Input: Serbian control-The State Department's Yee said the United States opposes granting diplomatic status or its equivalent to Russians based in Niš

Serbian

United States

Department's Yee


Input: "We believe it's important," Yee testified Wednesday, "and we share this with the government of Serbia, that Serbia has the full control of its territory and facilities on its territory

Serbia

Serbia

territory

territory

government

Yee


Input: If it allows Russia to create some kind of a special center for espionage or other nefarious activities, it will lose control over part of its territory.

Russia

territory


Input: Russia has denied it wants to create a military installation in Serbia

Russia

Serbia

military


Input: Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate have taken a bipartisan approach in their opposition to Russia's efforts to strengthen its influence in the Balkans

Balkans

Republicans

U.S. Senate


Input: FILE - Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is pictured on Capitol Hill, Jan. 11, 2017

Capitol Hill

Ron Johnson


Input: Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, told VOA's Serbian service that he thought Moscow had been "doing everything in its power to destabilize the nations in the region and prevent them" from taking more pro-Western positions

Wisconsin

Moscow

nations

region

VOA's Serbian service

Senator

Ron Johnson


Input: Yee said the United States was concerned about the Russian base in Niš, close to Serbia's border with Kosovo, "not so much for what it is now, but what it might become if it receives what Russia has been asking from Serbia, which is some kind of special status, a protected diplomatic status or immunity.

base

United States

Russian

Niš

Kosovo

Russia

Serbia

border

Yee


Input: Johnson pointed to Montenegro, NATO's newest member and one of the former Yugoslav republics that border Kosovo, as an example of Russian interference

Montenegro

Yugoslav

Kosovo

Russian

border

NATO's

Johnson


Input: Coup plot-Prosecutors in Podgorica have accused Russia and its agents of funding a coup plot that was to have been carried out last October, on Montenegro's election day

Podgorica

Russia


Input: The plotters allegedly intended to kill Prime Minister Milo Đukanović in order to derail the small Balkan nation's bid to join the Western alliance

Balkan

Western

Milo

kill

Milo


Input: Western powers and intelligence agencies have said Russia's involvement in the attempt to overthrow Montenegro's government was clear, and even Đukanović, a socialist who stepped down as prime minister 10 days after the election, said there was "a strong connection of a foreign factor" in the country's political developments

Russia's

agencies

government

minister


Input: The Kremlin has denied all such accusations as "absurd.

Kremlin


Input: In all, 20 suspects linked to a coup plot aimed at derailing the Balkan nation's bid to join NATO were arrested ahead of Montenegrin elections

Balkan

NATO


Input: Prosecutors in the Montenegrin capital said Russia "did far more than interfere" in elections

capital

Russia


Input: Addressing a Senate hearing last Wednesday on malign foreign influences in southeastern Europe, Yee said, "We don't believe Russia has good intentions from our standpoint, in our context, which is trying to help the Balkans move close to its goal of integration with Europe.

Russia

Europe

Balkans

Europe

Senate

Yee


Input: Johnson, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Europe and regional security cooperation, said the United States and the EU must pay closer attention to the Balkan nations

United States

nations

Europe

Balkan

Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee

EU

Johnson

chairman


Input: "We've got a great opportunity to integrate those nations into the EU and Western democracies," Johnson said

nations

Western

EU

Johnson


Input: Sanctions vote-The Wisconsin lawmaker was one of 98 senators who voted this week to reinforce and extend U.S. sanctions against Russia

Wisconsin

U.S.

Russia

lawmaker

senators


Input: He and Murphy testified this week that they expected sharp budget cuts planned for the State Department would be set aside before any final agreement on a U.S. spending plan was reached

U.S.

State Department

Murphy


Input: "We've got to send a very clear signal to Russia that they cannot continue down this path of their aggression, their efforts of destabilizing, interfering in democratic elections around the world, including here in America," Johnson said

Russia

America

world

Johnson


Input: This report originated in VOA's Serbian Service

VOA's Serbian Service


Input: "We believe Russia is trying to prevent that path," Yee said, answering a question from Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat

Russia

Connecticut

Democrat

Yee

Senator

Chris Murphy


Input: FILE - A worker prepares a new statue of Russia's last Czar, Nicholas II, in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, Oct. 13, 2014

Russia's

Belgrade

Serbia

Nicholas II


Input: Moscow has been slowly losing its clout in Eastern Europe, as countries have joined NATO and the EU

Moscow

Eastern Europe

NATO

EU


Input: The U.S. and the European Union have spent years working to bring an enduring peace to the Balkans, and to integrate the region into the Euro-Atlantic community of nations

U.S.

