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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting.
President Trump is expected at any time to fire a salvo directly at China in what could escalate into a full-scale trade war between the world's two largest economies. On the anticipated eve of the measures, America officials spoke to reporters about their months-long investigation of China's trade practices. China has long been considered by many in the international community to have contravened fundamental principles of global trade. Trade actions against China partly in response to the theft and improper transfer of American technology to Chinese companies are expected to be announced by Trump as soon as Thursday. In Afghanistan, officials say a suicide blast has killed at least 31 people and wounded more than 65 others in Kabul. Officials and witnesses say the bomber targeted a crowd during celebrations to mark the Persian new year Wednesday near a Shiite Muslim neighborhood. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. The terrorist group identified the bomber as a Pakistani man. The United States is slapping trade restrictions on [one] 15 South Sudanese oil entities that are partially owned or run by the South Sudan government. The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that anyone wanting to export or transfer items of American origin to the 15 entities must first obtain a license from the U.S. government. Tear gas was thrown into the Kosovo parliament Wednesday, but it failed to stop lawmakers from approving a major border agreement that's key to eventual membership in the European Union. Police arrested several opposition politicians who tossed tear gas. This is VOA news. A month after abducting 110 schoolgirls from a northeastern Nigerian boarding school, Boko Haram militants on Wednesday freed almost all of them. Correspondent Chika Oduah reports. The Nigerian government has confirmed that the majority of the 110 schoolgirls believed to have been abducted by a Boko Haram faction just over a month ago were released Wednesday morning. AFP reported that the girls were brought back to the remote farming town of Dapchi in the northern Nigerian state of Yobe by their abductors in a convoy of nine vehicles. Media reports said that five of the girls died along the way, but a Yobe state government official said this could not yet be ascertained. Questions are being raised about the nature of the release. VOA spoke to the Nigerian president's spokesperson Shehu Garba. He did not confirm nor deny that a ransom had been paid. However, another government official, Yobe State representative Khadija Ibrahim, said no money had been exchanged. Chika Oduah, in Dakar, for VOA news. A Palestinian teen who grabbed the world's attention when she slapped and kicked Israeli soldiers was sentenced to eight months in prison Wednesday by an Israeli court. Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has offered his resignation a day before he was to face an impeachment vote in Congress. It's unclear if the opposition-controlled Congress would accept his resignation or go ahead with the vote Thursday to force him from office. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is urging federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in some drug-related cases, including in so-called "drug kingpin" cases. He endorsed a controversial idea recently proposed by President Trump as part of his campaign against the nation's opioid epidemic. The suspect in a string of deadly bombing attacks that terrorized Austin, Texas, over the last three weeks killed himself early Wednesday. The man was identified as 24-year-old Mark Conditt. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has released a statement about the social network's part in an illegal data collection scandal. In a lengthy Facebook post, he said, "We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you. The good news is that the most important actions to prevent this from happening again today we have already taken years ago. But we also made mistakes." 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. |