The pace of international relief is gaining momentum in the Philippines where aid workers have been struggling to reach typhoon victims in hard-hit remote areas.

The first British air force aid flight arrived in Cebu on Saturday. The northern part of the island took a direct hit from Typhoon Haiyan.

Also, the head of the European Community Humanitarian office, Kristalina Georgieva, says aid from the European Union will exceed $25 million dollars.

On Friday, helicopters from the U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington began flying food, water and medical supplies to remote villages.

At least six people were killed in a suicide car bombing near a compound in Kabul where a security pact between Afghanistan and the U.S. is to be debated.

Afghan officials say at least one soldier died in Saturday's blast, and that 22 people were wounded. Civilians were among the casualties.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which targeted an Afghan army vehicle.

The Nigerian military says troops have killed 29 suspected Boko Haram militants in raids since Thursday.

A military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Dole, says troops killed 20 insurgents during an "offensive operation" late Friday in Bita, a town near the Cameroonian border. He says one soldier was killed during the operation.

In a statement obtained by VOA, Dole said Boko Haram had been using the area as a staging ground to launch attacks on villages and people driving through the region.

Voters in the Maldives have elected the brother of the nation's former strongman as president.
 
Yaamin Abdul Gayoom defeated former president Mohamed Nasheed, getting 51.3 percent of the vote.
 
Last Saturday, in the first round of presidential voting, Nasheed received 47 percent of the vote, falling short of the majority needed to win outright.

U.S. President Barack Obama is taking steps to correct problems that have plagued his health care reform program since its launch in October.

VOA's Pamela Dockins files this report.

Many Americans have been frustrated by the site's technical glitches, which have prevented them from buying health insurance.

This past week, Obama offered a fix to another problem that is causing some Americans to lose their health care policies under his new program. The president said insurance companies could now give these people the option of keeping their old plans for an extra year.

On Friday, the Republican-majority House of Representatives voted to make even more changes. A bill passed with the support of some House Democrats that would allow insurance companies to sell policies that lack all the health care reform mandates and renew customer policies that had been canceled.

Pamela Dockins,Washington.

U.S. President Barack Obama says the country is finally poised to control its own energy future.

In his weekly address Saturday, the Democratic president noted the announcement earlier in the week that, for the first time in nearly two decades, the U.S. produces more oil than it buys from other countries. He called it a "tremendous step towards American energy independence."

Obama said the milestone was reached not only because of more production, but also less waste of energy.

In the Republican address, Senator Ron Johnson (of the northern state of Wisconsin) criticized the Affordable Care Act - also known as Obamacare - saying the president's unmet claim that all Americans could keep their insurance plans amounts to "political fraud."

U.S. President Barack Obama says the country is finally poised to control its own energy future.

In his weekly address Saturday, the Democratic president noted the announcement earlier in the week that, for the first time in nearly two decades, the U.S. produces more oil than it buys from other countries. He called it a "tremendous step towards American energy independence."

Obama said the milestone was reached not only because of more production, but also less waste of energy.

In the Republican address, Senator Ron Johnson (of the northern state of Wisconsin) criticized the Affordable Care Act - also known as Obamacare.

For more on these stories and completely look at today's news,visit geilien.cn

Reporting from Washington,I'm Bill Michaels.VOA News.