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VOA news. I'm Christopher Cruise reporting.
The American ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has resigned. She is leaving at the end of the year. Associated Press correspondent Warren Levinson reports. Nikki Haley was considered a rising Republican star when Donald Trump as president-elect tapped her for the U.N. She indicated no plans for her immediate future. So the question was natural and she answered it at an Oval Office appearance with the president before it was asked. "No, I'm not running for 2020. I can promise you what I'll be doing is campaigning for this one." Trump says Haley first broached leaving in April. That would be around the time Mike Pompeo became secretary of state and John Bolton national security adviser. White House officials said Haley was frustrated that her voice was being overridden in foreign policy. A suicide bomb attack in southern Afghanistan Tuesday killed a parliamentary candidate along with nine supporters. The attack happened a day after Taliban terrorists said they would try to disrupt the upcoming national elections with attacks. The bomber targeted a campaign office in southern Helmand province. Witnesses expect the number of casualties to rise because they said the campaign office was crowed at the time of the attack. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Saudi Arabia should support a thorough and transparent investigation into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The journalist has not been seen since entering the country's consulate in Istanbul last week. A Saudi source at the consulate denies Khashoggi was killed. But Turkish police said 15 Saudi nationals arrived aboard two private planes and entered the consulate at the same time as Khashoggi. The International Monetary Fund says the escalating U.S.-China trade war will inhibit global economic growth this year and next. At a meeting Tuesday in Bali, Indonesia, the IMF predicted that "everyone is going to suffer" as the U.S. and China fight over tariffs. This is VOA news. Sales of U.S. military equipment to foreign governments rose 33 percent this year, totaling more than $55 billion. The spike is likely due to President Trump's "buy American' strategy, which has loosened rules governing the sale of arms manufactured in the U.S. to other countries. Teams from both Korean militaries have begun clearing mines at a key battle site in preparation for North-South excavation efforts inside the De-Militarized Zone. VOA's Seoul correspondent Steve Miller reports. Inside the Joint Security Area, or JSA, North Korean troops uncovered one mine during their cleaning operation and later detonated it. Both efforts are part of the comprehensive military agreement signed in Pyongyang last month that two Koreas' defense ministers called for steps to cease all hostile acts and transform the DMZ into a peace zone. Between April and October, 2019, both Koreas will work to retrieve war remains as part of an ever agreed to during the third inter-Korean summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The U.N. refugee agency says it has had to severely cut vital aid programs for millions of refugees this year because it's received only slightly more than half of the $8.2 billion it needs for its humanitarian operations. Correspondent Lisa Schlein for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva. UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch says in many refugee situations, malnutrition levels are rising, health facilities are overstretched, and shelters are becoming increasingly dilapidated. The UNHCR reports Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Syria and Somalia are the six refugee and displacement situations most badly hit by the funding crisis. Forecasters say Hurricane Michael will strengthen into a major hurricane by late Tuesday as it continues on a dangerous path toward the southeastern U.S. state of Florida. The National Hurricane Center says Michael is about 700 kilometers south of the popular resort town of Panama City. National Hurricane Center senior hurricane specialist Jack Beven says Michael won't immediately die after making landfall in Florida. The storm has already caused damage in Mexico and Cuba, and forecasters say the storm could dump as much as 30 centimeters of rain before leaving western Cuba. The top story of the hour, Nikki Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, announced on Tuesday she is resigning. She will be leaving office at the end of the year. There is 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. |