European Union

Balkans

region


Input: Every country around Serbia is currently either in NATO or wants to join the Western alliance

country

Serbia

Western

NATO


Input: The Russian center in Niš, opened in 2012 near an airport, is relatively close to the 4,000-member NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo, the former province of Serbia that declared its independence in 2008

airport

Russian

Niš

Kosovo

Serbia

NATO


Input: The strike — the first time Iran fired missiles outside its borders in 30 years — was meant as retaliation for the IS-claimed twin terror attacks in Tehran on June 7 that killed 17 people and wounded more than 50, Iranian officials said

Iran

Tehran

Iranian

borders

people

officials

missiles

killed

Tehran


Input: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the attacks would only increase hate for the U.S. and Saudi governments, according to state media

U.S.

Saudi

state

media

Ali Khamenei


Input: The U.S.-led coalition in Syria meanwhile is keeping a close eye on Iran’s military involvement with the Syrian regime

coalition

Syria

Syrian

military

regime


Input: U.S. officials told VOA they were close to confirming that an Iranian-made drone shot down by an American fighter jet early Tuesday in Syria was being operated by the IRGC

U.S.

American

Syria

VOA

IRGC

officials

jet

drone

shot

American

jet

Syria


Input: FILE - An Iranian Shahed-129 drone is displayed by armed forces in a rally commemorating the 37th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 11, 2016

Iranian

Tehran

Iran

forces

Shahed-129 drone


Input: Iran has been a major military backer of the Syrian regime, first in its war with rebel groups across the country and later against IS

Iran

Syrian

country

military

regime

groups

IS


Input: Hostilities between U.S.-led forces and Iranian and Russian forces supporting the Syrian regime have escalated in recent weeks in a part of Syria seen as strategically important for the Syrian government and Iran, as Tehran seeks to secure a land corridor between forces it backs in Syria and Iraq

Iranian

Russian

Syrian

Syria

Syrian

Iran

Tehran

Syria

Iraq

regime

government

forces

forces


Input: "Iran, at different levels, confronts any threat which may target the Islamic Republic, and the country's missile strikes had a message that deterred the U.S. from even thinking of attacking Iran or isolating the country.

Iran

U.S.

Iran

country

Islamic Republic

missile


Input: According to a statement released by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the missile strikes on Sunday hit IS command centers in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor and a bomb-manufacturing facility outside the city

command centers

bomb-manufacturing facility

Syrian

Deir Ezzor

outside the city

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

IRGC

IS

missile

strikes

missile

Deir Ezzor


Input: The Iranian missile strike was an intended provocation on Tehran’s part, analysts say

Iranian

Tehran’s

missile


Input: “Tehran’s muscle flexing was aimed at U.S. and Saudi Arabia, in particular in the context of recent developments in the region,” said Kamran Matin, an analyst at the University of Sussex

U.S.

Saudi Arabia

region

University of Sussex

Kamran Matin

analyst


Input: “The intensification of the Saudi-led 'containment of Iran' strategy backed by the Trump administration, and the evidence of U.S.’s proactive measures against Syrian armed forces and their allies in Eastern Syria, could be interpreted as the main impetus for Tehran’s missile attack on IS targets in Syria,” he said

U.S.

Syrian

Syria

Tehran’s

Syria

administration

IS

Trump

forces

missile


Input: FILE - This frame grab from a video provided by the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), shows fighters from the SDF opening fire on an Islamic State group's position, in Raqqa's eastern countryside, Syria, March 6, 2017

Raqqa's

Syria

countryside

Syria Democratic Forces

SDF

SDF

Islamic State

fighters

fire

fighters

Islamic State

Raqqa's


Input: “The coalition’s mission is to defeat IS in Iraq and Syria,” the coalition said in a statement

coalition’s

Iraq

Syria

coalition

IS


Input: “The coalition does not seek to fight the Syrian regime, Russian, or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend coalition or partner forces from any threat.

coalition

Syrian

Russian

coalition

regime

forces

forces


Input: But Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said the “Islamic Republic will respond more decisively to any future terrorist attack on Iran's soil.

