From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting. Explosions hit Istanbul's Ataturk Airport.

The governor of Istanbul says three suicide bombers detonated explosives late Tuesday at the airport, killing at least 31 people and wounding about 60.

State television said one of several explosions occurred near a control point at an entry to the international arrival center.

Witnesses said police shot at one attacker after he opened fire with what was later described as a Kalashnikov rifle.

Video later showed the man blowing himself up.

European Union leaders are holding a two-day summit to discuss the Brexit. Lisa Bryant takes a look.

Arriving at the summit, outgoing British Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain will seek "the closest possible relationship" with the European Union.

"Britain will be leaving the European Union, but I want that process to be as constructive as possible and I hope the outcome can be as constructive as possible."

But goodwill appears to be banishing.

Speaking to the German parliament earlier in the day, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Britain cannot expect any special benefits from the bloc.

Lisa Bryant, Paris.

Republicans on a U.S. congressional investigating panel say the government failed to respond to a 2012 attack in Libya that killed four Americans.

The panel Tuesday released an 800-page report on the incident. It is highly critical of several government agencies but does not outlines specific cases of official misconduct.

The $7 million report produced no new allegations against then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"So I'll leave it to others to characterize this report but I think it's pretty clear it's time to move on."

Many Democrats believe Clinton was the main target of the probe.

This is VOA news.

The U.S. Senate blocked new funds to fight the Zika virus Tuesday. The action prompted a flurry of partisan finger-pointing in the chamber.

Democrats banded together to defeat $1.1 billion emergency funding bill, objecting to cost offsets inserted into the legislation, including funding cuts to abortion provider Planned Parenthood

Democrats said the bill allocated too little money to battle Zika. One described it as designated to fail.

Republicans warned that the country is on the verge of a health crisis because of Zika.

Volkswagen has agreed to a nearly $15 billion settlement of consumer and environmental claims related to its recent emissions rigging scandal.

The settlement, announced Tuesday by a U.S. District Court in San Francisco, includes over $10 billion to buy back about 475,000 polluting vehicles.

Elizabeth Cabraser is the plaintiff's attorney. "These settlements send a very strong, very loud, clear message. Do not try this in our home. Don't try this in the United States. Don't try to fool Mother Nature. Don't try to fool consumers. You won't get away with it."

The settlement also includes $2.7 billion for environmental mitigation and $2 billion for research on zero-emissions technology.

U.S. consumer confidence improved this month, while the U.S. economy grew a bit faster than first thought.

Tuesday's report from the Conference Board shows consumer confidence rose to its highest level since September, snapping a two-month losing streak.

A separate report from the Commerce Department shows the U.S. economy expanded at a 1.1 percent annual rate in the first three months of this year. That is a slightly better expansion of the gross domestic product than an earlier preliminary estimate. Experts say new data show stronger sales of exports and software.



A new public poll shows most Americans believe Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton would do a better job dealing with terrorism than Republican rival Donald Trump.

Fifty percent of those surveyed in the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll say they trust Clinton to handle terrorism, compared to 39 percent for Trump.

The latest poll results show a significant shift in public opinion since the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California.

The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday dismissed appeals from two states whose restrictions on abortion clinics were struck down by lower courts.

The justices refused to hear appeals [without laws in] about laws, rather, in Mississippi and Wisconsin that would have required physicians [to] who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at local hospitals.

I'm David DeForest.

That's the latest world news from VOA.