ago "I received a call from President JD Mahama congratulating me on winning the 2016 presidential election." The country's election commission said Akufo-Addo received 53.8 percent of the vote, while Mahama got 44.4 percent. For more on these stories and the rest of the day's news, log on to our website voanews.com. I'm David Byrd in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |