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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting. Russia blames external source for plane crash in Egypt.
Russian transportation officials say flight recorders recovered from the Russian jetliner that crashed Saturday in Egypt have sustained only "minor" damage and have undergone a preliminary inspection. More than 200 people were killed in the crash. The Air Transportation Ministry said further decisions on downloading and analyzing information from the recorders would be resolved "shortly." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says the world should respect his Justice and Development Party's victory in a parliamentary election Sunday. He said the people of Turkey have voted for stability. Sunday's elections were free and peaceful, but international observers have denounced media restrictions in the run-up to the vote Four Israelis were stabbed in separate attacks Monday. Police in Netanya shot and killed a Palestinian who attacked and seriously injured a 70-year-old man. Police say the attack came just hours after another Palestinian knifed several people, including an 80-year-old woman near Tel Aviv. Eleven Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings. Somali militants from the Islamist group al-Shabaab have ambushed government soldiers south of the Somali capital, killing more than a dozen military personnel. Al-Shabaab put the death toll from Monday's attack at 30. A Somali military official says at least 15 government soldiers were killed. Militants say they also seized several military trucks in the ambush, which took place nearly 100 kilometers south of the capital, Mogadishu. The attack took place one day after the same group killed 12 people at a Mogadishu hotel. This is VOA news. The United Nations says more than 218,000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea during the month of October. That's more than the total amount of migrants that crossed in all of last year. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction concluded Monday. The U.S. military spent an exorbitant amount of money, nearly $43 military, on a natural gas automobile filling station in Afghanistan. Afghans have no use for such a facility. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev Monday that the United States is appreciative of his support for nuclear non-proliferation and the fight against Islamic State insurgents. "Now, obviously, the future of Kazakhstan and this region will be determined and should be determined by the people who live here, not by the United States or any other country. But we want to partner with you how." The top U.S. diplomat stopped in the Kazakh capital as part of a four-day tour of former Soviet states in Central Asia. Australia has begun military exercises with China not far from the disputed man-made islands of the South China Sea. Phil Mercer takes a look. The "live fire" exercises were planned long ago but come at a time of rising diplomatic tensions in the South China Sea, where the Chinese have tried to further their territorial claims by building new islands. Beginning Monday, the Royal Australian Navy will engage in war games alongside Chinese forces, not far from the disputed waters. Australia's relationship with its most powerful partners has presented diplomatic challenges, where it must further its most important trading relationship with China, while maintaining historic security ties with the United States. Phil Mercer, Sydney. China's top family planning authority says the country's one-child policy will continue to be implemented until new rules allowing couples to have two children will go into effect. That announcement by the National Health and Family Planning Commission contradicts remarks by officials in Hunan province who told a local newspaper those currently pregnant with a second child would not be punished. China has started to implement a new set of revised criminal laws that include punishments for Internet users for what the government calls "starting rumors through the web." According to the new law, effective November 1, people who pass on what is called "false information" via social media or post false messages on forum boards can be prosecuted and sentenced to up to 7 years in prison. A human rights activist tells VOA he is concerned the government will use the laws to silence critics. In Washington, I'm David DeForest. That's the latest world news from VOA. |