From Washington, this is VOA News.
I’m Steve Karesh reporting.
The human rights group Amnesty International says satellite images and witnesses point to possible mass graves in Burundi that appeared after security forces retaliated against rebel gunmen in Bujumbura. And that the images suggest a deliberate effort by authorities to cover up the extent of the killings by their security forces and to prevent the full truth from coming out.
The U.N. also is investigating. The Burundi government has not commented.
Political violence has raged in Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza announced last April that he was going to run for a third term.
Also in Burundi,
Authorities have arrested two foreign journalists British photographer Phil Moore and the Africa chief for the French daily Le Monde, Jean-Philippe Remy.
Burundi's security minister said the two men were arrested Thursday in Bujumbura in the company of armed criminals.
Le Monde says Moore and Remy were arrested while meeting with government opponents. It says both men were working for the paper and were doing their job by meeting with all parties involved in Burundi's political crisis.
The World Health Organization is convening an emergency meeting on the Zika virus Monday. This after the agency's director said the mosquito-borne virus is spreading at an alarming rate. The WHO warns that millions of people in the Americas could be impacted by the virus, which has been linked to serious birth defects.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning pregnant women against traveling to areas with the Zika outbreak, such as Brazil.
This comes as tens of thousands of people are poised to descend on Brazil later this year for the Olympics, possibly making the games a springboard to transmit the virus around the world.
There is no vaccine for the Zika virus.
From Washington, This is VOA News.
Words in This Newscast
Retaliate – v. to seek revenge on someone or a group
Deliberate – adj. done in a way that is planned or intended
Rage – v. to happen or continue in a destructive, violent or intense way
Impact – v. to have a strong and often bad effect on someone or something
Poised – adj. ready or prepared to do something
