From Washington, this is VOA news…
I'm Dave DeForest reporting
Russia's foreign minister announces possible ceasefire in Syria:
Sergei Lavrov says a renewed ceasefire could be announced in the near future, possibly within hours. The Russian diplomat met in Moscow with United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura.
De Mistura said Syrian peace talks could be resumed if fighting can be stopped in Aleppo, where rebel fighters Tuesday launched deadly rocket attacks on government-held neighborhoods. A hospital was hit.
A U.S. Navy SEAL has been killed by enemy fire during an Islamic State attack on a Kurdish Peshmerga position in northern Iraq.
”An American service member has been killed in Iraq in the neighborhood of Irbil.”
That was U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaking in Germany.
A Pentagon Press Secretary said the service member was "advising and assisting Peshmerga forces" north of the city of Mosul when they came under attack.
The rights group Amnesty International says more than a thousand Iraqi's are being held without charge at makeshift counterterrorism centers throughout the country. Amnesty says many of the detainees were taken when Iraqi forces recaptured their towns from Islamic State forces.
Many are suspected of collaborating with the militant group. Counter-terrorism officers told Amnesty they lack personnel to carry out investigations in a timely manner and don't have the resources to treat detainees humanely.
The European Commission is due to release details of its plan to overhaul the EU asylum system Wednesday. The plans are expected to touch off a renewed debate on how Europe should handle the recent influx of migrants. An estimated 1 million refugees and migrants arrived in the European Union last year.
This is VOA news.
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Words in This Newscast
Resume –v. to begin again after stopping
Makeshift –adj. a temporary replacement for something
Overhaul –n. to change completely in order to improve or repair
touch off –v. to start, to put in motion
influx –n. the arrival of a large number of people
