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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Smith reporting live.
Senior U.S. officials said Sunday the time for talking about the diplomatic consequences of North Korea's latest missile test is over, since the danger to international peace that the North poses is now clear to all nations U.S. bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula to demonstrate military strength Sunday, and Vice President Mike Pence, who is in Estonia, noted that the United States has "all options on the table" for responding to North Korea. "The president's made it very clear that Russia's destabilizing activities, its support for rogue regimes, its activities in Ukraine are unacceptable and the president made very clear that very soon he will sign the sanctions from the Congress of the United States to reinforce that. But at the same time, as we make our intentions clear, we expect Russian behavior to change. The president and I remain very hopeful that we'll see different behavior by the Russian government, with regard to Ukraine, with regard to supporting rogue regimes in Iran and North Korea." The vice president referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision, to, say, that 755 U.S. diplomats in the country must leave in retaliation for new sanctions the United States is imposing on Moscow for its meddling in the 2016 election to help President Donald Trump win the White House. Late on Sunday, the U.S. State Department called Russia's decision to cut hundreds from the American diplomatic staff in Russia "a regrettable and uncalled-for act." This is news from the Voice of America in Washington. President Trump inherited U.S. military operations to fight terrorism worldwide. But now a bipartisan group in Congress is pushing for debate on whether the legal justification for those operations needs to be updated. But if the House does get a chance to reconsider, answers will be anything but easy. "The challenge is getting agreement on what exactly it should contain. Some would empower the Commander in Chief, others would constrain him. Some would target groups, others would target ideologies. Some are limited in time and place and type of military force, others are unlimited." But if the House does get a chance to reconsider, answers will be anything but easy - complicated questions for a war on terror with no signs of ending soon. Katherine Gypson, VOA news, Capitol Hill. Death protests and violence overshadowed voting in Venezuela Sunday for an unpopular measure to elect a 545-member Constituent Assembly to rewrite the constitution. At least nine deaths have been reported since Friday, bringing the death toll over the past four months of protests to more than 120. Protesters both for and against the assembly battled each other across Venezuela Sunday, with the opposition blocking roads and police reacting with tear gas and rubber bullets. At least 18 African Union troops were killed Sunday in a deadly ambush in the Lower Shabelle region by al-Shabaab militants. The attack, 125 kilometers south of Mogadishu, targeted a supply convoy of 24 vehicles. And at least 10 people were killed and 15 others were wounded in a massive suicide car bomb attack Sunday in the Somali capital. The car that exploded was in a line of vehicles on Maka al-Mukarrama road, Mogadishu's busiest street. Most of the victims were shoppers caught in the explosion as they exited a supermarket next to the road. An Israeli military court has rejected a soldier's appeal after he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for killing a Palestinian. The 20-year-old soldier was convicted of manslaughter in January for fatally shooting an incapacitated Palestinian assailant in the West Bank nearly a year ago. On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted that he would recommend a pardon for the soldier. You can find more on these and other stories developing and breaking from around the world around the clock at voanews.com. I'm Jonathan Smith reporting from VOA headquarters in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |