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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting.
President Trump has fired his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and has picked CIA director Mike Pompeo to replace him. Trump has also nominated Gina Haspel, the current deputy director at the Central Intelligence Agency, to replace Pompeo. Hours later, Tillerson appeared at the State Department and said he is formally stepping down at the end of the month. Tillerson and Trump have clashed for months over several issues. President Trump acknowledged on Tuesday British evidence that the Russians may have been behind the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England, but he stopped short of blaming Moscow "until we get the facts straight," he said. "It sounds to me like it would be Russia based on all the evidence they have," Trump told reporters outside the White House. He spoke by phone Tuesday with the British Prime Minister Theresa May about the attack in southern England on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. The White House said Trump agreed with May that Russia "must provide unambiguous answers" about how the weapon ended up being used in the U.K. They also agreed on "the need for consequences" for those responsible for the attack. Britain gave Russia by the end of Tuesday to explain how the nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union was used to poison Skripal, who is a former Russian double agent who gave secrets to British intelligence officials. Britain said if Russia does not comply with the request, it would take "extensive" retaliatory action. This is VOA news. The U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria is condemning what it calls the violation of International Humanitarian Law by all of Syria's warring parties and calls for them to be held accountable for their crimes. Correspondent Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva. Seven years into the Syrian conflict, the killing goes on with no end in sight. Commission Chair Paulo Pinheiro tells the U.N. council the killing fields have never gone away. They have just moved their locality. Pinheiro is calling for an immediate end to intentional and indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations and for the delivery of food, water, medicine and other critical aid. Pinheiro says only a political solution will end this conflict. Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva. An assassination attempt in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has thrown a wrench into peace talks between rival Palestinian factions. Correspondent Robert Berger reports for VOA from Jerusalem. An explosion struck the convoy of the Palestinian prime minister during a rare visit to Gaza. Officials say Rami Hamdallah, who is based in the West Bank, was not hurt by the bomb but several cars were damaged. The attack casts a shadow over reconciliation efforts by rival Palestinian governments. The Islamic militant group Hamas expelled the Palestinian Authority to the West Bank during a civil war in Gaza in 2007, but last year they launched talks to try to settle their differences and return Gaza to Palestinian Authority control. The Palestinian Authority, which is backed by the United States and Europe, described the explosion as an assassination attempt and quickly blamed Hamas. But Hamas condemned the explosion as an attempt to harm unity and promised an "urgent" investigation. Robert Berger, for VOA news, Jerusalem. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says small factions of Taliban forces fighting the U.S.-backed Afghan government have expressed an interest in negotiating an end to the 16-year-long war. And at least 40 people have been killed since Sunday in ethnic violence in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Hema cattle herders and Lendu farmers are fighting. The fighting between the two groups instigated by Lendu-dominated militia has killed dozens since December. You can find 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. From the world headquarters of the Voice of America in Washington, I'm Jonathan Jones, VOA news. That's the latest world news from VOA. |