VOA NEWS

February 26, 2019

VOA news. I'm Christopher Cruise reporting.



U.S. airstrikes killed 35 al-Shabab terrorists in central Somalia. That word from the U.S. Africa Command, which said the attack was carried out Sunday in the Hiran region as the fighters were moving between locations in a rural area to "mass their forces."

Earlier Monday, Somali officials said al-Shabab militants shot and Killed nine civilians in a suburb of Mogadishu.



Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has unexpectedly announced his resignation.

He said he is sorry for his inability to continue. "I am apologizing to you for all the shortcomings in the past years during my time as foreign minister," he wrote. "I thank the Iranian nation and officials."

He posted the message on Instagram, giving no reason for quitting and there has been not comment so far from President Hassan Rouhani.



President Trump said Monday that an American oil worker held captive for 18 months in the Middle East has been released and reunited with his wife and children.

Trump praised the United Arab Emirates for helping to free Danny Burch, who was abducted by unidentified gunmen on a busy street in Sana'a, the war-torn Yemeni capital, on September 2017.

Burch was later taken to Oman in January 2018 accompanied by a Houthi negotiator.



Hundreds of women and children boarded trucks and evacuated the final piece of land in Syria still held by the Islamic State terrorist group. On Monday, they prolonged the more than week-long exodus, delaying the U.S.-led coalition's final assault on the last shred of the terror group's self-declared caliphate.

Observers on the ground outside the village of Baghuz said the latest evacuation included a convoy of about 25 vehicles.



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Pakistan has decided to allow hundreds of thousands of Afghans living in the country as legal refugees to open accounts in local banks. That would let them participate in the national economy.

The country hosts more than 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees. That makes Pakistan one of the largest refugee-hosting nations in the world.



The U.N. [Security ... ] Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday that the international arms control system is facing [collapsed. He] collapse. He urged Russia and the U.S. to stop the imminent demise of a crucial nuclear treaty.

He spoke to the U.N.'s Conference on Disarmament, warning that one of the cornerstones of diplomatic achievement over the last half century - arms control - was in "grave danger."



Vice President Mike Pence says the Trump administration stands with the U.S.-recognized interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, "100 percent."

The vice president announced new financial assistance for the Venezuelan people in a speech delivered to the Lima Group, following a meeting in Bogota, Colombia, with Guaidó and Colombian President Iván Duque. Pence said disputed Venezuelan President Nicholás Maduro "must go."



President Trump is heading to Hanoi for his second summit with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, amid hopes for a deal that would lead to the North Korean leader to give up his nuclear weapons.



The United States and China are eying a summit between their two leaders to finalize a trade deal and avoid an escalation of trade tensions.

On Monday, President Trump was optimistic that a trade deal with China could be reached. He said he planned to hold a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to finalize details.



Early results from Nigeria's presidential election show the incumbent, Muhammahu Buhari, in the lead, but the main opposition party is rejecting the vote counts, calling them "incorrect and unacceptable."

Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission said Monday that Buhari had won the vote in at least six states, with main challenger Atiku Abubakar winning in the Federal Capital Territory.

The chairman of Abubakar's People's Democratic Party said the party has discovered "irregularities" in Nasarawa state and in the capital.



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.