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VOA news. I'm Christopher Cruise reporting.
At least three people have died in an explosion near a compound in the Hawlwadag district of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. It happened Sunday morning. The compound was the headquarters of the district and was in the center of the city. The suspected suicide car bomb destroyed much of the structure and buildings nearby have collapsed. Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack. Libya's U.N.-backed government has announced a state of emergency in the capital and its outskirts as ongoing fighting has killed at least 39 people, including civilians in the past few days. Correspondent Edward Yeranian is following the story from Cairo. Militia fighters from several warring brigades fired multiple rounds of ammunition into the air around the Yarmouk military camp, scene of bitter fighting in recent days. Control of the camp changed hands several times during the week, and fighters from the so-called Seventh Brigade based in Tarhouna currently hold it. Amateur photographs posted on Twitter show buildings, including a hospital and a hotel, that were hit by rocket fire during the past 24 hours. Arab media claims that about 40 people have been killed in a week of fighting. The United States along with four European governments are urging the warring militias to observe the latest cease-fire. Edward Yeranian, for VOA news, Cairo. And this late report, about 400 prisoners escaped from a jail in Libya's capital on Sunday during the fighting. The inmates forced open the doors of the Ain Zara prison and guards were unable to stop them. The prison is in southern Tripoli, an area hit for the past week by heavy fighting between the rival groups. Separately, a report, that a missile fell on Sunday on the al-Fallah camp for displaced Tawergha people, killing two and wounding seven, including two children. This is VOA news. Eleven Iraqi political groups, including those led by the cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, announced an alliance on Sunday that would be the majority bloc in the newly elected parliament. The alliance includes 177 lawmakers. There are 329 seats in Iraq's parliament. It's set to meet for the first time on Monday, when it will elect a new speaker and launch the process of forming a government. The chief of the United Nations agency that helps Palestinian refugees has written an open letter to the refugees and the agency's staff following the announcement by the U.S. that it will stop its financial contributions to the agency. He said the U.S. decision will only strengthen their resolve to do whatever they can to help Palestinian refugees. Dutch authorities are drawing some conclusions about the murder of Americans recently in Amsterdam. Associated Press correspondent Ben Thomas reports. Amsterdam City Hall says the suspect and his double stabbing of two American tourists in the Dutch capital had a terrorist motive. They've identified the suspect only as Jawed S., a 19-year-old Afghan citizen. Police shot and wounded the suspect after he allegedly carried out the attack at Amsterdam's main railway station. The Americans are recovering in a hospital. Their identities have not been released. The suspect is also hospitalized. Dutch officials say the suspect holds a German residency permit and investigators in Germany have searched his home and seized data storage devices. I'm Ben Thomas. The International Organization for Migration reports more than 270 Nigerian migrants who recently returned from Libya have completed a skills training course to help them start their own businesses. Correspondent Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from IOM headquarters in Geneva. Migrants attending this week-long event in the Nigerian capital Lagos have shared stories of the business frustrations that drove them to try to go to Europe in search of better economic opportunities. U.N. migration agency spokesman Paul Dillon tells VOA the migrants also have shared stories of the abuse and suffering they endured at the hands of smugglers and traffickers in Libya. At the same time, he says returnees enrolled in this business course have spoken of their hopes for the future. Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva. U.S. Senator John McCain was buried at the U.S. Naval Academy cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland, Sunday. He graduated from the school in 1958. McCain died August 25 after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He was 81. 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. I'm Christopher Cruise, VOA news. |