Iranian

Islamic Republic

president

Hassan Rouhani


Input: And former IRGC Guard chief Gen. Mohsen Rezai wrote on Twitter, "The bigger slap is yet to come.

IRGC Guard

Mohsen Rezai


Input: The IRGC statement said that the attack “was a message” and a “warning” to “Takfiri terrorists, their regional supporters and their supporters outside of the region.

region

IRGC


Input: “Tehran has long depicted an invincible image of immunity from IS, claiming that its security forces are capable of turning down any threats from IS miles beyond its border,” said Habib Hosseinifard, an Iranian affairs analyst based in Germany

Tehran

Iranian

Germany

border

IS

IS

forces

Habib Hosseinifard

analyst


Input: “This missile attack was also aimed to cover that wound as well.

missile


Input: The term takfiri is used by Iranian officials when referring to militant Sunni Muslim fundamentalist groups such as IS

Iranian

Sunni Muslim fundamentalist groups

IS

officials


Input: “The strikes confirmed Iran’s missile capabilities to shenanigans who dispatched terrorists to Tehran,” the editorial said, adding that Iran’s "slap was a loud message for the supporters of terrorists in Riyadh and Tel-Aviv.

Tehran

Riyadh

Tel-Aviv

missile


Input: Old rivalry-Tensions between longtime rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have escalated in recent weeks after the Saudis and their Gulf partners cut ties to Qatar, citing, in part, its association to Iran and Tehran's alleged link to terrorism

Saudi Arabia

Iran

Saudis

Qatar

Iran

Tehran's

Gulf


Input: Iran has stepped up its anti-Saudi rhetoric since the IS-attacks saying Riyadh is trying to destabilize the country by supporting dissidents

Iran

Riyadh

country


Input: Buried in Old Mosul-MOSUL — -Standing next to at a massive pile of white rocks where his daughter’s house once stood, Jamil Mohammad Ahmed stared in disbelief

house

Old Mosul

Jamil Mohammad Ahmed


Input: “My daughter and her husband are under there,” he said

daughter

husband


Input: “It’s not as important as the blood we have lost,” said Ali al-Assady, an Iraqi Special Forces soldier

Iraqi

Special Forces

Ali al-Assady

soldier


Input: Lieutenant General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi says Islamic State militants in Mosul will be defeated in the coming days, June 24, 2017

Islamic State

Mosul

Abdul Ghani al-Assadi

militants


Input: In the ruins of the Old City, Ahmed doused his head in water and the smell of rotting corpses wafted out of a church across a narrow street

street

Old City

church

Ahmed


Input: IS militants must have used the church as some kind of base, with a food schedule posted and their logo spray painted on the wall

church

base

IS

militants


Input: Bodies of militants lay crushed among the rubble

militants


Input: “We don’t notice the smell anymore,” said Kareem, a soldier with the Iraqi Army

Iraqi Army

Kareem

soldier


Input: Inside his make shift base, a former factory, at least four IS corpses are rotting

base

factory

IS


Input: “I’m in shock,” said Ahmed, leaning on a stone wall

Ahmed


Input: Before it was bombed, the mosque was the symbolic heart of IS, where Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi declared his “caliphate” in 2014

mosque

IS

Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi

bombed

mosque


Input: Militant snipers fire on the Iraqi point overlooking the mosque and grenades launched with machine guns lob overhead and into Iraqi-controlled territory

mosque

Iraqi

territory

snipers

grenades

guns


Input: They have no way to escape from Old Mosul,” explained Lieutenant General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, commander of the Counter Terrorism Service, or Iraqi Special Forces known as “The Golden Division.

