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VOA news. I'm Christopher Cruise reporting.
Several hundred people gathered outside the Ukrainian Interior Ministry headquarters Sunday after the announcement of the death of an anti-corruption activist. Kateryna Handziuk was attacked with acid three months ago. She died on Sunday in a hospital where she was being treated for burns from the attack. Police detained five people in the case, including the alleged attacker. The Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko confirmed the news and expressed condolences to Handziuk's relatives. She worked as an adviser to the mayor of Ukraine's southern city Kherson. She was an outspoken critic of law enforcement agencies, especially the police. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he is restarting denuclearization talks with North Korea this week in New York. He said Sunday he'll be meeting with North's number two official, Kim Yong Chol. "We have not a missile test. There've been no nuclear tests. We've had the returns of American remains. These are all good steps. We're continuing to negotiate with the North Koreans to achieve what President Trump set out: the full denuclearization verified by the United States of the Korean Peninsula, and then a brighter future for the North Korean people." But Pompeo called the coming talks "a good opportunity" to move forward toward specifics of when and how North Korea might end its nuclear weapons program. U.S. fighter jets flew over the Western Pacific and a nuclear powered U.S. aircraft carrier joined Japanese destroyers and a Canadian warship for the biggest combat readiness war game ever staged in and around Japan. Japan and the United States have mobilized 57,000 sailors, marines and airmen for the exercise, 11,000 more than in 2016. Japan's contingent of 47,000 personnel represents a fifth of its armed forces. This is VOA news. Iran's supreme leader says the Islamic Republic is the "victorious party" after nearly 40 years of confrontation with the United States. Associated Press correspondent Ben Thomas reports. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's remarks came on the eve of the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the day after the Trump administration announced that it was restoring all U.S. sanctions lifted as part of the Iran nuclear deal. Those sanctions covering Iran's shipping, financial and energy sectors take effect Monday. Khamenei says the U.S. has waged military, economic and propaganda wars against Iran over the last four decades, but has failed to dominate it in the way it did before the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted a pro-Western monarchy. He says the U.S. is weaker now than it was in 1979, making Iran the victor. The U.N. refugee agency has increased its presence at border points in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia in response to an increase in people from Venezuela for seeking asylum. Correspondent Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva. The impetus behind this move was the deadline of October 31 set by Peru for Venezuelans to apply for a Temporary Stay Permit. That triggered a mad rush by people fleeing poverty and violence in Venezuela to get to Peru before the deadline expired. The U.N. refugee agency reports more than 100,000 Venezuelans so far have obtained the Temporary Stay Permit. Hundreds of Central American migrants from a 4,000-member strong caravan now winding its way through southern Mexico toward the U.S. border splintered off on their own over the weekend after broken promises of bus transportation. Caravan organizers have pleaded for buses in recent days after three weeks on the road. They are about 1,100 kilometers south of the U.S. border. More than 7,000 [troops] American troops have been told to deploy to the states of Texas, Arizona and California. The Pacific islands of New Caledonia have voted in an independence referendum to remain part of France. Almost 57 percent of the islands' 174,000 voters decided in favor of staying a French territory. Sri Lanka's president on Sunday ordered Parliament to reconvene November 14. He said lawmakers will get the chance to hold a confidence vote on the nation's former strongman who(m) the president named prime minister after dismissing the other prime minister and his cabinet last month. 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. |