(From Washington, this) is VOA news. I'm Anne Ball reporting.

A military flareup on the Israeli border with Syria has resulted in anti-aircraft fire downing an Israeli warplane that was returning from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria earlier in the day.

Both Israeli pilots ejected from an F16 and were injured, one critically.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu placed blame on Iran and Syria Saturday.

"This morning Iran brazenly violated Israel's sovereignty. They dispatched an Iranian drone from Syrian territory into Israel. And this demonstrates that our warnings were 100 percent correct.

"Israel holds Iran and its Syrian hosts responsible for today's aggression. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect our sovereignty and our security."

Netanyahu also said he spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the two agreed coordination between their armies would continue.

A U.S. Pentagon spokesperson said Israel is the U.S.'s closest security partner in the region and is entitled to defend itself against threats to the territory and people.

There has been [a breakthrough] a diplomatic breakthrough in South Korea's Olympic outreach on Saturday. President Moon Jae-in was invited to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang.

A letter from Kim Jong Un, expressing his willingness to improve inter-Korea relations, was delivered to the South Korean president by [the] his sister Kim [Jo] Yo Jong during a lunch at the South Korean presidential Blue House.

This is VOA news.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is on his way home from South Korea.

He told reporters on the plane that the U.S. and its allies will continue to intensify the economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea until they permanently abandon their nuclear, ballistic missile program.

The vice president also said he is "encouraged" by bilateral talks with the South Koreans and also Moon's talks with the North Korean delegation to the Winter Olympics.

U.S. President Donald Trump has blocked the release of a Democratic rebuttal to a Republican memo alleging FBI abuses of power during a probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The president last week authorized the release of the Republican version of the memo.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been responding to news that a second staff member, speechwriter David Sorensen, has resigned over domestic abuse allegations against him by former wife.

It came two days after White House staff secretary Rob Porter stepped down amid accusations he had abused ex-wives.

President Donald Trump said on Friday he is very sad at Porter's resignation.



The U.N. refugee agency reports an upsurge in violence in battle-scarred Yemen has sent more than 85,000 people fleeing for their lives in the past 10 weeks.

Lisa Schlein reports for VOA on the story from Geneva.

More than two million people have become internally displaced in Yemen since March 2015. That is when a Saudi-led coalition began a bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in support of Yemen's government.

The U.N. refugee agency is alarmed by the recent escalation of fighting that has uprooted tens of thousands of civilians since December 1. It says most of the new displacement is taking place in Yemen's west coast cities of Al Hudaydah and Taizz.

UNHCR spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly says there is particular concern about the welfare of civilians who remain close to hostilities in these areas.

That's Lisa Schlein reporting.

A combined Korean women's hockey team took to the ice Saturday and lost to Switzerland. The Swiss shut out the Koreans 8 to zero.

I'm Anne Ball reporting from Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.