VOA News for 15 July 2013 - 20130715
Channel: ListenAndReadAlong
Date: 2013-07-15

Thanks to http://gandalf.ddo.jp/ for audio and text
VOA NEWS  Monday July 15th, 2013
Now the news from the Voice of America.  Hundreds trapped in Syrian mosque.  Tens of thousands flee violence in DRC.  I'm Christopher Cruise reporting live from the VOA news center in Washington.
Syrian opposition groups say hundreds of civilians are trapped in a mosque in Qaboun, a town near the capital Damascus.  They were caught in fighting between government and rebel forces.
The main opposition Syrian National Coalition is asking the international community for help freeing those who were trapped.
The coalition also wants them protected from government troops who have been fighting to regain control of rebellious Damascus suburbs for months.
Iraqi police say at least 28 people have been killed in a series of bombings in mostly Shiite areas of the country.
The deadliest attacks struck central and south Iraq late Sunday, including in the southern oil city of Basra, where eight people were killed and at least 15 wounded in a car bombing.
There were also attacks in Kut, Nasiriyah and the Shiite holy city of Karbala.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Egypt's top general has responded to strong criticism from Islamists about the military's decision to remove Islamist Mohamed Morsi from the presidency.
General Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi spoke Sunday on national television, for the first time since Mr. Morsi's July 3rd ouster.  He said the military was responding to what he called "the will of the people" when it removed Mr. Morsi from office.
The Muslim Brotherhood of Mr. Morsi is urging its supporters to gather peacefully in Cairo on Monday.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela has spent another weekend in a hospital in Pretoria being treated for a lung infection.
He is in critical but stable condition.
Another former South African President Thabo Mbeki says he is confident Mr. Mandela's health will improve.
"What the government has been saying is that his condition is critical but stable is correct.  But I think we need to add to that that indeed his health is improving.  The medical care that he is receiving is in fact excellent and as I say, I am quite certain that one of these days the doctors will agree that he can go and stay at home rather than in hospital."
Mr. Mandela will turn 95 years old on July 18th.
Tens of thousands of Congolese have fled to western Uganda after an attack by a rebel group.
The Ugandan Red Cross says as many as 55,000 refugees from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo entered western Uganda Thursday.  They fled the town of Kamongo in Congo's North Kivu province along the countries' shared border after the rebel attack.
Zimbabwean police and soldiers have begun voting in the presidential election.  They cast ballots on Sunday because they will be working on the day of the election, July 31st.
Officials say 87,000 police officers and members of the military have registered to vote.
At the end of this month, voters will choose between 89-year-old President Robert Mugabe and his coalition government rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Passionate but mostly peaceful protests are happening in some American cities on Sunday, following a decision in a closely watched nationally televised murder trial.
Late Saturday, a jury announced its verdict.  It said George Zimmerman, charged with killing black teenager Trayvon Martin last year in the southeastern state of Florida, was not guilty of murder or manslaughter.
More now from the VOA's Michael Bowman.
Verdicts in racially-charged cases have, on occasion, triggered violence and destruction on a massive scale.  The 1992 acquittal of Los Angeles police officers in the beating of a black motorist sparked days of ferocious riots and looting in the city.  Dozens of people were killed, hundreds wounded, and property damage topped $1-billion.
By comparison, reaction to the acquittal of Florida shooting suspect George Zimmerman has been relatively peaceful.
Although acquitted of criminal wrongdoing, Zimmerman could still face civil charges if the Martin family or the U.S. Justice Department pursue that avenue.
Michael Bowman, VOA news, Washington.
The 31-year-old star of "Glee," an American television program broadcast in more than 20 countries, has been found dead.  Hotel workers found Cory Monteith's body in his hotel room in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Saturday.
He had been treated for substance abuse earlier this year.  Police haven't said if drugs or alcohol contributed to his death.
He played a high school football star and singer on "Glee," the popular show about a student singing group.
That's the news for now from the Voice of America.  You can read more about these stories and find other news from around the world around the clock at voanews.com.  I'm Christopher Cruise, VOA news, Washington.