Brazilian firms to pay record $3.5 billion penalty in corruption case
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Brazil-based construction colossus Odebrecht SA and affiliated petrochemical company Braskem SA agreed on Wednesday to pay at least $3.5 billion, the largest penalty ever in a foreign bribery case, to resolve international charges …
Japan’s government approves record military spending
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government on Thursday approved an increase in defense spending to record levels to counter growing Chinese military power in the East China Sea and an escalating North Korean ballistic missile thr…
Aleppo endgame nears as evacuation resumes
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appeared close to victory in Aleppo on Wednesday, but United Nations and rebel officials denied that an operation to evacuate fighters and civilians from the city had been completed.
Exclusive: U.S.-supplied drones disappoint Ukraine at the front lines
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Millions of dollars’ worth of U.S.-supplied drones that Kiev had hoped would help in its war against Russian-backed separatists have proven ineffective against jamming and hacking, Ukrainian officials say.
Trump after Berlin, Turkey attacks: ‘I’ve been proven to be right’
PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday that attacks this week in Berlin and Ankara proved he was correct to propose curbing Muslim immigration to the United States.
U.S. returns China’s Taobao shopping website to market blacklist
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday returned Taobao, China’s most popular consumer-to-consumer shopping website, to its blacklist of “notorious marketplaces” known for the sale of counterfeit goods and violations of intellectual prope…
Battle for Syria’s al-Bab intensifies, 14 Turkish soldiers killed: army
ANKARA (Reuters) – Clashes between Turkish-backed Syrian rebels and Islamic State militants intensified around the northern Syrian town of al-Bab on Wednesday, killing 14 Turkish soldiers and 138 jihadists, the army said.
Kremlin says almost all dialogue with U.S. is frozen: RIA
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Wednesday almost all communications channels between Russia and the United States have been frozen but the U.S. State Department disputed the statement.
Taliban claim attack on house of Afghan member of parliament
KABUL (Reuters) – Tha Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the house of an Afghan member of parliament on Wednesday night that officials said killed at least five people and wounded a number of others.
Almost 300 arrested as anti-president protests subside in Congo
KINSHASA (Reuters) – Police said they had arrested 275 people across Democratic Republic of Congo as two days of protests against President Joseph Kabila appeared to subside on Wednesday.
