From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting.

At least 50 Afghan soldiers have been killed in a Taliban attack on a dining hall in a mosque at a military base in northern Afghanistan.

Reports from the region say the number of casualties is far higher than initial reports and the death toll is expected to rise.

Taliban fighters in Afghan army uniforms drove through military checkpoints and launched the raid at the base in Mazar-i-Sharif.

A U.S. general says the attack occurred targeting soldiers at prayer in a mosque and others in a dining facility.

Afghan commandos deployed during the attack and seven of the attackers were killed, two others blew themselves up and one was captured.

U.S. military officials say American [droun] ground troops, that is, killed a top Islamic State terror group leader tied to the deadly New Year's Eve attack on an Istanbul nightclub.

U.S. Central Command Friday confirmed the death of Abdurakhmon Uzbeki, who was the target of an operation near the city of Mayadin [on] in eastern Syria on April 6.

Officials described Uzbeki as a "close associate" of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was deeply involved in planning terror attacks outside of Iraq and Syria, including one on the Reina nightclub in Istanbul.

French police gathered at the Trocadero and on the Champs-Élysées Friday night to remember a fallen colleague killed Thursday in a shooting.

About 100 officers stood in silence with the Eiffel Tower in the background as they remembered Xavier Jugélé. He was shot to death Thursday night by an attacker identified as Karim Cheurfi. Two other officers were wounded before Cheurfi was killed by police.

This is VOA news.

President Donald Trump says his administration will have a big announcement next Wednesday about overhauling the U.S. tax system.

At the Treasury Department Friday, Trump signed an executive order to review any tax regulations put in place by former President Barack Obama.

"This regulatory reduction is the first step toward a tax reform that reduces rates, provides relief to our middle class, and lowers our business tax, which is one of the highest in the world and has stopped us from so much wealth and productivity."

The president also signed two other executive orders calling for reviews of a 2010 Wall Street reform law that banks and insurance companies have said impedes their ability to conduct business.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israelis sense "a great change" in America after President Trump took power.

After meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Jerusalem Friday, Netanyahu said the Trump administration has acted in support of Israel, including launching attacks against a Syrian airbase.

"This has been appreciated around the world and in our region. I think this is welcome change, a strategic change of American leadership and American policy."

Mattis met with Netanyahu and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin after speaking with Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman in Tel Aviv.

The son of a Russian lawmaker was sentenced Friday by a U.S. federal court to 27 years in prison after being convicted of a cyber assault on thousands of U.S. businesses.

Roman Seleznev was found guilty last year by a jury in Seattle of perpetrating a scheme that prosecutors said involved hacking into point-of-sale computers to steal credit card numbers and caused $169 million in losses to U.S. firms.

Annette Hayes is the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington: "Mr. Seleznev is someone who tried to take card into the next level and who engaged in conduct that was meant to make getting stole credit cards as easy as getting online and buying a book from Amazon."

Prosecutors said that from October of 2009 to October of 2013, Seleznev stole credit card numbers from more than 500 U.S. businesses, transferred the data to servers in Virginia, Russia and Ukraine and eventually sold the information on criminal carding websites.

He faces separate charges in federal courts in Nevada and Georgia.

I'm David Byrd in Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.

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