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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Forrest reporting. Possible Russian involvement in a plane crash.
Investigators probing last year's downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine have found fragments that may have come from a Russian surface-to-air missile. Fred Westerbeke is the Dutch national prosecutor: "We found some parts which were not part of the aircraft, of the airplane, and in the last few months we've established that we can say that these probably are parts of a missile system and probably a Buk missile system." All 298 people on board were killed in the crash. Turkey's military says its warplanes launched airstrikes against 17 Kurdish rebel targets Tuesday in southeastern Turkey. A statement said the strikes focused on the Kurdistan Workers Party in Hakkari province, which borders Iraq and Iran. The airstrikes follow attacks Monday blamed on the PKK that killed nine people. Iraq's parliament has unanimously approved Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's proposed government reforms to tackle corruption and cut spending. Mr. Abadi proposed the changes Sunday, including elimination of the largely symbolic offices of three vice presidents and three deputy prime ministers. Mr. Abadi's plan also calls for ending party and sectarian quotas when choosing officials. At least 47 people were killed and dozens others wounded in a bomb attack on a crowded market in Nigeria's Borno state. The blast hit Tuesday at a market in Sabon Gari. No one has claimed responsibility. For more on these and other stories, check our website voanews.com. This is VOA news. A new round of Libyan peace talks gets underway. The chief United Nations mediator is saying he believes it is possible to hammer out a final agreement on a unity government for Libya by early September. Lisa Schlein reports. After many months of complex and difficult negotiations, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Bernardino León, says he sees a light at the end of the tunnel. He says much progress has been made toward reaching an agreement to form a unity government. Libya is bitterly divided between an internationally recognized government in the eastern city of Tobruk and an Islamist government based in the capital Tripoli. The country has been in turmoil since former dictator, Moammar Gadhafi, was overthrown in 2011. Lisa Schlein, Geneva. China's central bank devalued its currency by nearly 2 percent Tuesday. That move will make China's exports less expensive and more competitive. It will also make items imported into China more expensive for Chinese consumers. The change follows slumping exports and stock market turmoil in China's economy. Billionaire Donald Trump may have taken some hits in last week's Republican presidential debate, but so far it doesn't appear to be hurting him in the polls. The latest Reuters-Ipsos national poll found Trump holding steady at the top of the Republican field with 24 percent, followed by (former) Florida Governor Jeb Bush at 12 percent. Two new polls in the early contest state of Iowa show Trump has moved into a lead over Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who had been leading in Iowa for months. The town of Ferguson, Missouri, remained under a state of emergency after more unrest there. The violence broke out during protests marking the first anniversary of the shooting death of a black shoplifting suspect by a white police officer. Police said they arrested about two dozen protesters in the St. Louis suburb after demonstrators pelted them with rocks and bottles. A Japanese power company restarted a nuclear reactor on Tuesday, the first one to come back online after new safety regulations put in place following the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Kyushu Electric Power Company said it expects the reactor at its Sendai facility to be generating power by Friday and be at full capacity next month. The United Nations says thousands of native Somalis are returning from Yemen despite a serious humanitarian crisis at home. The U.N. human rights office said Tuesday nearly 29,000 people have arrived in Somalia from Yemen since March, with more expected in coming months. On Wall Street, U.S. stock indexes closed the day lower. I'm David Forrest in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |