Myanmar, Bangladesh agree to start talks on Rohingya refugees
YANGON/DHAKA (Reuters) – Myanmar has agreed to begin talks with Bangladesh over an estimated 65,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine State since attacks on border posts three months ago, a senior Myanmar official said on Th…
In Mosul areas retaken from Islamic State, loss and fear linger
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraqi soldiers kicked in the gate of a home in eastern Mosul and emerged moments later with two young men whose hands they bound with plastic ties and dragged off toward black Humvees.
Energy crisis leaves Gaza with barely four hours of power a day
GAZA (Reuters) – For weeks, Gazans have been making do with less than half their usual electricity supply – barely a few hours a day – with no sign of the shortages alleviating anytime soon, fuelling distress and frustration among the population.
Killer Breivik says he has got ‘stranger’, more radical in jail
SKIEN, Norway (Reuters) – Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik said on Thursday he felt he had become “stranger and stranger” and more radical in his right-wing views in jail and blamed it on near-isolation since he massacred 77 people in 201…
Duterte’s family planning program faces opposition in Philippines
MANILA (Reuters) – A presidential intervention to provide free contraceptives in the predominantly Catholic Philippines looked set to face hurdles, with conservatives and church leaders preparing possible challenges.
Iran’s first jet purchased under sanctions deal lands in Tehran: TV
ANKARA (Reuters) – An Airbus passenger plane landed on Thursday at a Tehran airport, the first new jet directly purchased from a Western manufacturer by Iran’s flag-carrier IranAir in nearly four decades, Iran’s state TV reported.
Tillerson says China should be barred from South China Sea islands
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state has set a course for a potentially serious confrontation with Beijing, saying China should be denied access to islands it has built in the contested South China S…
France says Syria talks must convene quickly under United Nations
PARIS (Reuters) – France said on Thursday Syrian peace talks should resume as quickly as possible under the auspices of the United Nations and appeared to question plans for Russian-backed discussions on the subject in Kazakhstan.
Former MI-6 spy known to U.S. agencies is author of reports on Trump in Russia
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Christopher Steele, who wrote reports on compromising material Russian operatives allegedly had collected on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, is a former officer in Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, according to people familiar with his career.
Syrian ceasefire largely holding, aid not going in: U.N.
GENEVA (Reuters) – Syria’s cessation of hostilities is largely holding but there are some exceptions and humanitarian aid is still not getting in to besieged areas where food is running out, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday.