Old Mosul

Iraqi

Counter Terrorism Service

Golden Division

Abdul Ghani al-Assadi

commander


Input: The destroyed Al-Hadba minaret at Grand al-Nuri Mosque is shown in Mosul, Iraq, June 22, 2017

Mosul

Iraq

Al-Hadba

Grand al-Nuri Mosque


Input: Capturing the 900-year-old mosque was supposed to be a victory day after more than eight months of fighting for Mosul

mosque

Mosul


Input: “My son-in-law’s mother and father are under there

son-in-law

mother

father


Input: Politicians promised an Iraqi flag waving from the mosque

mosque

Iraqi


Input: Soldiers dreamed of the day they would march into the mosque in a long-awaited win

mosque


Input: Now the mosque, like the rest of the neighborhood is in ruins and the minaret juts into the sky like an amputee

mosque

minaret

neighborhood


Input: Dozens of other ancient mosques, churches, statutes and other ancient treasures have also been destroyed in Mosul

Mosul


Input: “Every single soldier that would have walked into the mosque would want to take a selfie and post it online,” said Raith al-Shabib, an Iraqi Special Forces fighter

mosque

Iraqi

Special Forces

soldier

Raith al-Shabib

fighter


Input: Live bodies-Surrounded with their numbers dwindling, militants are not just decimating Mosul’s cultural heritage, but as many lives as possible

Mosul’s

militants


Input: The body of a man buried in this Old Mosul garden after he was shot dead by IS for smoking, June 25, 2017

Old Mosul

IS

man

buried

man

Old Mosul

IS


Input: “Since we are all going to die here, you will to,” an IS militant told civilians in Old Mosul attempting to flee last week, according to Qassam, a former taxi driver and father of eight

Old Mosul

IS

militant

civilians

Qassam

driver

father

taxi


Input: On a hard mat in a sweltering refugee camp, Qassam and his family describe their desperate flight after an airstrike collapsed their house, killing his brother and his child

camp

house

family

brother

child


Input: “Anyone who runs,” Qassam heard the militant say, “We will kill

Qassam


Input: By some estimates there are only a few hundred militants still fighting, but military officials say the massive civilian population believed to be crowded in the homes prevents them from flattening the area

homes

area

military

militants

officials


Input: Families flee Old Mosul as soon as Iraqi forces are close enough to protect them, June 25, 2017

Old Mosul

Iraqi

forces


Input: When Qassam’s family fled Old Mosul along with thousands of other people late last week, even the children knew their flight would save their lives or kill them

Old Mosul

Qassam’s

family

children

fled

Qassam’s

Old Mosul


Input: Naseen, Qassam’s wife fell in the chaos as families ran from IS bullets

IS

Naseen

Qassam’s

wife

families

bullets


Input: But Hassan, 12, and nine-year-old Abdullah kept running

Hassan

Abdullah


Input: “We have to keep going,” Hassan told his brother

Hassan

brother


Input: After losing five family members in an airstrike, Jamil Mohammad Ahmed returns to Old Mosul to try to bury his dead, June 25, 2017

Old Mosul

family members

Jamil Mohammad Ahmed

losing

family members


Input: Airstrikes and mortars crashed down only a few blocks away on Islamic State’s last stronghold in Mosul, but Ahmed didn’t seem to notice

stronghold

Islamic State

Mosul

Ahmed

mortars


Input: IS is now surrounded in a few square kilometers, but they have as many as 100,000 people trapped inside with them

IS

people


Input: Rescuing the people is the Iraqi military’s primary goal in the coming days

Iraqi


Input: It’s already too late to save most of the ancient city’s treasures, like the famed al-Nuri mosque bombed by IS last week

al-Nuri mosque

IS

bombed

al-Nuri mosque

IS


Input: In a White House statement, Trump said defeating the militant group in Mosul "signals that its days in Iraq and Syria are numbered.

