t is twenty-three hours thirty Universal Time and here is the news in Special English. ▼ European airlines are slowly restarting flights after suspending air travel for five days. Most flights were canceled because of a huge cloud of ash from a volcano in Iceland. British air space reopened Tuesday night and a British Airways flight landed at London's Heathrow Airport for the first time in almost a week. Flights also restarted in Paris, Madrid and Amsterdam. Some planes in Germany were permitted to fly at lower levels than normal.
China is observing a national day of mourning Wednesday for more than two thousand people killed in an earthquake in the country's northwest on April fourteenth. China's state council said Tuesday that all flags in China and at Chinese diplomatic offices would be lowered to mark the event. The earthquake struck Yushu, a Tibetan area in Qinghai province. Rescue efforts continue, but hopes of finding survivors have decreased. Rescuers are working in freezing, snowy weather. And, they are faced with the physical effects of the high mountain air. Bad weather is also slowing aid to the area.
Turkey is offering to negotiate in the dispute between the United Nations and Iran over Iran's nuclear program. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says his country is ready to be involved in a proposed uranium exchange program. The so-called nuclear swap deal would let Iran export less-refined uranium to another country for additional enrichment and manufacture into fuel. Iran has rejected the deal so far. It proposes that the processing take place in Iran.
In Iraq, former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has expressed concern about a partial recount of votes from the parliamentary elections last month. Mr. Allawi said Tuesday he supports a vote-by-vote recount in Baghdad. But, he said a recount may be needed in other areas that experienced problems. He especially noted Basra and Najaf. Other members of his alliance also expressed concern that the way the recount was being held could unfairly change the election results. Iraqi election officials ordered the recount for Baghdad on Monday. Their order followed an appeal by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. His alliance has a narrow lead against Mr. Maliki's coalition. Baghdad holds almost twenty percent of the seats in the Iraqi parliament. The recount could change the results of the March seventh election.
Another al-Qaeda leader has been killed in Iraq during a joint operation involving Iraqi and American troops. Ahmed al-Obeidi is the third al-Qaeda leader to die in three days. Iraqi military officials said joint forces used intelligence information to find and kill him in northern Iraq on Tuesday. Ahmed al-Obeidi was also known as Abu Suheib. Officials said he was responsible for planning many attacks in Ninevah, Salahuddin and Kirkuk. Iraqi and United States officials say the two top leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq were killed in a joint operation Sunday near the city of Tikrit.
[You are listening to the news in VOA Special English.]
The ousted president of Kyrgyzstan, Kuamanbek Bakiyev, has taken refuge in Belarus. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday that Mr. Bakiyev and his family are being protected in the capital, Minsk. The ousted president fled Bishkek on April seventh. He left during violent anti-government protests that killed eighty-four people. He traveled to Kazakhstan last week but left on Monday. The temporary Kyrgyz government announced Tuesday that it will seek Mr. Bakiyev's return so that he can face legal action. Kyrgyzstan has remained tense since a temporary government led by the opposition took power.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the country's recession is over. But, he said that does not mean the economic crisis has ended. Mr. Putin made the statements in his yearly report to parliament. He said Russia was much better prepared to meet the economic problems than in past years. Mr. Putin said the government was able to avoid cutting social spending and freezing retirement pay and wages. It did this he said by using state guarantees to companies. The prime minister predicted the Russian economy will grow more than three percent this year. Russia's economy shrank by more than eight percent last year. Four unarmed Afghans were killed when NATO troops fired on a vehicle in eastern Afghanistan. The incident happened late Monday in Khost province. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said the occupants of the vehicle had ignored warnings to stop. NATO had first said two of the dead were known militants. Later, however, it said all of the victims may have been civilians. Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the killings and ordered an investigation. He urged international forces in Afghanistan to prevent death and injury to civilians.
A bomb attack on a group of military vehicles in Pakistan's northwest has killed four people, including government troops. At least, two others were wounded. Officials in the Hangu tribal area near Afghanistan said the bomb was exploded electronically. Also, Reuters news agency reported that United Nations officials said they hoped to restart aid to the Kacha Pukka refugee camp in Pakistan's northwest later this week. The camp is for people fleeing violence in the Orakzai area. Pakistani forces have recently intensified an offensive against Taliban militants there. ▲ And now briefly, here again is the major news of the hour in Special English.
European airlines are slowly restarting flights after suspending air travel for five days. China observed a national day of mourning for people killed in an earthquake in the country's northwest on April fourteenth. And, Turkey is offering to negotiate in the dispute between the United Nations and Iran over Iran's nuclear program. That's the news in VOA Special English from Washington. Source: VOA Special English April 20, 2010 2330UTC
