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VOA news for Tuesday, April 14th, 2015
From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Forrest reporting. A controversy over Russian weapons.
The Obama administration expressed concern Monday over Russia's possible sale of sophisticated S-300 air defense systems to Iran.
A White House spokesman says the administration has previously made known its objection to the sale.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said because of the progress made in recent nuclear talks, the Russia now for an international arms embargo he says has disappeared.
Top U.S. administration officials led by Secretary of State John Kerry are briefing lawmakers on Capitol Hill in an effort to persuade Congress to give the international community more time to secure a nuclear agreement with Iran.
Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has begun her 2016 campaign. She stopped to shake a few hands in New York and Pennsylvania on her way to her first formal campaign event in Iowa on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio announced his Presidential campaign Monday in Miami.
"It's because while our people and our economy are pushing the boundaries of the 21st century, too many of our leaders and their ideas are stuck in the 20th century.”
Rubio is the 3rd Republican to officially enter the race for the 2016 Presidential nomination following senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is headed to the United States, hoping to convince President Barack Obama to give his country more air support and billions of dollars in new arms shipments to fight Islamic State militants.
Mr. Abadi said Monday that although the United States has already increased its support for Iraq, he says more is needed.
This is VOA news.
The aid group Doctors Without Borders has airlifted medical supplies to Yemen's rebel-held capital, Sana'a.
The medical aid group says a cargo plane carrying 15 tons of supplies landed in the capital Monday. It says it also is working to establish additional supply routes by sea to the embattled city of Aden.
8 Cambodian political activists, including monks and members of the main opposition party, were released on bail Monday after 5 months in detention.
The released activists include U.S. citizen Meach Sovannara and others facing accusations related to a protest in 2014 that turned violent.
Nigeria's President-elect Muhammadu Buhari said Tuesday his administration will do everything in its power to rescue more than 200 girls captured by Islamic militants 1 year ago.
On the anniversary of the kidnapping, Mr. Buhari criticized the current government's efforts to find the girls, saying his administration "will act differently from the government we replace." He said on the day he takes office, Boko Haram militants will know the "strength of our collective will.”
Nigeria's newly ascendant All Progressives Congress Party won at least 18 of 29 state governorships that were at stake in elections over the weekend. Chris Stein takes a look.
Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission declared Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party the winner of the gubernatorial election in Rivers State. It is an important victory for the PDP, which after holding the presidency for 16 years lost it to All Progressives Congress party candidate Muhammadu Buhari when Nigerians voted for President 2 weeks ago.
Rivers State is the heart of Nigeria's oil production and Wike will be taking over from a firebrand APC governor that was a thorn in the outgoing ruling party's side.
Chris stein, Abuja.
The elections taking place in Sudan today through Wednesday are sure to give President Omar al-Bashir another term in office.
A victory for Mr. Bashir and his National Congress Party is guaranteed because the country's main opposition parties are boycotting the election.
The United States and European nations are pressing Libya's rival factions to declare an "unconditional" cease-fire that coming at a time when violence erupted when a bomb exploded outside the Moroccan embassy in Tripoli. There were no casualties.
Turkey leveled a new attack Monday on Pope Francis because of his contention that the Ottoman Turk massacre of Armenians a century ago constituted genocide.
The Turkish minister for European Union affairs called the statement unhistorical and "null and void.' Taking a brief look at markets on Wall Street, U.S. stock indexes were down. At the close of today's trading session, European markets were mixed.
From the VOA news center in Washington, I'm David Forrest.
That's the latest world news from VOA.
