From Washington, this is VOA News.
I'm Dave DeForest reporting a Dutch-led panel releases its findings:
The investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine finds the plane was shot down by 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. The chairman of the Dutch Safety Board said the plane was hit on the left side by shrapnel from the detonation of a missile fired from the ground. He said the plane broke up immediately, while still in the air.
Militants fired rockets at Russia's embassy in Damascus on Tuesday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the attack an "act or terror" meant to intimidate those who support the fight against the Islamic State group.
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 to 59 against the bill with 13 abstentions.
Iran and the group that includes the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany reached the agreement in July after long-running negotiations.
European Union observers say that despite logistical problems, Guinea's presidential election on Sunday appeared to be free and fair. The comments Tuesday from the E-U observer team and its chief, Frank Engel, are at odds with opposition candidates who say the election was rigged in favor of President Alpha Conde and should be annulled.
A four-page statement from the EU team said the poll was marred by technical errors such as unalphabetized voter lists and confusion over when polling stations should close. But in an interview said the massive ballot box stuffing and vote rigging alleged by the opposition could not be verified.
After watching Republican candidates spar in two rounds of debates, Democrats 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 presidential election campaign.
Front-runner Hillary Clinton will be in the center of attention. Recent polls put her in the lead with about 40 percent support, while her chief challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, comes in at 25 percent.
Also running is former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee.
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 allegedly led a ring of traffickers. Her arrest is seen as a major victory in the war against elephant poachers.
The United States military says it has conducted a major air and ground operation with Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan, killing "numerous" al-Qaida militants.
The military says the operation was launched on October 7 in Kandahar province and was concluded Sunday.
The American Civil Liberties Union is suing two former U.S. Air Force psychologists -- James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen -- who together designed a harsh interrogation program for the Central Intelligence Agency during the Iraq war. The civil liberties group accused the psychologists of developing an interrogation regime that relied on beating, sleep deprivation, starvation, waterboarding and other methods that caused physical and psychological harm to prisoners.
The controversial program aimed at forcing suspected terrorists to divulge information was carried out during the administration of former president George W. Bush.
In Washington, I'm Dave DeForest.
That's the lagtest world news from VOA.
Words in the News
pausing – v. stopping for a time or temporarily
evolving – v. changing or developing slowly
shift – v. to move or cause to move to a different position
vetting – v. investigating someone carefully
basic – adj. relating to the most important part of something
according – transitive verb bringing into agreement
dozen – n. a group of 12 people or things
original – adj. relating to the beginning
meanwhile - adv. at or during the same time
approach – n. a way of dealing with something
embattled – adj. involved in a battle or conflict
inflaming – v. causing someone or something to become angry or violent
contribution – n. the act of giving something or something given
pluralistic - adj. relating to the belief that different groups of people should work together
in the wake of – expression as a result of
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