France’s Fillon denounces probe, fights on for presidency
PARIS (Reuters) – Conservative Francois Fillon promised on Wednesday to fight “to the end” in France’s presidential election despite a deepening financial scandal, but his campaign suffered new blows as a top aide resigned and a party backing him susp…
Philippines’ Duterte signs Paris pact on climate change
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change restricting greenhouse gas emissions, putting the deal one step closer to ratification in the country, a senator said on Wednesday.
South Korea, U.S. begin large-scale annual drills amid North Korea tension
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean and U.S. troops began large-scale joint military exercise on Wednesday conducted annually to test their defense readiness against the threat from North Korea, which routinely characterizes the drills as preparation for wa…
Iraqi army controls main roads out of Mosul, trapping Islamic State
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – U.S.-backed Iraqi army units on Wednesday took control of the last major road out of western Mosul that had been in Islamic State’s hands, trapping the militants in a shrinking area within the city, a general and residents said….
Saudi king signs range of deals in Indonesia at start of visit
BOGOR, Indonesia (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s King Salman held talks with Indonesia’s president on Wednesday and signed a range of cooperation agreements at the beginning of a 12-day visit to the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.
German SPD trims Merkel’s lead in Forsa poll
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) have narrowed the gap with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives to 2 percentage points from 3 in the last week, according to a poll for Stern magazine by the Forsa institute.
Trump: Yemen raid was success, gathered vital intelligence
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that a January raid in Yemen was a success and gathered vital intelligence against the al Qaeda affiliate there, despite questions raised about the effectiveness of the mission.
New Trump immigration order will remove Iraq from list of banned countries: AP
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s new immigration order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary U.S. travel ban, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
Women charged with North Korean’s murder leave court in bullet-proof vests
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia on Wednesday charged two women, an Indonesian and a Vietnamese, with murdering the estranged half brother of North Korea’s leader in a bizarre airport assassination using a super-toxic nerve agent that killed in minute…
Trump recommits to U.S. allies but says they must pay ‘fair share’
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday reaffirmed support for the United States’ longstanding security alliances around the world but insisted that friends and partners from Europe to the Middle East to the Pacific must “pay their fair share of the cost.”
