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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting. An agreement coming soon.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter says he expects an agreement in very short order with Russia on air safety above Syria to avoid a potential mid-air accident between U.S. and Russian jets. The Pentagon says Russia and U.S. pilots carrying out separate missions in Syria came within 16 kilometers of each other last week. Also Tuesday, militants fired rockets at Russia's embassy in Damascus in what Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called an "act of terror." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he will travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories due to the escalation of violence by Palestinians against Israelis. Kerry spoke Tuesday at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Three Israelis were killed Tuesday. Robert Berger takes a look. The escalating Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians come at a time of stalemate in the peace process. Peace talks broke down last year, leaving Palestinians frustrated and sparing of their goal to create an independent state. Israel says it is prepared to return to the negotiating table today without preconditions. But the Palestinians say Israel's expansion of West Bank settlements and its refusal to withdraw to the 1967 borders means there is nothing to talk about. Robert Berger, Jerusalem. European Union observers say that despite logistical problems, Guinea's presidential election on Sunday appeared to be free and fair. The findings are at odds with opposition candidates who say the election was rigged in favor of President Alpha Conde. They say the vote should be annulled. This is VOA news. The investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine last year finds the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired from (a) Russian-made missile launcher. Dutch officials announced their findings Tuesday with a partially reconstructed portion of the plane looming in the background. Here is Dutch safety chairman Tjibbe Joustra: "Flight MH17 crashed because of a 9N314M warhead detonated outside the aeroplane above the left side of the cockpit." Joustra said the plane broke up immediately while still in the air. Iran's parliament passed a bill Tuesday approving the country's nuclear agreement with a group of other nations. The state-run IRNA news agency said lawmakers voted 161 for and 59 against the bill, with 13 abstaining. Tanzanian officials last week announced the arrest of a Chinese businesswoman they described as the "most important ivory trafficker ever arrested in the country." The woman, who is being called the "Queen of Ivory," is 66-year-old Yang Feng Glan. [She was] She allegedly, rather, led a ring of traffickers. Her arrest is seen as a major victory in the war against elephant poachers. After watching Republican candidates spar in two rounds of debates, [Democrats are hoping to become] Democrats who are hoping to become the next U.S. president get their turn Tuesday as they take the stage in Las Vegas for their first debate of the 2016 [campaign election] election campaign. Front-runner Hillary Clinton will be at the center of attention. Recent polls put her in the lead with about 40 percent support, while her chief challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, is coming in at 25. Also running is former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee. Abortion provider Planned Parenthood vowing to protest from anti-abortion activists said Tuesday it will no longer accept payments from companies that use aborted fetal tissue for scientific research. An anti-abortion group called the Center for Medical Progress released secretly videoed conversations with Planned Parenthood staffers as they casually discussed gruesome fetal tissue extractions. Anti-abortion groups accuse Planned Parenthood of selling baby parts for profit. Planned Parenthood denies the accusation. The United States military says it has conducted a major air and ground operation with Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan, killing "numerous" al-Qaeda militants. The military says the operation was launched October 7 and ended on Sunday. In Washington, I'm David DeForest. That's the latest world news from VOA. |