THE NEWS IN SPECIAL ENGLISH, AUGUST 27, 2008
First, here is the news in Special English.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has officially recognized two separatist areas in Georgia as independent states. The Russian leader signed a declaration recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The declaration orders Russia's foreign ministry to establish diplomatic relations and propose cooperation agreements with the two areas. The president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, called the Russian decision completely illegal. He urged unity among Georgian citizens to answer what he called, “Russian aggression.” The Russian president says his country wants the partnership with NATO but he warns that expanding the alliance would only worsen tensions. Dmitry Medvedev told al-Jazeera television that building ties with Russia is in the interest of Western countries. He said these countries have the power to reduce tensions that have increased because of the crisis in Georgia. The Russian leader said opening NATO membership to Georgia and Ukraine would make the situation worse. The two countries are former Soviet republics.
Hijackers have seized a Sudanese passenger airplane carrying at least one hundred people. Sudanese reports say the plane was hijacked shortly after it left Nyala, the largest town in Darfur. The plane was supposed to fly to the Sudanese capital, Khartom. It has since landed in the Libyan town of Kufra. Media reports say the hijackers asked for permission to land in Cairo but were refused. Details about the hijackers or whether they have made any demands were not immediately known.
The Democratic party nominating convention continues Tuesday in the American city of Denver, Colorado. Senator Hillary Clinton is expected to give a speech aimed at unifying the party after a long and divisive early election. Ms. Clinton will urge her supporters to support her former opponent for the Democratic nomination, Senator Barak Obama. He is to become the first African-American nominee of a major American political party. Convention delegates are to nominate Mr. Obama as the party's presidential candidate on Thursday.
A suicide bombing in eastern Iraq has killed at least twenty-five people at a police employment center. About forty people were wounded. Most of the victims were Iraqis hoping to join the police force in the town of Jalula in Diyala province. A car bomb explosion in Tikrit wounded twelve people. Officials denied earlier reports of deaths in the attack.
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Afghan government officials say they do not want foreign forces to leave the country. A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke with news reporters Tuesday. He said foreign troops should remain in Afghanistan. But he says their actions must follow Afghan and international laws. Friday, many Afghan civilians reportedly were killed in an American airstrike in the western province of Herat. The United Nations says it has found strong evidence that ninety Afghan civilians were killed. U.N. officials said most of those killed were children.
The United Nation says Afghanistan is producing less of the drug opium. The U.N. office on drugs and crime in Afghanistan said Afghan opium production has dropped six percent this year. It said almost all of the poppies used to produce the drug are grown in just seven provinces controlled by the Taliban. The report says the center of the opium industry remains in southern Helmand province. Farmers there grew two thirds of Afghanistan's opium crop this year. It says Taliban militants in Helmand profit from the trade of opium, which is used to make the drug heroin.
Pakistani police say an explosion at a restaurant near the capital, Islamabad, has killed at least five people. More than sixteen others were wounded. The cause of the explosion late Tuesday is under investigation. Also Tuesday, gunmen fired on a car carrying an American diplomat in Peshawar, the capital of Northwest Frontier Province. No one died in the attack. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident.
Thai riot police have forced their way into a government building occupied by thousands of protestors. The protestors had promised not to leave until the government falls. Police clashed briefly with protestors early Wednesday before surrounding the government buildings. Witnesses say the two sides seem to be holding negotiations. Protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul said Tuesday that they would not leave until Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej resigned from office. Thousands of members of the People's Alliance for Democracy remain in the government building that contains the offices of the prime minister.
Hurricane Gustav has hit southwestern Haiti bringing heavy rains and winds of about one hundred fifty kilometers an hour. The storm moved on land Tuesday afternoon. It was expected to lose some of its strength while moving over Haiti. But, weather experts expect the storm to regain some of its force once it moves over open water and comes closer to Cuba on Wednesday. The United States National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, says the storm could produce up to half a meter of rain in some areas of Hispaniola. This is the name of the island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic. Heavy rains are also expected in eastern Cuba and Jamaica.
And now briefly, here again is the major news of the hour read in VOA Special English.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has officially recognized two separatist areas in Georgia as independent states. A Sudanese plane carrying at least one hundred people has been hijacked and flown to Libya. A suicide bombing in eastern Iraq has killed at least twenty-five people at a police employment center. And, Afghan government officials say they do not want foreign forces to leave the country.
And, that's the news in VOA Special English coming to you from Washington.
