VOA news for Wednesday, March 16th, 2016

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• published: 16 Mar 2016
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VOA news for Wednesday, March 16th, 2016 Thanks to http://gandalf.ddo.jp/ for audio and text From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Moscow next week. He will go there to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Russia's troop withdrawal from Syria and the prospects for peace in that country. The first Russian military personnel returned from Syria. Enthusiastic crowds greeted them on landing in Russia. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told parliament not to get excited about the Russia withdrawal. "If, and it's still a big if, they do decide five months later that they've done enough, let's not give them too much praise. It's a bit like, you know, 'Did he stop beating his wife?'" Meanwhile, Syrian peace talks continued for a second day Tuesday in Geneva. Human rights investigators are urging mediators at U.N.-mediated peace talks to ensure that justice for war victims is part of a settlement. Lisa Schlein reports. Commission Chairman Paulo Pinheiro says the ever-escalating violence has killed more than 250,000 people and forced more than five million to flee to other countries in fear of their lives. "The survivors of this brutal war are the maimed, the displaced, the women and girls who endured sexual violence. No corner of the country has been left unscathed." Pinheiro says he is heartened by the cessation of hostilities agreement, which has brought down the level of fighting in the country and made the resumption of peace talks possible. Lisa Schlein, Geneva. South Sudan is cutting the number of staff at its embassies around the world because of economic troubles stemming from that country's two-year civil war. The foreign minister denied reports that South Sudan will close 10 diplomatic missions. He acknowledged his government has delayed paying rents on some of its embassies. This is VOA news. Voting has closed in several of the U.S. states holding primary elections today. Primaries were held in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Missouri and Illinois. The results could put the Republican presidential nomination out of reach for at least two candidates. One of those is Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who is hoping for a victory in his home state of Florida. With more than half the votes counted, businessman Donald Trump has a commanding lead over Rubio. On the Democratic side, in Florida, Hillary Clinton leads in early returns. The White House announced changes to travel and trade restrictions on Cuba Tuesday. The changes open up educational travel to Cuba for individual Americans, allow Cubans working in the United States to earn salaries and reduce trade and financial barriers to improve business ties between the two countries. The changes come ahead of a visit to Cuba next week by President Barack Obama. Police in the Belgian capital, Brussels, say one person was found dead during an anti-terrorist raid Tuesday. Four police officers were wounded when shots rang out during the raid on an apartment in the suburb of Forest. Police found a body after they stormed the apartment. In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration is barring oil drilling off the U.S. Atlantic coast. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Tuesday the decision comes after listening to thousands of people from New England fishing villages to Florida beach resorts and the Pentagon which conducts military drills in the ocean. Jewell said the decision "protects the Atlantic for future generations.” The Argentine coast guard has sunk a Chinese trawler illegally fishing in its territorial waters. The boat was detected Monday off Puerto Madryn. The maritime authorities say the trawler led the coast guard on a high-seas chase during which it "carried out maneuvers to collide with the coast guard patrol.” The fishing boat's crew was rescued after the Argentine coast guard fired on the vessel. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Victoria Nuland told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday Ukraine's greatest challenge remains the Russian occupation of the Crimean Peninsula and the restoration of sovereignty in the eastern Donbas region. Nuland says the Minsk agreements remain the best hope for peace in eastern Ukraine. She said Ukraine's government must come together [to] behind, rather, [formal] reform program that delivers clean governance, justice and an end to backroom political deals. Taking a brief look at market activities, at the close of trade on Wall Street, stock markets were mixed. In the U.S. and in Europe, the markets closed down for the day. In Washington, I'm David DeForest. That's the latest world news from VOA.