Fire-prone Indonesian province declares early emergency to combat “haze”
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s fire-prone Riau province declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, the disaster mitigation agency said, after President Joko Widodo urged regional authorities to avoid a repeat of fires that smothered Southeast Asia in s…
Jordanian King to visit Russia to discuss counter-terrorism – Kremlin
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Jordan’s King Abdullah will visit Moscow on Jan. 25 and discuss steps to combat terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
Britain’s Brexit plans unlikely to be slowed by Article 50 defeat
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans to start the process of Britain leaving the European Union by the end of March are unlikely to be hindered or slowed by Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling the government must seek parliamentary approval…
Italy avalanche death toll rises to 14
FARINDOLA, Italy (Reuters) – Rescuers working through the night pulled five more bodies from the wreck of a hotel in central Italy that was razed by an avalanche last week, bringing the death toll to 14, the national fire brigade said on Tuesday.
Trump makes early move on restricting abortions around the world
NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday reinstated a global gag rule that bans U.S.-funded groups around the world from discussing abortion, a move that was widely expected but nonetheless dismayed women’s rights a…
Russia says U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan would worsen situation – Ifax
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that any decision by the United States to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan would worsen the situation in the country, Interfax news agency reported.
China tourism body backs boycott of Japanese hotel group APA
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s tourism administration has urged tour operators to sever ties with a Japanese hotel chain after an escalating row over the hotelier’s denial of the 1937 massacre by Japanese troops in the Chinese city of Nanjing.
Iraqi forces preparing offensive on western Mosul, commander says
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi forces have started preparing an offensive to capture the western side of Mosul from Islamic State, campaign commander Lieutenant General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah said.
Turkey will not hand over al-Bab to Syrian government forces: deputy PM
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Claims that Turkey will hand over the Syrian town of al-Bab to President Bashar al-Assad’s forces after driving out Islamic State are not true, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told the state-run Anadolu agency on Tues…
China urges U.S. to act and speak cautiously on South China Sea
BEIJING (Reuters) – China urged the United States on Tuesday to act and speak cautiously on the South China Sea, saying China has irrefutable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands.
