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This is VOA news. I'm Tommie McNeil reporting.
The Trump administration has given an ultimatum to Turkey over an American evangelical Christian pastor it held for more than a year on terror and espionage charges. Associated Press Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani has more. Andrew Brunson case has strained relations between the two NATO allies as Vice President Mike Pence issued a warning today during a religious freedom summit. "If Turkey does not take immediate action to free this innocent man of faith and send him home to America, the United States will impose significant sanctions." President Trump later tweeted he will impose large sanctions if Brunson's not freed. Turkey's president has in the past linked Brunson's release to the U.S. extraditing a Pennsylvania cleric whom he holds responsible for a failed military coup two years ago. Sagar Meghani, Washington. And Brunson was released from prison Wednesday and placed under house arrest while his trial continues. The effort by some U.S. House conservatives to impeach the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, failed Thursday after House Speaker Paul Ryan said he did not support that move. Ryan said it was inappropriate to impeach Rosenstein for failing to turn over documents demanded by Congress. Instead of going to a vote, the chamber shutting down Thursday for five-week summer recess. However, Rosenstein appeared to have support of his boss, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said Thursday he has "the highest confidence" in his deputy. U.S. President Donald Trump, a day after reaching a truce in the escalating trade dispute with Europe, characterized his talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as a big economic victory. Besides a vague commitment for European purchases of a lot of soybeans as Mr. Trump characterized it, he and Juncker on Wednesday committed to holding off an additional tariffs while trans-Atlantic negotiations are being held. This is VOA news. Official results have not been released from Wednesday's general election in Pakistan. but supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are already alleging that the vote was rigged. Reuters correspondent Matthew Larotonda. An icon of Pakistan cricket who turned into an anti-corruption crusader has declared himself a victor in that country's chaotic general election. The votes have been marred by violence and reports of widespread technical problems but it looks set to make Imran Khan the country's next prime minister. This is only the second civilian election in Pakistan's 71-year history. Khan gave an election victory speech Thursday, promising to fight poverty and corruption. He spoke as 90 percent of the results from Wednesday's votes had been counted. Chinese officials have detained a suspect in the small explosion that occurred outside the U.S. embassy in Beijing Thursday afternoon. Police said that a 26-year old man surnamed Jiang from China's Inner Mongolia region triggered the explosive device, which went off just outside the boundary wall in the southeast corner of the U.S. embassy compound. A police statement said a "firework device" caused the explosion. The Trump administration has released $195 million in military aid to Egypt that has been withheld due to concerns over the country's human rights record. A State Department spokesman said Wednesday the move recognized steps Egypt has taken over the last year in response to U.S. concerns and to further strengthen the countries' partnership. He did not specify what steps Egypt took. The U.S.-led coalition on Thursday acknowledged the deaths of 1,059 civilians from its aerial bombings against the Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq and Syria. The coalition has run a military campaign against the Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria. Rights organizations have long accused the coalition of significantly undercounting the number of civilians it has killed during years of fighting against IS. The death toll from coordinated attacks by Islamic State fighters on a usually peaceful southern city in Syria and its surrounding countryside has climbed to 216. Mass funerals were held in the city Thursday, a day after the wave of attacks that began in the early hours of the mourning lasted for hours. Kenya's ministry of tourism and wildlife now says that another rhinoceros has died from drinking salty water at a new sanctuary in a national park. The black rhino was the 10th to die since being transferred to the park earlier this month. Another rhino at the sanctuary was injured after being attacked by lions. A correspondent has said more on what has become a disaster for Kenyan wildlife officials. I'm Tommie McNeil, VOA news. |