From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Michael Brown reporting.



A court in Russia sentenced opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny on Monday to 15 days in jail and fined him $350 for organizing what authorities say was an illegal mass protest in Moscow on Sunday.

Navalny rejected official claims that the demonstration was illegal.

Navalny responded to the charges this way, saying "People demand political representation and I tried to be the political representative for these people and that is why I have the right to run for office."

A Kremlin spokesman on Monday called the protesters provocateurs looking to incite violence and accused organizers of exploiting children, claiming many were paid to attend but citing no evidence.



A spokesman for the chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, said Monday that he met a source on White House grounds before making his disclosure last week that President Trump was caught up in "incidental" surveillance.

Previously, Nunes would not say where he met his source and has still not revealed the identity.

Sean Spicer is White House spokesperson. "I'm not going to get into who he met with or why he met with them. I think that's something that he had made very, very clear, and I'll let him answer. This is, he is the one who has discussed what he is reviewing. And so I will leave it up to him and not try to get in the middle of that."

When asked if the meeting creates a perception problem between Nunes and the White House, Spicer said Nunes was doing his job to investigate allegations of surveillance and was being upfront with reporters about his activities.



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The U.S. military says the death of civilians in Iraq's northern city of Mosul is "a terrible tragedy" and that it is investigating allegations that airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition killed as many as 100 civilians there early this month.

The Pentagon said an initial review showed coalition warplanes conducted strikes on March 17 "at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties" in western Mosul's Old City.

Iraqi forces, with the coalition air support, are working to regain control of western Mosul from the Islamic State fighters who seized the city in 2014.



Yemeni officials say jihadists waged a deadly attack on a government building in the southern part of the country Monday, killing ten people.

A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car to the entrance of the local government headquarters in Huta.

Security forces killed nine militants.

Authorities accuse al-Qaeda of being behind the attack although there has been no immediate claim of responsibility.



U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Monday the Justice Determent will withdraw grant funds from local jurisdictions that do not comply with immigration laws.

Sessions said sanctuary jurisdictions endanger lives of every American and puts the whole communities at risk.

"When cities and states refuse to help enforce immigration laws, our nation is less safe. Failure to deport aliens who are convicted of criminal offenses puts whole communities at risk - especially immigrant communities in the very sanctuary jurisdictions that seek to protect the perpetrators."

The U.S. requires that federal, state and local government entities cooperate with immigration officials regarding an individual's citizenship and immigration status.

Sanctuary jurisdictions choose not to inform immigration officials when certain undocumented immigrants are released from official custody.



Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated the importance of Israeli and American cooperation in the battle against "militant Islam" in the Middle East Monday, saying the two countries must stand together to ensure "light triumphs over darkness and hope triumphs over despair."

Netanyahu also emphasized the importance of preventing Iran "from ever developing nuclear weapons.

Mr. Netanyahu called on the United States to "vanquish" the Islamic State group from the areas it now controls and build alliance with moderate Muslims in the region to make sure that the Islamic State doesn't return.



And, Japanese officials say eight high school students are feared dead after being engulfed in an avalanche at a ski resort in eastern Japan.

Three other students were injured. At least one teacher is missing.



From here in Washington, I'm Michael Brown reporting.

That's the latest world news from VOA.