From Washington, this is VOA News.
I’m Frances Alonzo reporting.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi Tuesday dismissed as "propaganda" claims by Islamic State insurgents that they brought down a Russian jetliner that crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard.
He said, "When there is propaganda that it crashed because of ISIS, this is one way to damage the stability and security of Egypt, including its image." He made the comments to BBC.
He said that the area is under the full control of the Egyptian government.
A rare cyclone slammed into southeastern Yemen bringing with it strong winds, heavy flooding and causing massive damage.
Cyclone Chapala made landfall Tuesday in Muklalla packing winds of up to 130 kilometers an hour. Residents say the storm submerged cars and knocked out power. No reports of injuries were reported.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed support for boosting Turkmenistan's economic prospects as he visited Tuesday on the final leg of a five-nation tour of central Asia.
He said to the Turkmenistan President, "We could do more together to help your people develop some of the skill sets necessary in this modern economy.” He also said the U.S. did not want to see a struggle for influence with China and Russia in which one country has to win and others lose.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini met with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo Tuesday.
At a news conference in the Egyptian capital, she called on Libyan "decision makers" to respond to the needs of their people and do more to protect against the Islamic State group.
Libya has been split between an Islamist-backed government based in Tripoli and an internationally recognized government in the country's east.
Iraqi Shi'ite politician Ahmad Chalabi, a key proponent of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, died Tuesday at the age of 71.
Iraqi media say he suffered a heart attack at his home in Baghdad. Edward Yeranian reports.
As head of the influential Iraqi National Congress, Chalabi used ties with the Bush administration to lobby for U.S. military action in Iraq. Information presented by Chalabi about former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of massive destruction was used to support the campaign to launch the U.S. invasion that toppled his regime. Chalabi, who spent part of his life in the United States where he studied at the University of Chicago and M.I.T., went on to play a minor political role in Iraq where he was most recently head of the Iraqi parliament’s finance commission.
Edward Yeranian, for VOA News, Cairo.
A prosecutor Tuesday sought a murder conviction against Oscar Pistorius before South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal, saying a lower court erred in acquitting the athlete of the charge for killing his girlfriend, instead convicting him of culpable homicide.
If convicted of murder, Pistorius would face a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison as South Africa no longer has the death penalty.
Germany’s Volkswagen, which is already reeling from news that it had cheated on U.S. tests for nitrogen oxide emissions says an internal investigation has found new problems. They’re called “unexplained inconsistencies” in the carbon dioxide emissions from 800,000 vehicles. The company warned Tuesday that it estimated the possible economic risks at approximately two billion euros due to this new problem. It did not say which vehicles were affected.
I’m Frances Alonzo in Washington.
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Words in the News
insurgent - n. a person who fights against an established government or authority
submerge - v. to make (someone or something) go under the surface of water or some other liquid
proponent - n. a person who argues for or supports something
regime - n. a particular government
conviction - n. the act of proving that a person is guilty of a crime in a court of law
reel - v. to be very shocked, confused, and upset