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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting.
A new wave of protests against President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital erupted Sunday in parts of the Muslim and Arab world. Lebanese security forces outside the U.S. embassy in Beirut fired water cannons and tear gas to beat back Lebanese and Palestinian protesters who hurled stones at the embassy and burned Trump in effigy along with U.S. and Israeli flags. In Indonesia, home to the world's largest population of Muslims, thousands of protesters mounted a demonstration outside the U.S. embassy in the capital, Jakarta. Other protests occurred in Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, Egypt and the Palestinian territories bordering Israel. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, defended the president's decision in an interview on CNN. She said Israel already has numerous government agencies in Jerusalem, and asked, "Why shouldn't we have the embassy there?" She said Trump "did the will of the American people" by making a decision that previous U.S. presidents refused to do. Earlier Sunday, the Arab League called Trump's decision "a dangerous development that places the United States in a position of bias in favor of the occupation and the violation of international law and resolutions." The statement was issued after an emergency meeting of league foreign ministers in Cairo. It also said that Trump's decision strips the U.S. of its role as a "sponsor and broker" in the Mideast peace process. The resolution said Trump's Jerusalem decision "undermines efforts to bring about peace, deepens tension and will spark anger." This is VOA news. A mass vaccination campaign is getting underway to stop diphtheria from spreading among Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. The VOA's Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva. Diphtheria, a disease that was eliminated from Bangladesh decades ago, is rapidly spreading among Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar. The World Health Organization reports more than 110 suspected cases, including six deaths, have been clinically diagnosed. Health officials warn these cases could be just the tip of the iceberg. They say the refugees are extremely vulnerable to diseases as they have low vaccination coverage and are living in congested, unsanitary settlements that are breeding grounds for infectious diseases. WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib says her agency is working with the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the U.N. Children's Fund and partners to contain the spread of diphtheria, a highly infectious respiratory disease. She says this is being done through treatment and prevention. Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva. WHO and its partners had earlier provided more than 700,000 people in Cox's Bazar with oral cholera vaccine to try to protect them from that disease. Iraq celebrated its victory over the Islamic State with a military parade Sunday in the capital, a day after the prime minister announced the successful ouster of the jihadist group from the country. The parade was not broadcast live and state media were the only ones allowed to attend. Witnesses say Iraqi army units in the parade marched across the main square in central Baghdad as helicopters and fighter jets flew overhead. Thousands of people in Ukraine rallied Sunday in protest of the arrest of opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili, calling for his release and the impeachment of President Petro Poroshenko. Ukrainian officials have accused Saakashvili, whom they arrested Friday, of abetting an alleged "criminal group" led by former President Viktor Yanukovych. New evacuations were ordered in Santa Barbara county in southern California Sunday morning as the largest wildfire currently burning in the state threatened a number of coastal towns. Residents of Carpinteria and Montecito were ordered to evacuate early Sunday as the Thomas Fire spread further toward the city of Santa Barbara, about 160 kilometers west of Los Angeles. More than 88,000 people have been evacuated [by] because of the Thomas Fire, which the state's fire agency said was 15 percent contained by Saturday night. 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. |