Putin allies propose easing penalty for domestic violence
MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin’s allies have passed a preliminary draft bill in Russia’s parliament that would ease some penalties for domestic violence, which supporters say would keep the state from meddling in the home but critics say w…
Glad to see Obama go, Gulf Arabs expect Trump to counter Iran
DUBAI (Reuters) – Gulf Arab states are quietly applauding the arrival in the White House of a hawkish leader opposed to their adversary Iran, even if they suspect Donald Trump’s short temper and abrasive Tweets may at times heighten tensions in the com…
France’s Fillon tells Merkel Russia sanctions are pointless
BERLIN (Reuters) – European Union sanctions on Russia are pointless, the frontrunner in France’s presidential election Francois Fillon said on Monday in Berlin, warning Russia and the United States under Donald Trump could forge links that exclude the …
Dutch government mulls ban on international child adoption amid trafficking fears
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The Dutch government is expected to vote on whether to ban international child adoption amid concerns over the danger of trafficking and laundering children, raising the possibility that other countries could follo…
Venezuela’s opposition revives anti-Maduro protests
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition parties on Monday launched a new round of protests aimed at forcing President Nicolas Maduro from power and ending 18 years of socialist rule, but they fell well short of the massive demonstrations of the past…
France closes court case over murder of Kurdish militants
PARIS (Reuters) – France has dropped all court proceedings over the 2013 murders of three Kurdish activists after the death of the main suspect, judicial sources said on Monday, despite street protests demanding that inquiries continue.
China urges Trump administration to grasp importance of ‘one China’
BEIJING (Reuters) – The new U.S. administration must fully understand the importance of the “one China” policy and appreciate that the issue of Taiwan is highly sensitive for the Beijing government, China said on Monday.
Swiss asylum requests plunge 31 percent in 2016
ZURICH (Reuters) – Requests for asylum in Switzerland plunged by nearly a third to around 27,200 last year after authorities closed the Balkan land route used by thousands to flee hot spots in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, the SEM migration agency …
Ban lifted on Indian bull-taming events to end mass protests
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Lawmakers in India’s Tamil Nadu state passed an emergency order on Monday allowing bull-taming festivals to resume after a court ban on the traditional events led to mass protests.
Japanese government panel leans to one-off law for emperor’s abdication
TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese government panel suggested on Monday that a one-off law allowing Emperor Akihito to abdicate was the preferable way to let the octogenarian monarch step down, rather than revising the Imperial House Law to also let future e…
