VOA NEWS

September 20, 2017

From Washington, this is VOA news. Hello, I'm Steve Miller.



Central Mexico was struck by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake. Janet Lee has the details.

Images of the damage showing building walls shearing off and floors collapsed. It's the second big quake to hit Mexico this month. The quake's epicenter was near Mexico's southeastern city of Atlixco, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

At least 94 people have been reported dead thus far.



U.S. President Donald Trump addressed those gathered for the 72nd United Nations General Assembly. Trump said that North Korea's reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatens the entire world with unthinkable loss of human life.

"The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."

Trump also touched on Iran, Venezuela and more during his address.

Other leaders also spoke, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who defended the international 2015 Paris climate accord.

Macron said that the accord can be improved but it will not be renegotiated. The French leader said he profoundly respects Trump's decision to pull the U.S. from the pact.



British police have arrested a third suspect in last week's bombing on a London Underground train that injured more than 30 people.

The Scotland Yard said that the 25-year-old suspect was arrested in Newport, Wales. Police were searching a property in Newport but would not release any additional details.

Two other men have been arrested over the weekend. They remain in police custody, but neither has yet to be formally charged.



This is VOA news.



Rain began lashing the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico on Tuesday. Steve Baragona has the details.

Puerto Rico's governor warned that Hurricane Maria could hit as a category 5 storm with a force and violence that hasn't been seen for several generations. Governor Ricardo Rossello said to expect to lose a lot of infrastructure, adding that a likely island-wide power outage and communication blackout could last for days.

Authorities warned that people in wooden or flimsy homes should find safe shelter before the storm's expected arrival on Wednesday.



Turkey is turning up the pressure on Iraqi Kurds in a bid to stop an independence referendum set for Monday. Dorian Jones has the story.

Around 100 Turkish tanks and armored vehicles are massed on the Iraqi-Kurdish border, ostensibly for military exercises, that coincide with a hardening of Ankara's political rhetoric against the referendum by Iraqi Kurds.

Government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said Tuesday the vote is being driven by a sick mentality and warned it threatened to spark regional chaos.

Despite mounting political and military pressure, observers question whether Turkey would or could back up its saber rattling. Economic sanctions on Iraqi Kurds would be a double-edged sword, while any military action could drag Turkey into a quagmire and possibly isolate the country.

Dorian Jones, of VOA news, Istanbul.



U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged Myanmar to halt its military campaign against Rohingya Muslims, just hours after Aung San Suu Kyi failed to quell an international outcry in a much-anticipated address.

Addressing the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, Guterres said he "took note" of Aung San Suu Kyi's pledge to abide by the recommendations of a report by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan that has advocated citizenship for Rohingyas.

More than 420,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee violence in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state in what the United Nations has described as "ethnic cleansing."



Israel's military on Tuesday shot down an Iranian-made drone being operated by members of the Hezbollah militant group as the drone approached the Golan Heights.

According to the Israeli military, the drone was shot down by a Patriot interceptor missile over the Golan de-militarized zone after being launched from an airbase near Damascus.

The Golan area, which separates Israel from Syria, has seen some spill-over violence from the Syrian civil war.



For additional coverage to these stories and more, point your web browser to voanews.com. From the Washington news center, I'm Steve Miller.

That's the latest world news from VOA.