VOA news for Wednesday, July 29th, 2015

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• published: 29 Jul 2015
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Thanks to http://gandalf.ddo.jp/ for audio and text VOA news for Wednesday, July 29th, 2015 From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Molly Johnson in Washington. Wrapping up the first visit to Ethiopia by a sitting U.S. president, President Barack Obama took time to meet personally with Ethiopians who benefit from U.S. development initiatives. Anita Powell in Addis Ababa reports on how this East African nation has welcomed him. Ethiopian farmer Gifty Jemal Hussein beamed as she looked up into the face of President Obama and told him how he changed her life. Through a U.S. development project started by Obama, she had access to better seeds, which vastly improved her corn harvest. Mr. Obama said his project called Feed the Future is to work more intelligently, not just to pour in more money. "With just a few smart interventions, a little bit of help, they can make huge improvements in their overall yields.” For farmers like Gifty, however, these big ideas have very real consequences. She grinned and offered a one-word response. It means thank you. Anita Powell, VOA news, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Turkish military says it launched a new round of airstrikes against Kurdish rebels on Tuesday. Two F-16 jets hit positions belonging to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK, in southeast Turkey just hours after NATO voiced support for Ankara's response to what it called "terrorism" in Turkey. There are no fresh reports of strikes on Islamic State positions in Syria, which began in parallel with the attacks on the PKK last Friday. A NATO statement released Tuesday after emergency session read in part "the security of the alliance is indivisible and we stand in solidarity with Turkey.” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his forces are pressing their campaign against the militants in Iraq and Syria. This is VOA news. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told skeptical lawmakers Tuesday that if the U.S. rejects the internationally brokered Iran nuclear deal there would be "no restraints" on Tehran developing a nuclear weapon. "It's a good deal for the world, a good deal for America, a good deal for allies and friends," Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congress is beginning a 60-day review of the pact crafted by the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia over months of negotiations. Tehran agreed to restraints on its nuclear program and international inspections in exchange for lifting U.N. sanctions and Western sanctions that have hobbled its economy. Lawyers for convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard say U.S. officials have agreed to release him in November after 30 years in prison. 60-year-old Pollard, who was one-time civilian and navy analyst, was arrested in November of 1985 when he unsuccessfully sought asylum at Israel's embassy in Washington. Pollard was convicted of passing suitcases filled with military secrets to his Israeli handlers and sentenced to life in prison, a rare instance of one ally spying on another that resulted in a criminal prosecution. His supporters say he was punished excessively. Some U.S. prosecutors and officials still call him a traitor who should not be released. There is an intense fight [waging] raging in Afghanistan, where Taliban insurgents have made territorial gains in three northern provinces. The rebel advances come just days before a second round of peace talks [before] between the warring sides is to be hosted by neighboring Pakistan. Ayaz Gul reports from Islamabad. The fall of a district called Kohistanat in the Sur-i-Pul province is the latest in a series of battlefield gains the Taliban has made in the past few days. Provincial officials say hundreds of security personnel guarding the area had to retreat in the wake of a well-coordinated assault from all directions. The increase in hostilities comes as Afghan government and Taliban officials prepare to meet Friday in Pakistan for a second round of peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Afghanistan. Among other issues, Afghan officials say they intend to demand the Taliban halt its violent campaign. Ayaz Gul, for VOA news, Islamabad. South Korea has declared an effective end to the threat from the MERS outbreak, which killed 36 people and hurt Seoul's already slowing economy. Since its discover in May, the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome infected 186 people and forced more than 16,000 others into quarantine. There have been no new cases reported for the last 23 days. The outbreak did rattle the country, prompting thousands of schools to shut down and keeping many at home in fear of becoming infected. The crisis was partly blamed for the performance of South Korea's economy, which in a second quarter grew at its slowest pace in six years. Good to have that outbreak under control and clamped down and out. I'm molly Johnson in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA.