No progress as Colombia’s president, rival meet with pope
VATICAN CITY/BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and opposition leader Alvaro Uribe were unable to find common ground on a peace accord with Marxist FARC rebels, even with the mediation of Pope Francis when they met at the Vatican…
Putin and Erdogan push for Syria talks without U.S. or U.N.
MOSCOW/ISTANBUL (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said he and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan are working to organize a new series of Syrian peace talks without the involvement of the United States or the United Nations.
Putin turned Russia election hacks in Trump’s favor: U.S. officials
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin supervised his intelligence agencies’ hacking of the U.S. presidential election and turned it from a general attempt to discredit American democracy to an effort to help Donald Trump, three U.S. o…
EU blanks May’s call for quick Brexit deal on expat rights
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Theresa May has got nowhere with the EU in seeking an early guarantee of post-Brexit rights for British and European expatriates, officials said on Friday after the British prime minister pushed the issue again at an EU summit.
Philippines’ president says he killed criminals to protect country
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday killings he maintains he committed while mayor of a southern city, sometimes cruising the streets on a motor bike looking for “encounters to kill”, were part of legitimate operatio…
U.N. chief urges Israeli lawmakers to reconsider settlement bill
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged Israeli lawmakers to reconsider advancing a bill that would legalize Israeli settlement homes on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.
U.S.-led strikes destroy tanks, air defenses near Syria’s Palmyra
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State said on Friday it destroyed 14 tanks, an air defense artillery system and other weaponry near the Syrian city of Palmrya after Islamic State seized the city from Syrian and Russian fo…
Tibetan leader urges Trump to confront China on rights
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The head of the Tibetan government-in-exile said on Friday he was encouraged by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s tough stand on China and urged him to ditch backdoor diplomacy on furthering the Tibetan cause and be more confrontational.
Brazilian president Temer’s popularity falls on scandals, recession
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Embattled Brazilian President Michel Temer’s popularity is sinking as the approval rating of his scandal-plagued government drops in the midst of corruption allegations and a prolonged recession, a poll published on Friday showed.
Romania’s top court upholds leftist-backed scrapping of 102 taxes
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s top court ruled on Friday that legislation passed in October to scrap 102 taxes including radio and television license fees is constitutional.
