At least 100 homes burned as fire erupts in Valparaiso, Chile
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – A large fire broke out in the coastal Chilean city of Valparaiso on Monday evening, burning at least 100 homes, prompting the evacuation of about 400 people and sending plumes of smoke high into the air.
Brazil drug gangs spark prison riot, 56 dead
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Drug gangs sparked a prison riot that killed 56 people, with decapitated bodies thrown over prison walls in the bloodiest violence in more than two decades in Brazil’s overcrowded penitentiary system, officials said on Monday.
Cuba puts on show of strength as Trump inauguration nears
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba paraded troops and hundreds of thousands of citizens through its emblematic Revolution Square on Monday in a traditional show of nationalist fighting spirit in the face of steep economic and diplomatic challenges.
Peru demands cash payment from Odebrecht in plea deal talks
LIMA (Reuters) – The office of Peru’s attorney general announced on Monday that it has asked Odebrecht for a “significant sum” of money as part of talks toward a plea deal, after the Brazilian company acknowledged distributing bribes to unnamed Peruvia…
Syrian rebels say they froze talks on Russian-backed peace conference due to ceasefire violations
AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian rebel groups said on Monday they had decided to freeze any talks about their possible participation in Syrian peace negotiations being prepared by Moscow in Kazakhstan unless the Syrian government and its Iran-backed allies end…
U.S. general sees Islamic State’s capability waning in east Mosul
ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) – The declining effectiveness of Islamic State attacks against Iraqi forces in eastern Mosul suggests the militants are starting to run out of resources with the campaign in its third month, a U.S. general told Reuters.
Islamic State kills 24 with Baghdad car bomb, attack police stations in Samarra
BAGHDAD/TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) – An Islamic State car bomb killed 24 people in Baghdad’s Sadr City district on Monday and the militants also attacked two police stations in the city of Samarra as Iraqi forces fought to oust the group from Mosul, its la…
Murders in notoriously violent El Salvador drop 20 percent in 2016: police
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – Murders in El Salvador fell by more than a fifth in 2016 after soaring to one of the highest rates anywhere around the globe the previous year, police data in the Central American nation showed on Monday.
Migrants in U.S., Mexico fret about Trump threat to halt remittances
CLEARWATER, Fla. (Reuters) – In central Mexico’s Mezquital Valley, new pick-up trucks bounce along unpaved roads and U.S.-style houses are springing up alongside cornfields. But people are afraid that remittances from family members abroad, a primary source of funding for such purchases, may soon dry up.
Suicide bombers attack two police stations in Iraq’s Samarra: sources
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Gunmen wearing suicide vests attacked two police stations in the central Iraqi city of Samarra on Monday, killing at least seven policemen, security sources said.
