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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Anne Ball.
Bloodbath in Egypt. Two hundred thirty-five people are dead after an attack on a packed mosque in the volatile northern Sinai peninsula. Another 109 were injured. Egyptian officials Friday placed blame on suspected militants. The MENA news agency reports extremists targeted the al-Rouda mosque in the town of Bir al-Abd. Witnesses also said the militants fired on ambulances as emergency personnel tried to evacuate the wounded to hospitals. Here in the United States, worshippers at a mosque in the state of Massachusetts responded to the tragedy. This is ???Salama Basha. "It's very sad. It's ???, inhumanity, doesn't represent any sort of Islamic principles or Islamic faith. Islam doesn't allow anyone to kill, anyone to harm." The United States has called on Pakistan to arrest and charge an Islamist cleric accused of masterminding the 2008 attacks on India's financial capital. Pakistani authorities acting on a court order Friday freed Hafiz Saeed from nearly 11 months of house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore. The detention had stemmed from terrorism allegations. India's External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar: "His release confirms once again the lack of seriousness on the part of the Pakistani government in bringing to justice perpetrators of heinous act of terrorism, including by individuals and entities designated by the United Nations." He was freed because of lack of evidence. Washington has been offering a ($)10 million reward since 2012 for information leading to Saeed's arrest and conviction. Zimbabwe's first new leader in nearly four decades was sworn in Friday and has promised major reforms to ease the country's long-running economic crisis. President Emmerson Mnangagwa takes power in a nation deeply scarred after 37 years of authoritarian rule by Robert Mugabe. Under intense pressure from the military and the ruling party, Mugabe resigned Tuesday. VOA's Anita Powell reports from Harare. Zimbabwe's new leader was sworn in Friday in a pomp-filled, exuberant ceremony filled with music, dancing, dignitaries and promises from new President Emmerson Mnangagwa. "I, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, swear that as president of the republic of Zimbabwe." President Mnangagwa won't have time to rest on his laurels and celebrate winning the job he clearly eyed for decades while serving as Mugabe's right-hand man. He will serve out the remainder of Mugabe's term, which is slated to end in mid-2018. Anita Powell, VOA news, Harare. An Iranian sanction-busting case in New York threatens to further strain Turkey-U.S. relations. The trial of Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab and Mehmet Hakan Atilla, vice president of a Turkish state bank, is due to start on December 4. The defendants are accused of violating the U.S.-Iran sanctions act involving billions of dollars in alleged illicit trade. The case threatens to implicate key political figures closely tied to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Ankara has slammed the case as political, but fears are growing it could have severe financial consequences for the Turkish economy. London police found no casualties Friday after investigating reports of shots fired at a busy subway station. Police initially responded as if the incident were terror-related, but later they said they "have not located any trace of any suspects, evidence of shots fired or casualties." ???Sam Robertson was an eyewitness. "I was at the top of Argyll Street, ..." I'm Anne Ball in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |