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Saturday, November 8th, 2014
From Washington, this is VOA news. Fifteen hundred additional U.S. troops for Iraq authorized by President Obama. Four arrested in bombing in northeastern Nigeria. I'm Vincent Bruce reporting from Washington.
U.S. President Barack Obama is authorizing the U.S. military to deploy up to 1,500 more troops to Iraq as part of the mission to combat Islamic State militants.
Friday's announcement came after Mr. Obama met with congressional leaders. VOA's Aru Pande has more.
President Obama on Friday authorized the deployment of an additional 1,500 non-combat troops to Iraq to help train local forces.
Lawmakers heard from top U.S. military commanders who briefed them on the fight against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria.
Aru Pande, VOA news, the White House.
President Obama will also ask Congress for more than $5 billion to help fund the campaign.
Police in Nigeria say a suicide bomber has killed at least seven people at an ATM, or automated teller machine, in the country's northeast.
Police say they believe a female suicide bomber carried out the attack Friday and say they have arrested four other suspects.
A police spokesman says at least 10 people were also injured in the blast, which went off at a branch of the First Bank of Nigeria in the town of Azare, in Bauchi state.
In a televised briefing Friday, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, reported Russia has sent a large number of tanks, heavy weapons, ammunitions and soldiers into Kremlin-backed eastern Ukraine.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki Friday [told] said the U.S. condemns the reported advance.
"If confirmed, the United States condemns this most recent incursion into Ukrainian territory. It would be another blatant violation of the Minsk agreement signed by Russia and the separatists.”
This is VOA news.
Japan says discussions are underway for a meeting to take place between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping after the two countries agreed to ramp up dialogue.
In a joint statement released Friday, the two sides agreed to "gradually resume political, diplomatic and security dialogue" and "make efforts to build political mutual trust.”
Tanzania's government has denied reported allegations that officials traveling with China's president last year illegally purchased thousands of kilograms of ivory in the East African nation.
China also has denied the allegations, which were brought by a British-based nongovernmental group called the Environmental Investigation Agency, or EIA.
Speaking with VOA's Swahili Service Friday, Tanzanian government spokesman Assah Mwambene questioned the timing of the report, saying the relations between Tanzania and China are good and noting that the presidents of both nations have recently visited the other's country.
According to U.S. government figures, the unemployment rate in America fell to a six-year low of 5.8 percent in October. And also job growth its 56th consecutive month of growth, according to Labor department's statistics.
Select Muslims prayed at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque without incident Friday, although there were reports of scattered violence between Palestinians and Israeli security forces elsewhere.
VOA correspondent Scott Bobb in Jerusalem says the presence of hundreds of Israeli troops outside al-Aqsa's compound allowed for midday prayers to go ahead peacefully.
In stocks in the U.S., the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Index all were down. The Dow dropped 18.54 points, or 0.11 percentage points.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and foreign ministers from 21 countries began talks on boosting trade, international investment and economic growth in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation region.
In a speech earlier this week, Secretary of State Kerry said the U.S. and China have agreed to disagree when it comes to human rights.
"That's why we've spoken out about the situation in Hong Kong and human-rights issues elsewhere in China, because respect for fundamental freedoms is now and always has been a centerpiece of American foreign policy.”
National Security Adviser Susan Rice for the U.S. recently met with American and Chinese rights advocates about what they called a "deterioration" of human rights in China.
More on this story at voanews.com 24 hours a day. I'm Vincent Bruce reporting from Washington.
That's the latest world news from VOA.
VOA news for Saturday, November 8th, 2014
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