From Washington, this is VOA News. I’m Dave DeForest reporting. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry joins talks in Paris. Foreign ministers from European and Arab nations are discussing the battle against the Islamic State and efforts to foster a political resolution to the situation in Syria. Diplomats are trying to build momentum for a meeting Friday in New York that would include U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura. They want a foundation for a ceasefire and a political process based on last month's Vienna agreement to begin peace talks by January 1. Secretary Kerry will use a visit to Russia Tuesday to plan for Friday's meeting of the International Syria Support Group. The official said Kerry also will discuss efforts to get full implementation of the Minsk agreement, which includes a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine and a withdrawal of heavy weapons by both the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed separatists. President Barack Obama says he is "confident" the U.S.-led coalition will prevail in its battle against the Islamic State. Speaking at the Pentagon Monday following a meeting with his national security team, the president said IS is losing ground. “Despite winning six out of 30…” Apparently, we’ll have some trouble bringing you that. We’ll try some time later. Mr. Obama announced no change in strategy. Egypt issued a preliminary report Monday, saying its investigators have found no evidence of terrorism in the October 31 crash of a Russian plane in the Sinai Peninsula. A statement from the civil aviation ministry said the investigation is continuing, but that so far nothing has been found that indicates terrorism or some other illegal act. This is VOA News. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Newscast foster – v. to help grow or develop momentum – n. the force or strength that something has when it moves envoy – n. a diplomat or representative foundation – n. something that provides support for something else implementation – n. the process of enacting a decision or plan; execution backed – v. supported confident – adj. demonstrating a feeling that you can do something well prevail – v. to defeat an opponent despite – preposition. without being prevented by something global – adj. of or related to the world strategy – n. a careful plan or method for reaching a goal preliminary – adj. coming before the main part of something aviation – adj. of or related to the flying of aircraft indicates – v. shows We want to hear from you. Write to us in the comments section.
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