Accessibility links

Breaking News

VOA English Newscast: 2000 UTC January 20, 2016


Emergency responders on scene of attack at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Pakistan, Jan. 20, 2016. (Photo: N. Takar / VOA Deewa)
Emergency responders on scene of attack at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Pakistan, Jan. 20, 2016. (Photo: N. Takar / VOA Deewa)
please wait

No media source currently available

0:00 0:02:00 0:00
Direct link

From Washington, this is VOA News.

I’m Dave DeForest reporting.

An attack in Pakistan: A gun and bomb attack on Bacha Khan University in the Pakistani town of Charsadda Wednesday left at least 20 people dead and many wounded. A military spokesman says 18 students and two university staff are among the dead. Troops gunned down four attackers. There are conflicting statements from the Taliban about its involvement in the attack.

Afghan officials say a suicide car bomb near the Russian Embassy in Kabul has killed at least seven people. Police say the attack targeted a minibus carrying the production staff of an Afghan television channel. Several employees of Tolo TV are among the dead.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.

Falling oil prices, China's economic slowdown, and a pessimistic outlook for the overall global economy this year has sparked another selloff on stocks on global markets.

U.S. indexes fell 3.4 percent or more in Wednesday's afternoon trading. Stocks in Germany, France and Britain dropped. Markets closed down in Asia.

A United Nations delegation flew to Burundi Wednesday to urge the government and the opposition to begin talks before it is too late to avert a catastrophe. It is the second time the Security Council has sent a delegation to the country in less than a year -- a clear indication of its growing concern about the escalating bloodshed.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power is a part of the group.

“They cannot let it become business as usual, when you wake up in the morning and there is a corpse on the street as you try to get to work. And that is what is starting to happen in Burundi.

The election-related violence has killed at least 439 people since April.

This is VOA News.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This News

staff – n. employees or workers

gunned down – v. shooting and killing someone

television channel – n. television station

pessimistic – adj. having or showing a lack of hope

outlook – n. a set of conditions that will probably exist in the future

overall – adv. as a whole or in general

global – adj. of or involving the whole world

sparked – v. setting off a burst of activity

indexes – n. measurements that show the value or quality of something

catastrophe – n. a horrible disaster

indication – n. a sign or expression of something

escalating – v. becoming worse or more severe

bloodshed – n. violence

corpse – n. a dead body

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

XS
SM
MD
LG