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VOA English Newscast: 2100 UTC December 9, 2015


Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 9, 2015, to testify before the Senate Armed Service Committee hearing on the Islamic State.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 9, 2015, to testify before the Senate Armed Service Committee hearing on the Islamic State.
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From Washington, this is VOA News.

I’m Dave DeForest reporting.

French officials identify a third attacker:

The man died in the terrorist attacks on a Paris concert hall in November.

Officials announced Wednesday that the attacker was from Strasbourg. He is believed to have traveled to Syria with a group of young people in late 2013. The suspect's name has not been officially released, but French media are identifying him as Fouad Mohamed-Aggad.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter testified before the Senate Armed Forces Committee Wednesday and urged Turkey to do more to control its often porous border with Syria. Carter criticized Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states for being, in his words, "preoccupied by the conflict in Yemen" and not paying enough attention to the fight against the Islamic State group.

“The international community, including our allies and partners, has to step up before another attack, like Paris.

Carter also said it is time for Russia to, in his words, "focus on the right side of this fight." Western nations have accused Russia of focusing its strikes on Syrian opposition fighters in support of its ally, President Bashar al-Assad -- a charge Russian officials have denied.

The head of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation says the two shooters in last week's California massacre were radicalized before they met online and started discussing jihad and martyrdom about two years ago.

FBI Director James Comey told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the two were inspired by foreign terrorist groups.

Rwanda is set to vote next week on a constitutional amendment that will allow President Paul Kagame to run for a third term in 2017, and potentially to remain in power until 2034.

The referendum is forecast to pass easily.

This is VOA News.

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Words in This News

concert – n. a public performance of music

hall – n. a large room or building

testified – v. giving evidence, especially in a court of law

porous – adj. easy to pass through

preoccupied – v. thinking a lot about or worrying about something

paying attention – expression to think about one thing alone

focus – v. to direct one’s attention toward something

massacre – n. the killing of many people

radicalized – v. causing someone or something to become more extreme

online – adj. of or related to a computer or the Internet

jihad – n. fighting by Muslims to defend or spread their beliefs

martyrdom – n. the suffering or death of someone, especially because of his or her religious beliefs

inspired – v. making someone want something

run – v. to compete for an elected office

potentially – adj. possibly; able to become true or real

referendum – n. an event in which people vote for or against a measure that deals with a given issue

forecast – v. to say that something will happen in the future; to predict

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