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From Washington, this is VOA news.
British police confirm a number of fatalities after a reported massive explosion in an arena in Manchester, where a rock concert had just ended. Few details are available but officials are warning people to stay away from the area. The blast happened moments after pop star Ariana Grande finished a show. Witnesses say they heard a loud explosion and people started running everywhere. President Donald Trump criticized Iranian aggression and military ambitions Monday on his first visit to Israel as the American president. He said the United States and Israel "can declare with one voice that Iran must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon, never, ever. And must cease its deadly funding, training and equipment of terrorists and militia. And it must cease immediately." American lawmakers of both political parties have told VOA they are not surprised by media reports that President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, will refuse to hand over documents pertaining to a Senate investigation of Russian meddling in last year's presidential election. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont said "I'm not the least bit surprised. Flynn is facing, potentially, potentially, criminal charges. I can't imagine his lawyer would advise him to do anything but plead the Fifth." The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects Americans against self-incrimination, stating that no person can be compelled to be a witness against himself in a criminal case. Flynn was forced to resign in February after media reports surfaced that he had lied about his contacts with Russia's ambassador. You are listening to news from the Voice of America in Washington. The United Nations Security Council has called another emergency session to address North Korea's latest ballistic missile test. The meeting, the second in as many weeks, is set for Tuesday and was requested by the United States, South Korea and Japan. South Korean analysts said the latest missile was fired Sunday afternoon from South Pyeongan province and traveled about 500 kilometers before landing in the Sea of Japan. The United Nations top diplomat in Iraq says the so-called Islamic State's days "are numbered" in that country and the liberation of the city of Mosul is "imminent." The head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq, Jan Kubis, told Security Council members on Monday "The days of so-called ISIL caliphate in Iraq are numbered, thanks to the bravery and patriotism of the Iraqi security forces, including the popular mobilization forces, the Peshmerga and the tribal volunteers, as well as the endurance of the Iraqi people." "The liberation of Mosul is imminent," he said of the terror group's last stronghold in Iraq. "Operations are shifting to remaining areas and pockets of Daesh presence, including along the borders with Syria." Gambia's government used a court order Monday to seize assets belonging to exiled former President Yahya Jammeh. They include nearly 90 bank accounts and 14 companies linked to Jammeh. The justice minister says Jammeh stole $50 million in public funds before leaving Gambia for Equatorial Guinea in January. Officials in Thailand say a bomb blast in the capital has wounded at least 24 people. Officials say the explosion at a military hospital in Bangkok Monday happened on the third anniversary of a military coup. The remains of batteries and wires were found at the scene of the explosion. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, nor was it clear if the explosion was connected to the 2014 military coup that overthrew a democratically elected government. Doctors and medical students took to the streets of Venezuela's capital Monday, the latest in a series of ongoing and increasingly violent street demonstrations following protests over the weekend in which one man was set on fire. Video shows the man running through the crowd engulfed in flames. And, our top story of the hour just reported, British police are now [conform] confirming a number of fatalities after a reported massive explosion in an arena in Manchester, where a rock concert had just ended. Few details are available but officials are warning people to stay away from the area. The blast happened moments after pop star Ariana Grande finished a show. That's the latest world news from VOA. |