By Toby Sterling and Anthony Deutsch NIEUWEGEIN, Netherlands (Reuters) - Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a missile fired from a launcher brought into Ukraine from Russia and located in a village held by pro-Russian rebels, international prosecutors said on Wednesday.

By Martin Petty HANOI (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte plunged one of the United States' most important Asian alliances deeper into uncertainty on Wednesday by declaring upcoming U.S.-Philippines military exercises "the last," and ruling out any joint navy patrols.

By Zeba Siddiqui HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - Centuries ago, Indian princes would bathe in the cool Kazhipally lake in Medak. Now, even the poorest villagers here in India's baking south point to the barren banks and frothy water and say they avoid going anywhere near it.

By Ellen Francis and Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russian or Syrian warplanes knocked two hospitals out of service in the besieged rebel sector of Aleppo on Wednesday and ground forces intensified an assault in a battle which the United Nations said had made the city worse than a slaughterhouse.

By Stephen Kalin and Yeganeh Torbati BAGHDAD/ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Reuters) - The United States will send around 600 new troops to Iraq to assist local forces in the battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State that is expected later this year, U.S. and Iraqi officials said on Wednesday.

By Asad Hashim ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The elusive leader of a major rebel group fighting for independence in Pakistan's Baluchistan province said he would welcome cash and other help from India, words likely to alarm Islamabad which accuses New Delhi of stirring trouble there.

By Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - As the United States and other nations grasp for new ways to sanction Pyongyang in response to its latest nuclear test, some North Korean defectors see investment in its rudimentary market economy as a way to foment gradual change from within.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Hundreds of climbers have been brought down safely from the slopes of an Indonesian volcano that erupted this week, the disaster agency said on Thursday, although the fate of several daredevil tourists who declined to leave was not clear.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will build the world's deepest and largest high-speed railway station at a popular section of the country's Great Wall, as part of its preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics, state media reported on Thursday. The station will be at Badaling, the most visited section of the Great Wall which lies about 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Beijing.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain needs to begin explaining its Brexit strategy to avoid prolonged uncertainty for businesses and negotiating partners, a London-based think tank said on Thursday, warning that internal squabbling risked undermining the government's position.