From Washington,this is VOA News.

Egypt's military-backed interim government is stepping up its crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, a day after declaring the group a terrorist organization.

State media say authorities have arrested 16 Brotherhood activists in the Nile delta province of Sharkiya on suspicion of promoting the group's ideology, distributing leaflets, and inciting violence against the army and police.

In Cairo, a bomb blast near a public bus at a busy intersection wounded five people. Security officials say they defused a second bomb attached to a nearby billboard.

The Interior Ministry described the attack as an attempt to intimidate voters ahead of a referendum next month on a new constitution. The vote is billed as part of a democratic transition ahead of elections for a new parliament and president.

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In Thailand, fresh clashes between police and anti-government protesters Thursday left at least one police officer dead and dozens of people wounded.  The violence prompted the country’s election commission to call for a postponement of the February 2 general election, but the government said that would only cause more violence.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has visited the controversial Yasukuni shrine which honors the country's nearly 2.5 million war dead, including convicted World War II war criminals.

China and South Korea condemned the visit for further damaging Japan's already frosty relations with its neighbours.

VOA's Daniel Schearf reports from Seoul.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Tokyo Yasukuni shrine was quickly denounced by Japan's neighbours who suffered under its colonial and war-time aggression.

Mr Abe said his visit was a personal one to honor the spirits of the dead and not meant to hurt Chinese or Korean sentiments.

But China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang responded sharply to Mr Abe's action.

He said the Chinese government wished to express strong outrage and protest, and solemnly condemns Japanese leaders ruthlessly trampling the feelings of Chinese people, and people of other war-affected Asian countries.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted an un-named government official saying the shrine visit would have diplomatic repercussions.

Daniel Schearf,Seoul.

The United Nations says it hopes to put peacekeeping reinforcements in South Sudan within 48 hours, as government forces battled rebels Thursday for control of the Upper Nile town of Malakal.

U.N. envoy Hilde Johnson, speaking in the capital, Juba, stressed the need for "unprecedented speed" to boost U.N. presence. She said more than 50,000 civilians already have sought refuge at U.N. bases since fighting erupted last week.

Johnson welcomed any efforts to reconcile the warring factions, in the interest of civilians caught in the crossfire. She spoke Thursday about the people affected by the tensions.

"What has happened this last week has for so many of them brought back the nightmares of the past. The nationhood painstakingly built over decades of conflict and strife is at stake. And for us, one of the most important things is to have those nightmares end."

Tens of thousands of civilians have taken refuge at U.N. bases across the country but missed a strain on resources.

A Turkish prosecutor leading a high-level bribery and corruption investigation says he has been removed from the case and that police refused to comply with his orders to arrest more suspects.

Muammer Akkas said Thursday the Turkish judiciary "was subjected to open pressure from both the chief prosecutor's office and the judicial police, [while] the execution of court orders was obstructed."

President Obama has signed the bipartisan budget agreement negotiated by Congress earlier this month.

Mr Obama signed the bill Thursday while on vacation with his family in Hawaii.

The budget gives Washington a two-year reprieve from the budget wars that halted federal operations for 16 days in October.

Australian maritime authorities say a Russian ship that has been locked in thick Antarctic ice since Tuesday is nearing rescue as the Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon draws close. The Australian Maritime Authority, which is coordinating the rescue, says the Snow Dragon should reach the Russian ship by Friday evening. Two other icebreakers are also headed towards the site.

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