China detains 720, imposes $21.8 million of fines in pollution crackdown: media
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China detained 720 people and Beijing imposed $21.8 million of fines for violating environmental protection laws in 2016, according to domestic media on Thursday.
Mexico lays out cards for high stakes talks with Trump
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico said on Wednesday it would throw its relationship with the United States wide open in talks with the incoming Trump administration, putting security, migration and trade on the table as it seeks to avoid a major economic …
Venezuela arrests another anti-Maduro activist
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela intelligence agents on Wednesday detained an opposition activist and accused him of planning violence though his party said the arms were placed in his car to frame him as part of an ongoing wave of government repression.
U.S. deploys high-tech radar amid heightened North Korea rhetoric: official
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A high-tech sea-based U.S. military radar has left Hawaii to monitor for potential North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile test launches, a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday.
Britain sends foreign minister Johnson to support Cyprus peace talks
LONDON (Reuters) – British foreign minister Boris Johnson will attend Cypriot-led negotiations in Geneva on Thursday aimed at ending the decades-long division of the island, the Foreign Office said.
France’s Macron expects Trump to maintain close ties to Europe
BERLIN (Reuters) – French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron said he was sure the United States under President Donald Trump would maintain close ties with the European Union but said Europe would respond if Trump acted to weaken NATO.
Discontent in Malay heartland may spell trouble for PM Najib
SUNGKAI, Malaysia (Reuters) – The Malaysian plantation district of Sungkai has become an initial – and unlikely – battleground for an election that embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak is expected to call this year.
Guatemala president says expects Taiwan to deepen regional ties
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Guatemala said on Wednesday it expected Taiwan to deepen economic ties with the region, as President Tsai Ing-wen is visiting Central America at a time when China suspects she is seeking formal independence from the mainland….
Photo of dead Syrian boy boosts fundraising 100-fold: study
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – An iconic photo of three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi washed up dead on a Turkish beach had a greater impact on fundraising efforts for Syrian refugees than hundreds of thousands of deaths, a study has shown.
U.S. blacklists North Korean officials over rights abuses
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department has added seven senior North Korean officials, including leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, to its sanctions list because of human rights abuses and censorship by the communist nation.
