VOA NEWS

November 14, 2017

From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting.



A federal appeals court has ruled that President Trump's order restricting travel to the U.S. from several countries may take effect in part.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that people who have no bona fide relationships to people or institutions in the U.S. may be barred from visiting.

A three-judge panel said that the government could implement the restriction except on "foreign nationals who have a credible claim of bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States."

The judges did not explain their ruling but they cited the ruling from the Supreme Court in July that first allowed visitors with bona fide relationships.



President Trump repeatedly praised Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, virtually ignoring discussion of Duterte's human rights record in carrying out thousands of extrajudicial killings in his war against drug suspects.

The White House said human rights "briefly came up in the context of the Philippines' fight against illegal drugs." But Duterte spokesman disputed that account, saying, "There was no mention of human rights. And there was no mention of extralegal killings. There was only a rather lengthy discussion of the Philippine war on drugs, with President Duterte doing most of the explaining."



South Korea's military said Monday a North Korean soldier was shot and wounded by fellow soldiers while defecting to South Korea.

The severity of his injuries and reason for defecting weren't immediately clear. The defection took place at Panmunjom, the truce village located inside the DMZ.



This is VOA news.



Vote counting is underway in Somaliland after the breakaway republic held its presidential election.

Three candidates are competing to replace the current president who opted not to seek re-election.



Rescuers in Iran continue to dig through the rubble Monday in a search for survivors after a powerful earthquake that struck the day before on the Iran-Iraq border, killing more than 400 people.

As dusk approached Monday, tens of thousands of Iranians were forced to sleep outside for a second night.



With flowers, music and a peace march, France paid tribute to the 130 people who were killed in a string of bombings and shooting(s) two years ago. From the capital, correspondent Lisa Bryant has more on the commemorations, marking the 2015 Paris attacks, the deadliest in France.

French authorities only recently lifted a state of emergency. In its place is tough new counter-terrorism legislation.

Thousands of soldiers continue to patrol the streets, and authorities say 13 terrorist attacks have been foiled this year alone.

The attacks have left other victims: mainstream Muslims who say they are unfairly stigmatized as potential extremists. Several dozen staged a peace march in Paris on Monday, posing for photos and singing France's national anthem.

Lisa Bryant, for VOA news, Paris.



The European Union has approved economic sanctions, including an arms embargo on Venezuela.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels announced the measures in response to regional elections last month, which they say worsened the Venezuela's crisis.



Media reports in the U.S. say President Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to personally intervene in the case of three American college basketball players who were arrested on shoplifting charges last week in Hangzhou.

The team has since returned home without the three players.



Russian state-controlled media outlet RT confirmed Monday that it has registered as a foreign agent in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Justice had given RT until Monday to register its operations or face legal action.

The U.S. demand for RT's registration may be mirrored by Moscow. The Kremlin said last week that would force outlets such as the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, both of which receive funding from the United States to register in Russia.



There is more on these and other late breaking and developing stories, from around the world, around the clock, at voanews.com and on the VOA news mobile app. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting from the world headquarters of the Voice of America in Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.