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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting.
State media reports that at least 35 people were killed and many injured Tuesday when a rocket landed in a busy marketplace in an eastern suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus. The rocket landed in the Kashkoul market close to rebel-held parts of eastern Ghouta. U.N. officials say about 100,000 people are trapped in rural areas of Syria's northern Afrin district and need humanitarian aid after Turkish and allied Syrian forces drove out the Syrian Kurdish militia. UNICEF estimates 50,000 children are among those who need humanitarian aid in Afrin. The U.N. human rights office warns that massive human rights violations carried out by Turkey's government following an attempted coup in July, 2016 and a number of terrorist attacks have eroded the rule of law in the country. Afghanistan's Taliban says they are ready to discuss peace and reconciliation with the leaders of the Afghan jihadi organizations opposed to the U.S.-led "foreign occupation" of the country. The insurgent group made the overture through an official statement Tuesday, but maintained its silence over Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's recent offer of a reconciliation dialogue. A student with a gun opened fire in a high school hallway in the eastern U.S. state of Maryland on Tuesday, wounding two classmates, before being killed during a confrontation with a school police officer. The sheriff, Timothy Cameron, said the officer, Blaine Gaskill, immediately responded to the gunfire and exchanged shots with a 17-year-old boy. This is VOA news. A package bomb has exploded at a FedEx facility near San Antonio, Texas. Authorities are trying to determine if it is linked to recent blasts in the city of Austin. One person was injured in the Monday night explosion. The package was reported to be headed for Austin, which has been hit by four blasts this month. Two people have been killed. Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a stern warning to Taiwan on Tuesday as he marked the beginning of his second term in office. China claims the self-ruled island of 24 million people is part of its territory. Xi says any attempt at separatism will "face the punishment of history." VOA correspondent Bill Ide reports. For Beijing, Taiwan is a sensitive issue and potential military flash point. Xi has been ratcheting up the pressure ever since Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen was elected in 2016. Tsai is a member of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, but says she wants to maintain the status quo. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrew Lee brushed aside Xi's remarks and urged other countries to support Taiwan's role as a democracy in the region. Bill Ide, VOA news, Beijing. Russian diplomats ordered expelled by Britain over a nerve agent attack on British soil left the country Tuesday. They were transported from the Russian embassy in London to Stansted Airport for a flight home. Britain ordered the 23 diplomats expelled last week after blaming Russia for the poisoning of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia earlier this month. British officials say the Skripals remain in critical condition and a policeman who assisted them is still hospitalized in stable condition. President Trump congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election during a phone call on Tuesday and the two leaders agreed to meet soon. Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday "We will probably get together in the not-too-distant future, so we can discuss arms, we can discuss the arms race." Trump said the arms race is "getting out of control," but the U.S., he said, "will not allow anybody to have anything even close to what we have." Other issues that Trump said will be discussed during a meeting between him and President Putin will be Ukraine, Syria and North Korea. During the call, Trump emphasized denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. 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. |