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From Washington, this is VOA news. Hello, I'm Steve Miller.
U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Jeffrey L. Harrigian said Iran manufactured the ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Shiite rebels toward the Saudi Arabian capital and remnants of it bore "Iranian markings." "That's been demonstrated and there are pictures that depict that. So, to me that connects the dots to Iran in terms of whose supplying those." Saudi Arabia long has accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies, though Tehran has just as long denied supplying them. There is no immediate reaction from Tehran. Hezbollah's leader said Friday that Saudi Arabia had declared war on Lebanon and his Iran-backed group accused Riyadh of detaining Saad al-Hariri and forcing him to resign as Lebanon's prime minister to destabilize the country. "The man is detained in Saudi Arabia and forbidden until this moment from returning to Lebanon." His comments mirror an accusation made by Riyadh on Monday that Lebanon and Hezbollah had declared war on the conservative Gulf Arab kingdom. Taking the stage at a meeting for top corporate executives of the Asia Pacific region, U.S. President Donald Trump told the audience he is willing to make one-on-one trade deals with any country in the region. "I will make bilateral trade agreements with any Indo-Pacific nation that wants to be our partner and that will abide by the principles of fair and reciprocal trade." But he rejected multinational deals like the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is VOA news. Twenty asylum seekers left Friday from an Australian-run detention center due to closedown in Papua New Guinea, but Bill Gallo reports hundreds of holdouts faced forcible eviction amid an immigration standoff that has blighted Australia for years. Nearly 600 men have barricaded themselves into the Manus island center for more than 10 days without regular food or water, defying closure attempts by Australia and Papua New Guinea in what the United Nations calls a "looming humanitarian crisis." Their deadline to move is Saturday. Some locals are angry at what they perceive as preferential treatment for the asylum seekers, many of them well educated, in a poor, rural society, and some of the detainees have come under attack when on release from the camp. While 20 men left the camp Friday, the rest vowed to stay put, setting the scene for a possible clash since Papua New Guinea said it would forcibly evict and apprehend any holdouts Saturday. Bill Gallo, VOA news. Marissa Melton reports the Catalan parliament speaker was released from prison Friday. But the terms she agreed to in exchange for being granted bail seem likely to prevent her from campaigning on a pro-independence ticket for regional elections next month. Carme Forcadell appeared in the Supreme Court Thursday to answer charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds after she enabled a declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament in late [November] October. She was released on bail of about $175,000 and agreed to renounce any political activity that went against the Spanish constitution. The court said it could reconsider its ruling if it found evidence of her committing more offenses, effectively banning her from campaigning for independence for the December 21 election. Following the independence declaration, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolved the Catalan parliament and fired the administration of Catalan President Carles Puigdemont. Forcadell at the time described Rajoy's actions as a coup and an "attack against democracy." Marissa Melton, VOA news. This week Ivory Coast signed a nearly $525 million compact grant with the United States government Millennium Challenge Corporation. Money will be spent over a five-year period to spur economic growth in the West African country and promote regional stability and security. The grant is designed to support growth and private investment by building up workers' skills and reducing transportation costs. Brazilians took to the streets on Friday to protest the implementation of new labor rules and express their opposition to proposed changes by the social security system. Trade unions called for a day of action around Brazil, but protests remained relatively small. The law goes into effect Saturday. I'm Steve Miller in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |