|
From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Liz Parker reporting.
Afghanistan attacked. A suicide car bomb Saturday ripped through a crowded area outside a government building in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing at least 95 people and wounding more than 160 others. Reuters Scarlett Cvitanovich reports. The blast occurred at a police checkpoint in an area near foreign embassies and government buildings. Saturday is a working day in Afghanistan and the streets were busy when the explosion occurred. A representative of Italian aid group, Emergency, called the attack a massacre. This man, a witness, says he was sitting in his shot when he heard the blast, which shattered all the windows in the building. The Taliban has claimed responsibility. It comes only a week after the group attacked Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel when more than 20 people were killed in an overnight siege. That was Reuters Scarlett Cvitanovich reporting. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says (the) United States believed it was Russia's responsibility to curb Syria's use of chemical weapons. Speaking at a news conference in Poland, Tillerson stood by his earlier comments that the Russia-backed Syrian government may still be using chemical weapons against its own people following a suspected chlorine attack in Eastern Ghouta. "The chemical weapons are clearly there, they're being used against civilian populations and the most vulnerable - children - inside of Syria. And I think President Trump was pretty clear the last time he saw this happen inside of Syria. So we are holding Russia responsible for addressing this." Tillerson traveled to Europe earlier this week, making several stops before heading to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. This is VOA news. President Juan Orlando Hernández was sworn in for a new term in the Honduran capital on Saturday. Hernández promising to restore peace after an election marred by irregularities and allegations of fraud. Hernández is Honduras's first president to be re-elected. The 1982 constitution bars presidents from seeking a new term, but he won a Supreme Court ruling in 2015 to get around that. Soldiers and police deployed tear gas to block thousands of demonstrators from marching to the national stadium to protest the inauguration. Fourteen people are dead Saturday after an early morning shootout at a Brazilian nightclub, according to state officials. The shooting happened in Fortaleza in the northeastern part of the country. On Friday, Defense Secretary for the United States Jim Mattis praised the talks between North and South Korea. However, he said they do not address the overarching issues in the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Here is more from VOA's Bill Gallo. A united front against North Korea as the defense chiefs of South Korea and the U.S. met at Pacific Command headquarters. "Our combined military stands shoulder to shoulder, ready to defend against any attack on the ROK or U.S.A." Defense Secretary Jim Mattis once again speaking of military options against North Korea. The talks come as North and South Korea engage in negotiations about next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea. North Korea has agreed to send a delegation to the Games. Mattis praised the talks but expressed caution about what they cannot achieve. "The Olympics talks alone do not address overarching problems." South Korea's defense minister stressed his country is ultimately trying to drive out North Korea to a dialogue with the U.S. Bill Gallo, VOA news, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. North Korea, in September, conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test. Its ballistic missile program is also advancing. The U.N. Children's Fund warns malnutrition rates among children in Venezuela are soaring because of the country's long-lasting economic crisis, and the Children's Fund is now calling for coordinated and urgent action to reach children most in need. UNICEF says the most recent official government figures released in 2009 showed 3.2 percent of children under five were suffering from wasting - a low weight to height ratio. UNICEF spokesman [Christopher] Christophe Boulierac says a report in August by the charity, Caritas, put that figure now at 15.5. We have more on this story and extensive coverage on voanews.com. I'm Liz Parker in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |