Hello, I'm Jerry Smit with the BBC news.

French transport officials are investigating a piece of aircraft wreckage washed up on the Indian Ocean island de la Reunion to see if it comes from a missing Malaysian airliner. US sources say investigators who've seen the photographs have a high degree of confidence the debris is a wing component from a Boeing 777, the same model as the missing plane. Tom Bateman reports from Washington.

"The debris was discovered by people cleaning up a beach on Reunion and according to one witness, it appeared to have been in the water a long time. An image which has emerged online shows the wreckage covered in shells. French air transport officials are trying to establish where the debris came from while the safety officials here in the US believe it to be a component from the trailing edge of a wing from a Boeing triple seven. Two hundred and thirty-nine people were on board to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian government says a team has been sent to Reunion to examine the wreckage."

Russia has used its veto at the United Nations to block the setting of an international tribunal to prosecute those who shot down a Malaysian airliner over Eastern Ukraine a year ago. The Security Council was considering a draft resolution from Malaysia, the Netherland, Australia, Belgium and Ukraine. Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said the aims of the resolution’s supporters were purely political.

"The draft that was put to vote today lacked any legal grounds and precedents. The authors of the draft refused to act in the spirit of cooperation and put it to vote knowing beforehand that that will not lead to a positive result. This, in our opinion, means that for them, political and propaganda aims were more important than practical ones."

The Afghan presidency has declared that the Taliban leader Mullah Omar is dead. It said there was credible information indicating that Mullah Omar died two years ago in Pakistan. The Afghan government said prospects for peace talks with Taliban were now better than ever. A White House spokesman Eric Schultz urged the militants to take up the offer of peace talks starting in a few days time.

"We do believe, um, the Taliban has an opportunity to make genuine peace with the Afghan government and rebuild their lives in peace in Afghanistan. They can accept the government of Afghanistan’s invitation to join a peace process and ultimately become part of a legitimate political system in Afghanistan or they can choose to continue fighting Afghans and destabilizing their own country." Neither the Taliban nor Parkistan have commented.

Prosecutors in United States have announced a murder charge against the University of Cincinnati policeman who shot died an unarmed black man earlier this month. Samuel Dubose was shot in the head after being stopped because his car license plate was missing.

World news from the BBC.

The Indian president has rejected a last-minute appeal for clemency by Yakub Memon, who was sentenced to death for his role in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai in 1993. Mr Memon is due to be executed in the next few hours. The attacks killed 257 people.

The French government says the operator of the channel tunnel has agreed to important investments to improve security at its terminal in Calais. Hundreds of migrants have been attempting to reach Britain, disrupting train services. France has deployed an extra 120 riot police in Calais.

Scientists say they've spotted an aurora similar to the northern and southern lights outside the solar system for the first time. An international research team detected this spectacular light show in the Lyra Constellation about 18 lightyears away. Our science corresponent Rebecca Morelle has more.

"A shimmering aurora is one of the earth's most dazzling displays. And in fact, the luminous glow can appear around all the planets in our solar system, but now a light show is being spotted deeper in space around a brown dwarf, an object too small to become a star, but too big to be a planet. It looks similar to the northern light but it is more red than green, and up to a million times brighter. The discovery's puzzled scientists."

A new report says valuble ancient forest in Cambodia has been lost at an unprecedented rate. The campaign group Forest Trend says large corporations using legitimate development permits to clear land illegally. The researchers say trees have been cleared to create rubber plantations, which, in many cases, are materialized.

And briefly, Argentine football legend Diego Maradona has accused his ex-wife of stealing nearly nine million dollars from his bank accounts. Maradona said on a live television programme that his childhood sweetheart was “a thief”.

BBC news.