CNN news 2015-03-25 加文本

cnn news 2015-03-25

CARL AZUZ, HOST: Welcome back from the weekend.

We`re happy you`re taking 10 minutes for cnn STUDENT NEWS.

I`m Carl Azuz at the cnn Center.

Our first story takes us to a nation of 26 million people between Saudi Arabia and the Gulf of Aden. It`s Yemen. Its government was overthrown in January by Houthi rebels who had been at odds with the Yemeni government for years.

The country is very unstable. A terrorist attack on two mosques last Friday killed more than 130 people and wounded hundreds more. The ISIS militant group said it was responsible.

But al Qaeda also operates in Yemen and the U.S. says security there continues to get worse. That`s why the American military pulled all of its remaining personnel out of the country this weekend.

In Yemen`s capital, the American Embassy was closed last month.

In our coverage of the conflict in Ukraine, we`ve talked about how relations between the U.S. and Russia have declined. According to Gallup surveys, about half of the American population had a positive view of Russia three years ago. Today, 70 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view and 82 percent of Russians disapprove of U.S. leadership.

When Gallup asked Americans earlier this year what country they`d consider to be America`s greatest enemy, 18 percent answered Russia, the most of any nation worldwide. North Korea was right behind that.

So it`s significant that with relations between the U.S. and Russia being at their lowest point since the end of the cold war, Russia would invite North Korea`s leader to an event in Moscow.

MATTHEW CHANCE, cnn CORRESPONDENT: CHANCE (voice-over): Facing a backlash from the West, Russia is looking East. President Vladimir Putin inviting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Moscow to attend upcoming World War II anniversary celebrations.

A Russian officials says North Korea`s supreme leader is expected to attend, but so far no formal confirmation from Pyongyang.

STEVEN PIFER, SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: You`ve seen the number of meetings that he`s had with Western leaders in Europe decline. And so the Russians have talked about this Asian alternative. And this is including some outreach to China, but other countries in Asia, to try to portray Mr. Putin as not isolated, which in fact is the case.

CHANCE (voice-over): The Kremlin says 68 world leaders were invited to the Victory Day celebrations on May the 9th, but some leaders, including President Obama, have declined. Relations with the West are strained following Russia`s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. But recently, Moscow and Pyongyang have been fostering warmer relations. The two countries even declared 2015 their year of friendship.

If Kim attends, it would be his first official trip outside North Korea since inheriting the leadership in late 2011.

PROFESSOR VICTOR CHA, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: If he`s able to go to meet Putin in Moscow or elsewhere in Russia, this would appear to be a sign that he has completely consolidated control and he`s confident enough to leave the nest and go do statesmanlike things around the world.

CHANCE (voice-over): And Putin continues to flex Russia`s military muscles. Defense officials saying nearly 80,000 troops have been placed on full combat alert. On Wednesday, NATO jets intercepted a number of Russian military aircraft as they neared Latvian airspace, further rattling nerves among Russia`s neighbors.