Mosul

Iraq

Syria

White House

group

Trump


Input: Hours before Abadi's speech, witnesses reported heavy fighting still underway in parts of Mosul

Mosul

witnesses


Input: The commanding U.S. general of the coalition operation in Mosul, Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, said, "This victory alone does not eliminate ISIS and there is still a tough fight ahead

U.S.

coalition

Mosul

ISIS

Stephen Townsend


Input: But the loss of one of its twin capitals and a jewel of their so-called caliphate is a decisive blow.

capitals


Input: Islamic State still controls some territory outside Mosul as well as much bigger areas in neighboring Syria

Islamic State

Mosul

Syria


Input: Thousands of civilians have been killed in this battle and 900,000 people have been forced to flee their homes

homes

civilians

people

killed

civilians

flee

people

homes


Input: Vast swaths of Mosul and the surrounding towns and villages have been abandoned, and many people say they will never feel safe going home

Mosul

towns


Input: A medic at a front line field clinic breaks after treating wounded soldiers, July 9, 2017 in Mosul, Iraq

clinic

Mosul

Iraq

medic

soldiers


Input: (H. Murdock/VOA)-And while no part of Mosul is as thoroughly destroyed as the Old City, neither has any part been left untouched by nearly three years of Islamic State rule and almost nine months of all-out war

Mosul

Old City

Islamic State


Input: He further pledged to "continue to seek the total destruction of ISIS," using an acronym for Islamic State

Islamic State

ISIS


Input: Human rights group Amnesty International released a report Tuesday detailing the loss of civilian life in the battle for Mosul, documenting at least 400 civilian deaths just in West Mosul between January and mid-May

Mosul

West Mosul

group

Amnesty International

civilian

civilian

deaths

civilian


Input: About 900,000 people have been displaced by the battle for Mosul and many neighborhoods like Mosul's Old City have been completely destroyed by the war, July 9, 2017

Mosul

Mosul's Old City

neighborhoods

people

displaced


Input: (H. Murdock/VOA)-"The scale and gravity of the loss of civilian lives during the military operation to retake Mosul must immediately be publicly acknowledged at the highest levels of government in Iraq and states that are part of the US-led coalition," Lynn Maalouf, Director of Research for the Middle East at Amnesty International, said

Mosul

Iraq

coalition

military

government

Research for the Middle East

Amnesty International

civilian

Lynn Maalouf


Input: In parts of East Mosul, recaptured by Iraqi forces in January, recovery is more promising

East Mosul

Iraqi

forces


Input: Shoppers crowd the streets, some of which are newly paved, mostly picking through wreckage left by airstrikes

streets


Input: The government has restored electricity and water supplies in much of the city

city

government


Input: (H. Murdock/VOA)-Washington Institute for Near East Policy Distinguished Fellow and former Ambassador James Jeffrey told VOA that relief and recovery efforts are only the first step after the recapture of Mosul

Mosul

Washington Institute for Near East Policy

VOA

Ambassador

James Jeffrey


Input: "The second step is of course political, as always in Iraq," Jeffrey said

Iraq

Jeffrey


Input: "How are you going to prevent a return of ISIS or something like it, and how are you going to incorporate the Sunni Arabs into the larger Iraq and keep the Kurds, who are in it but quite separate, playing a positive role

Iraq

ISIS

Kurds


Input: Trump said the United States grieves for the thousands of Iraqis who suffered and died at the hands of Islamic State along with the "loss of the heroic soldiers and Peshmerga (Kurdish fighters) who gave their lives.

United States

Islamic State

Kurdish

Trump

Iraqis

soldiers

fighters

died

Iraqis


Input: Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formally declared victory on Monday in the city that the militant group had declared the capital of its caliphate in Iraq

city

capital

Iraq

group

Haider al-Abadi


Input: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (C) holds an Iraqi flag as he announces victory over Islamic State in Mosul, July 10, 2017

Iraqi

Iraqi

Islamic State

Mosul

Haider al-Abadi


Input: Speaking from Mosul's Old City in a speech carried on state television, Abadi said the win is a victory over oppression, brutality and terrorism

Mosul's Old City

state

Abadi


Input: "I declare in Mosul, from Mosul, to all people the...failure and collapse of the terrorist Islamic State," he said

Mosul

Mosul

Islamic State


Input: Abadi said Iraq still faces challenges, including destroying Islamic State terror cells that still exist in the country and creating stability for the entire nation

cells

Iraq

country

nation

Islamic State

Abadi


Input: The U.S. military welcomed Abadi's statement but said there are still areas of the Old City of Mosul that must be cleared of explosives and possible ISIS fighters in hiding

Old City of Mosul

U.S. military

military

ISIS

fighters

explosives