VOA NEWS

January 31, 2017

From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting.



Police in Quebec City, Canada, say one person is in custody following a shooting at a mosque.

Six people were killed, eight were wounded Sunday in the shooting, which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned. "The people who commit these acts mean to test our resolve, and weaken our values. They aim to divide us, to sow discord and plant hatred. We will not close our minds. We will open our hearts."

U.S. President Donald Trump called Mr. Trudeau Monday to offer his condolences.



President Trump took to Twitter Monday to say reports from Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly indicate "all is going well" in the implementation of his executive order on immigration.

The order temporarily bans entry into the country from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.

The White House says only a tiny fraction of those entering the U.S. territory since Friday has been affected.

Spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Monday that 109 people so far have been stopped from entering the United States out of 325,000 foreign nationals who have entered the country in a single 24-hour period.

"This focus on securing our borders in our homeland is obviously major part of what the president campaigned on, and now [he's doing exactly what the America to] he's doing exactly what he told the American people he would do. The president will always put the safety and prosperity of our country first and foremost."



Congressional Democrats gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington to express their opposition to the immigration order.

Senate Republicans blocked an effort by Democrats to overturn it.



This is VOA news.



President Donald Trump has signed an executive order cutting regulations on businesses.

The president held a closed-door meeting at the White House with small business owners before the signing.



President Trump says he will announce a Supreme Court nominee late Tuesday.

The nine-member court [has been one seat vacant] has had one seat vacant since the death last year of Justice Antonin Scalia.



Former President George H.W. Bush has been discharged from a Houston, Texas, hospital. He had been at the facility for the last two weeks. He was being treated for pneumonia.



White House press secretary Sean Spicer says Iran has conducted a ballistic missile test. He says the U.S. does not know the exact nature of the test and is studying the matter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday condemned Iran's missile test, calling it violation of a United Nations resolution. He said he would bring up a possible renewal of sanctions against Iran when he meets with President Trump at the White House February the 15th.



The British government has rejected calls for rescinding an invitation for President Donald Trump to visit the country. Opposition to the visit arose after the president's recent order temporarily banning some immigration.



There are reports that as many as seven people were killed Monday in renewed violence in Ukraine's separatist eastern region.

Fighting has increased over the last several days between government forces and Russian-backed rebels.



The Russian Paralympic Committee says its request for a partial lifting of a doping ban on its athletes has been rejected. It says the board of the International Paralympic Committee voted to continue the ban, which will prevent Russian athletes from entering qualifiers for the Winter Games next year.



A series of reforms has been announced to ease the effects of the state of emergency enacted after a July coup attempt in Turkey. Dorian Jones reports.

In a presidential decree, several measures were introduced to ease some of the most controversial aspects of Turkey's state of emergency.

The heavily criticized 30-day pretrial detention period has been reduced to 14 and a four-day ban on detainees seeing their lawyer has been dropped.

More than 40,000 people have been detained and more than 100,000 removed from their jobs since the state of emergency was introduced after July's failed coup.

Criticism has been growing steadily, in particular from Europe.

Dorian Jones, Istanbul.



U.N. officials have condemned the killing of a legal adviser to Myanmar's ruling party and called for a "proper, effective and impartial" probe into the murder.

Ko Ni, a prominent member of Myanmar's Muslim community, was gunned down Sunday as he was waiting for a taxi outside an airport.



From the VOA news center in Washington, I'm David DeForest.

That's the latest world news from VOA.